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Liberal Texas Prosecutor Targeting Gun Owners...
#1
I don't live in Texas, and can't verify the veracity of all claims, so I'll just leave this here for the Texans' attention...

Out of Control Liberal Texas Prosecutor Targeting Gun Owners Who Happen To Be Soldiers At Fort Hood
http://usofarn.com/out-of-control-libera...fort-hood/

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Something very disturbing is going on in Bell County, Texas, home of Fort Hood, one of the largest military bases in the US. County prosecutor Ken Kalafut and local police have been arresting and prosecuting soldiers who exercise their second amendment rights. it is reported that Kalafut is a major anti-gun advocate who is said to have a portrait of President Obama hanging behind his desk.

In one incident Sgt.C.J. Grisham, was arrested for “rudely” carrying his rifle in the back country with his 15 year old son. Grisham’s firearms were confiscated despite the fact that he had a valid Texas concealed carry permit and was conducting himself in accordance with the law prior to his arrest. Grisham was originally charged with resisting arrest but that was later downgraded to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with a peace officer.

The Daily Caller has more on the exchange between Grisham and local police including video:

“In this day and age, [people] are alarmed when they see someone with what you have,” one of the officers tells Grisham in the video. “They don’t care what the law is.”

“When you alarm people, and they call us,” one of the officers in the video begins to say, after Grisham asks why the officiers failed to ask for his concealed-carry permit.

“And did you explain to them what the law is, sir?” Grisham asks.

“They don’t care what the law is,” the officer replies. Graham then shoots back, “Do you care what the law is?”

“In this day and age, they’re alarmed when they see somebody with what you have,” the officer replies.

“Just because a guy has got a firearm, he’s dangerous?” Grisham asks, drawing the reply, “Yes, sir.”

One of the officers tells Grisham he was “rudely displaying” the rifle.

Temple police, who did not respond to a request to comment for this story, said in a statement to the local press that Grisham refused to hand over his weapon when asked, forcing them to make the arrest.
Sgt. Grisham isn’t the only soldier to be harassed by local cops and prosecutors in the Fort Hood area. Iraq war veteran Nathaniel Sampson was arrested at a local hospital for carrying a concealed weapon inside. Mr. Sampson was following an ambulance carrying his wife who was suffering from a severe allergic reaction to medication when he entered the hospital with his concealed firearm.

Immediately inside the hospital, he was stopped by security and admitted that he was carrying a concealed firearm, for which he had a permit. Sampson was arrested by police inside his wife’s hospital room and then charged with unlawful carry, on the grounds that it is illegal to concealed carry in a hospital.

“I didn’t even have a chance to talk to her. I couldn’t even check on her status,” Sampson told TheDC.

“One of the officers said to my face that he was unsure about whether or not I could have the weapon. He told me he was going to go find out. Before he came back, they arrested me anyway,” Sampson said. “One of the officers then apparently walked back and antagonized my wife as I was going to jail.”
Staff Sargent Sampson would spend nearly a year clearing his name from the charge. Because the hospital didn’t post signs saying they didn’t allow concealed carry weapons Sampson wasn’t in violation of the law according to Texas statues. Prosecutor Kalafut wasn’t satisfied with that and tried to contented that Sampson was intoxicated at the time of the incident, which was a total lie and was proven to be so forcing Kalafut to drop the case.

It is very clear from just these two incidents that there are members of law enforcement and at least one prosecutor in Bell County, Texas who don’t like the second amendment, Texas’ concealed carry law, or the military.
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Life member NRA, SAF, GOA, WVSRPA (and VFW). Also member WVCDL. Join NOW!!!!!
We either hang together on this, or we'll certainly HANG separately.....
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#2
Im actually very suprised at the good demeanor of gun owners, how long will it take for a law abiding gun owner to say "No sir! I dont think i'll let you take my firearm and no sir im not going to jail." Followed by a gun fight.
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#3
Deer Hunter Wrote:Im actually very suprised at the good demeanor of gun owners, how long will it take for a law abiding gun owner to say "No sir! I dont think i'll let you take my firearm and no sir im not going to jail." Followed by a gun fight.

That is exactly what the enemies of freedom want. They would love nothing more than that to happen.
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#4
And yet what will stop whats happening if we dont do it? Damned if you do and damned if you dont. Afterall isnt that exactly what the 2nd ammendment is for? To keep an oppressive Government from doing exactly what theyre doing.
Look im not encouraging anybody to do anything, i'm just saying what 95% of us here are thinking.
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#5
We had a guy do the same thing here in the Salt Lake Valley, only he walked into JC Penny's with an AR15 slung over his shoulder. Nobody called the cops, no issues or complaints. Just a cell phone pic and a news story about it.

Most of your local & rural LE agencies in the South have a time-honored reputation for corruption and complete ignorance of due process, the Constitution, civil rights, and so forth. In many areas, it has gotten a little better, but you still have the "authority-by-force" mentality in many departments.

One of my good friends went to work for a County Sheriff's department in North Carolina after he retired from the Army as an SF officer, with a very colorful and distinguished career. He was a narcotics investigator and enjoyed doing surveillance and informant network building, and soon learned that the Sheriff himself was involved in sanctioning and profiting from local marijuana growers. He confirmed this with video surveillance with one of the department's own federally-funded surveillance vans, and the sheriff caught wind that one of his investigators was a Boy Scout and wouldn't let go of the scent of crime, no matter where it led him.

