ES - ANST - Transporting Weapons

Fri Jun 12 09:45:20 PDT 1998

Thought I would take the liberty of forwarding this on.  Hope it will be of use
to someone!

In Service,
Muirgein

nowlanj at us.ibm.com

---------------------- Forwarded by Jan Nowlan/Dallas/Contr/IBM on 06/12/98
11:45 AM ---------------------------

owner-ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG on 06/12/98 11:36:44 AM
Please respond to ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
cc:
Subject: ANST - Transporting Weapons

Greetings all...

The questions about transporting concealed weapons is a good one,
considering how many we in the SCA do haul around, however some of the more
paranoid responses have overlooked the Constitutional protections we have
against search and seizure, as well as that exception "probable cause."

The police cannot legally pull you over and search your car anymore than
they can break down your front door and search your home.  To search your
vehicle requires a search warrant.  So weapons which are not in plain sight
are no problem.

The exception to this is when the police have what is known as "probable
cause."

The police cannot pull you over at random -- even for that they must have
"probable cause."  To pull you over, the policeman can cite any minor thing
from an actual moving violation such as speeding, but minor things as well,
too, such as lights out on the car, or even your license plate being too
dirty.

Similarly, the policeman cannot search your car once he has pulled you
over, unless he has "probable cause" to do so.  Probable cause for a search
might include you acting as though you are driving under the influence (you
might have intoxicants in the car) or you acting aggressive and belligerent
towards the cop so that he feels you might have a concealed weapon, or, of
course, the policeman being able to see the illegal weapons directly
without a search.

The policeman can, of course, *ask* you to allow him to look, but you are
under no obligation to allow your property to be searched without due
process -- if asked, you politely ask why they wish to search and if they
have a warrant for such a search.  If the policeman insists on a search, do
be sure to get the fellow's name and badge number as you may have material
for a lawsuit, but in my own experience, simply asking why they want to
search stops the entire process cold.  If the policeman cites probable
cause, you do have to allow the search, but again, his probable cause has
to stand up in court.

So, for us in the SCA transporting weapons of any sort, the answer is:  (1)
you will rarely need to worry about the entire issue, so long as the
weapons are not in plain sight; (2) you still do not have a problem even if
you are pulled over if you give the police no reason to search your car;
and (3) in case you do get searched, have the weapons in a location where
they are not easily accessible - if you can't get to them to use them, they
are not concealed weapons.

After the unfortunate incident where the Sword of State was taken out of a
locked vehicle by criminals, it would seem to me to be a good
recommendation that all of us invest in a sound wooden box in which to
carry our valuable ironmongery, and to keep the box padlocked to prevent
these items from wandering.  Not only in travel, but increasingly we find
that our campsites are not safe anymore, so having a strongbox for your
valuables even at an event is a good idea.  The strongbox need not be
purchased - anyone with minimal carpentry skills can put one together (and
I've seen excellent plans for these in old T.I.s and other locations).  The
strongbox provides that additional level of security in completely removing
the possibility of a concealed weapons charge by the police.

Wæs Þu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa þik hversu o?lask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-A?al
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Adhal)

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