Nearly a year before signing the nation’s most stringent gun control measure into law, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched a hotline that allows state residents to report illegal gun owners in exchange for a $500 reward.
New Yorkers can call the “Gun Tip Line” if they believe someone they know has an illegal gun. Hotline calls are answered by state police and tips are referred to local law enforcement, the station reported.
“This initiative seeks to turn neighbor against neighbor and use their own tax dollars to pay for the $500 reward,” Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin told the station.
“This initiative seeks to turn neighbor against neighbor and use their own tax dollars to pay for the $500 reward,” Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin told the station.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~ George Santayana
See something, say something. Is it not a hallmark of tyrant states that they employee neighborhood snitches? And teach kids in school to rat on their parents? Iron curtain countries, Nazi Germany, modern day China, etc.
My father and I both work in NYC. On separate occasions we both say Bloomberg’s body guards with what appeared to be MP5s behind their jackets, getting into blacked out Chevy SUVs
Its case law and if they violate it they will be paying out big money to the citizens whose rights they trample. The NRA and others would love to pay for the law suits I am sure. Also if its an intentional violation of civil rights under the color of authority the officers and supervisors all the way up the chain of command can be charged and go to prision.
Pat
Of course, having your home ransacked does mean they got a search warrant either. As I understand it, the police are not required to tell you the truth about the law or what may or may not happen to you. So they can lie about the dire consequences you face and that you may have broken some law and only the guilty refuse permission to search.
If you are intimidated by a squad of officers at your front door demanding entry you might make the mistake of saying OK go ahead and search. “We know you have an AR15, M1 Garand, Pmags, and two Glocks in this house! Let us search or we will haul your sorry ass in for questioning!! Do it now!”
Hopefully you don’t have a dog on the premises barking at them and making them fear bodily injury. DOOM on you poor stupid citizen, not knowing your rights and not standing up to police demands (that is, DOOM on you for showing respect or fear).
It may seem anti-climatic later on when your attorney informs you that at the time you did have the right to decline permission to search and ask the SWAT team to get out of your rose bed and off your porch.
The problem is that many, or even most deputies and police officers would not behave this way. But the LAW permits them to do so, and some of them take advantage of that. We expect it to be used sparingly for tracking down child rapists or murderers, but nothing prevents them from using such tactics for more benign offenses like possession violations. When a certain number of these events become public then yes, the public begins to distrust the police in general. I have never heard of one police organization categorically condemning the tactic itself or specific officers for using it inappropriately. If an organization will not police its own members on professional standards then don’t be surprised is the public tars the whole membership with the brush of shame brought on by the fraction of abusers.
What level of information is cause for a warrant? Would a tip from a neighbor who (coincidentally has a property line/fence dispute with you) claims he saw you with a rifle through the window be enough? How about a “friend” who visited you last month and saw your gun collection? Ex-wife (“Oh gawd, that SOB has an entire armory and ammo dump stashed in the basement! You should haul his sorry ass in for sure!”)? One of your kids telling the teacher when pressed with questions that, “Oh sure, Daddy has a cool black rifle that shoots lots of bullets, it is so much fun!”
I don’t think gun owners are concerned about the stranger who calls in on a wild guess. The concern is about a govt that enlists the people you trust in your life, or had trusted at one time, and paying them to rat you out.