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You said it better than I did.

jlangton wrote:

tfrazier wrote:
After all, he's paid to do the job, and nobody forced him to accept the LEO position.

That's really easy to understand,and is something people forget about when they start their "it's a dangerous job" in defending problem Officers.
JL

True, but we shouldn't go overboard with that logic. You could say the same about the military, yet both should be commended for their willingness to sacrifice. I think in some situations the low pay and risk should be a consideration, even though it's all voluntary.

It all has to be tempered with common sense.

MTICop wrote:...Your opinions may vary but this is mine.

I must say you make a lot of sense. Even if the officer was concerned about whether one of the guns from the night stands the wife told him about ended up in the hands of an intruder, common sense and training dictate he would treat any intruder he came upon as armed whether he discovered a gun missing or not.

I guess he had some right to be a little miffed that the risk of a previously unarmed intruder obtaining a gun was higher, but he should have kept it to himself if he couldn't express his concern without offending the wife.

After all, he's paid to do the job, and nobody forced him to accept the LEO position.

I do remember that most of the hot water I got into as a cop was due to offering my opinions when they weren't asked for.

+2 except for the bombs...I think there are federal laws against that.

But AEA wasn't saying there are laws against leaving your gun out at your house, just that it's not a very good idea because of the reasons he stated.

Also (and I know someone is going to decide I'm trying to give this officer a pass just because I'm pointing out a few possible reasons for his inappropriate actions) the officer who got so bent out of shape over it may have been just a little peeved that guns were left unsecured in the house while residents were away which made them available to burglars who in turn could have used them against said officer.

This whole story has made me rethink my gun storage habits. I always figured that since I have a pit bull and two other dogs I could leave my guns loaded and stashed in the normal reachable locations when I leave the house. Someone could easily break the front bay windows and lure my dogs out via baiting, then enter the house and have a field day...even be waiting with one of my guns in hand for me when I got home.

From now on they go in the safe when we're away from home (except for the one(s) I'm carrying, of course). No sense in taking even the minutest risk when it's so simple to mitigate with a nominal change in habits.

And by the way, you got more than one Ducati? Here I sit with no bike at all. Com'on, Bro, spread the wealth like Obama says.

Abraham wrote:Attempting to understand this LEO's motivation for his extraordinarily out of line behavior i.e., maybe a child/gun tragedy - is not acceptable...

Why is attempting to understand his motivation not acceptable? And what exactly does "not acceptable" mean? Is there some way you can force me not to attempt to understand his motivation???

Nobody said it was a valid excuse for him to take the actions he did.

Sounds like the cards have all stacked up in your favor on this one. Hope the officer learns his lesson, and glad you're obviously not white-washing the entire department over it. The guys using common sense and doing a good job of being objective need all the support they can get.

I wouldn't just let sleeping dogs lie. I'd be sure to follow up and find out what came of it as politely as I could.

I tossed in the comment about possible past experience with child injury due to unattended weapons just to remind everyone that sometimes, even when a person is wrong, they have a motivation that, if known, would change the intensity of our response.

nitrogen wrote:

tfrazier wrote: Every day I hear more reasons NOT to call the cops and just handle things on my own if I can legally do it without interacting with the authorities.

tfrazier, we may not agree on much but we certainly agree on this.

Uh-oh...Lucifer is ice skating down there...

That's one of those "Wish they'd try that on me situations". Guy was hopefully a rookie and his seniors will set him straight, but you never know. He may also have handled a child injury or fatality call due to an unattended firearm sometime in the past that has left him a bit over-zealous.

I would have been hard put to be polite and not tell the guy "It's my bloomin' house and I'll leave a loaded gun in the middle of the living room floor if I want to." My wife, being slightly more straight-forward than I, probably would have told him, "Sorry I called you. By the way, have your partner step over here so I can have a witness that I am formally warning you never to step foot back on my property under the criminal trespass statutes." (Wouldn't fly for a cop responding to a call, I know, but she'd tell him anyway.)

Every day I hear more reasons NOT to call the cops and just handle things on my own if I can legally do it without interacting with the authorities. Some folks will call me a fool, but I'll tell my wife to go down the street and wait at the grocery store while Moses (pit bull) and I clear my own house if this situation ever arises. I don't want cops or anyone else snooping around in my residence if there's another legal alternative.

Most LEOs are good guys, but like Forest Gump said, "You just never know what you're gonna get." and I'll add, "when those guys make less money than the average New York City cabbie."

And I was used ta be da' poe-lease.