They pulled him from the NARC unit, and placed him on regular patrol, issuing traffic tickets and such, so he quit and did contract work overseas, to include stints in Kosovo, Somalia, and Haiti. He was a very good dude, who was in Force Recon back in the early 1960's, went to college, and then got a commission in the Army. He passed away a few years ago in a VA hospital post-op.
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#6
LRRPF52 Wrote:That is exactly what the enemies of freedom want. They would love nothing more than that to happen.

They may think that's what they want, but that just might turn into the 2nd shot heard around the world.
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security, deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin
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#7
LRRPF52 Wrote:We had a guy do the same thing here in the Salt Lake Valley, only he walked into JC Penny's with an AR15 slung over his shoulder. Nobody called the cops, no issues or complaints. Just a cell phone pic and a news story about it.

Most of your local & rural LE agencies in the South have a time-honored reputation for corruption and complete ignorance of due process, the Constitution, civil rights, and so forth. In many areas, it has gotten a little better, but you still have the "authority-by-force" mentality in many departments.

One of my good friends went to work for a County Sheriff's departments in North Carolina after he retired from the Army as an SF officer, with a very colorful and distinguished career. He was a narcotics investigator and enjoyed doing surveillance and informant network building, and soon learned that the Sheriff himself was involved in sanctioning and profiting from local marijuana growers. He confirmed this with video surveillance with one of the department's own federally-funded surveillance vans, and the sheriff caught wind that one of his investigators was a Boy Scout and wouldn't let go of the scent of crime, no matter where it led him.

They pulled him from the NARC unit, and placed him on regular patrol, issuing traffic tickets and such, so he quit and did contract work overseas, to include stints in Kosovo, Somalia, and Haiti. He was a very good dude, who was in Force Recon back in the early 1960's, went to college, and then got a commission in the Army. He passed away a few years ago in a VA hospital post-op.

You're exactly right about the South, but it's a result of our open ended laws that make it a judgement call of the officer rather than making it a black & white issue. Alabama for one needs to burn its state constitution and rewrite it in the image of the US Constitution. The way I see it is if what I'm doing doesn't deny someone else their unalienable rights the gov. has no right to tell me I can't do it.

Sorry to hear about your friend!
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security, deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin
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#8
Update: Video shot by son here: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top...rifle.html

Arfcom thread here: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1458002...tml&page=1
Life member NRA, SAF, GOA, WVSRPA (and VFW). Also member WVCDL. Join NOW!!!!!
We either hang together on this, or we'll certainly HANG separately.....
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#9
Looks like to me his mistake was having the magazine in the gun and out in the open, which is illegal in Texas. You can carry a firearm openly to the doorsteps of the courthouse and its fine until you put a magazine in it. (legaly that is doesn't mean you won't be harrassed by the police).

As far as carrying a firearm into a hospital that is illegal and is part of the Texas CHL class. He may have gotten off with extenuating circumstances since his wife was being rushed into the emergency i'm sure the law of where he could and couldn't carry legally wasn't in the forefront of his mind.

In all situations should the police have handled the it differently yes. Should it have been used as an oppertunity to educate and turn the other cheek yes.
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#10
Kikn, We're talking about a rural area where there were coyotes and cougars, he isn't supposed to have a mag in his rifle? How do people hunt in Texas?
”You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live.” - John Galt
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#11
Texas has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the Western States, and increasingly liberal masses growing in the population centers, being indoctrinated in public schools.
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#12
Unless he was on a private road or on private land he can't legally have the magazine in the out in the open. Even in a rural area on a dirt road labeled as FM it is still maintained by the county and as such a public road. I'm not trying to play devils advocate I'm just stating the facts as know them. I am definitely on the gun owners side and personally think the police were being douches and could easily of handled it differently especially with his son there.
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#13
Probably one of the issues is what LE's do when enforcing the law and the lack of respect politicians allow the officers to have for the public.

Le's are more often used as revenue generating resources for depleted city coffers that are over extended with entitlement programs. Police trend to have more of a zero tolerance for things because they can get promoted faster for generating revenue as opposed to doing the right thing and communicating with people that may be ignorant of some laws.

In part they are creating criminals that aren't criminals, for the sake of making money.
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#14
Kikn Wrote:Unless he was on a private road or on private land he can't legally have the magazine in the out in the open. Even in a rural area on a dirt road labeled as FM it is still maintained by the county and as such a public road. I'm not trying to play devils advocate I'm just stating the facts as know them. I am definitely on the gun owners side and personally think the police were being douches and could easily of handled it differently especially with his son there.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but how do you hunt in Texas if you can't have the rifle loaded?

You are not allowed to have a mag in place on public property? I understand that Texas has much less public land to hunt than most western states. As I understand it, most Texas land is privately owned, unlike Utah, or Washington, Idaho, etc.

But does that mean you really can't have a mag in while hunting public land? And I know that Texas gun laws are different than most when it comes to open carry, but I thought that applied to handguns in urban/suburban areas, not long guns in rural areas.

Now I'm REALLY glad I decided to pass on the NRA convention, and wait until next year!
”You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live.” - John Galt
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#15
If you are hunting public land you have to register with Texas parks and wildlife and get a permit for the year. You also have to check in and out on the day of your hunt. You can have the gun loaded on public land if it allows rifle hunting, most public hunting is bow only.

it appeared to me that he was on a public roadway.

It was only about two years ago that you can carry a handgun in a state park at all. Even if you had a chl
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#16
So strong "Castle Laws" but weak self defense laws away from the home.

That means Texas will be crossed of my "can move to if the job offer is right" list!
”You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live.” - John Galt
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#17
There is a bill in place for open carry coming up in Texas later this year, which was expected to pass the Texas senate and go to Gov. Perry for signature. Which will improve self defense laws.
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