Boston PD preparing to ask homeowners if they can warrantlessly search homes for guns

[krispos42]

Activists: Youths arming due to violence on streets

By Mike Underwood
Monday, January 14, 2008

As cops prepare to launch a controversial program to seize guns from homes with parental permission instead of warrants, concerned youth workers claim scared kids are stockpiling weapons due to fear of being without protection on the city’s toughest streets.

“They would rather be caught with a gun by the police than get caught without one by their enemies,” said the Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, who has launched a new campaign to encourage youngsters to hand guns over to him, no questions asked.

<snip>

His new mission was launched as the city reeled from three gun killings in less than a week and as Boston police prepare to launch the Safe Homes initiative next month, in which cops without warrants seek consent from residents to search their homes for guns. Safe Homes, aimed at helping Boston police reduce bloodshed on city streets, was announcedin November, but its implementation has been delayed.

<snip>

“Any discussion to increase the number of guns taken out of circulation is a welcomed effort,” said Driscoll.

<more>

http://falcon.heraldinteractive.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1066365

I wonder how this is going to go. Will they inform the homeowners that it is a request, and that they have no warrant? How intimidating will the police be? Will they harass legitimate gun owners?

And this is in a liberal city, one that is suppose to be angry with BushCo strong-arm police tactics!

Do you think the residents of Boston will have the guts to stand up for their Fourth Amendment rights? Or will they, too, fall into the "I don't mind giving up my rights for a perceived increase in personal safety" line of thinking that freepers do?

Will Boston residents fear being put on a government list of some kind if they say "no"? Like, say, the No-Fly List?

And, of course, anything to get rid of all guns. No differentiation at all is made between the problem guns, guns illegally obtained and carried by convicted criminals, and non-problem guns.

[Horse with no Name]

1. Needless to say

Many have stood by silently while our Bill of Rights has slowly been whittled away.
I have a feeling this might be a different situation.

[SteveM]

9. Note the expectation that kids will stockpile...

A similar thread concerning Boston's actions was posted last year and I made the same prediction: whoever had guns in the home would remove and secret them elsewhere, sort of like drugs.

I can't help but wonder: even if guns are not found, the cops may spot something else -- drugs, paraphernalia, radical literature, gang gee gaws -- then forward that info to another police bureau or to other agencies for later "action."

An idea shot full of holes before it floats.

[thunder rising]

2. Anything to stick a felony on the under privileged.

And, since it's not a warrant, anything goes. They can arrest the whole household.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. People don't understand why I am a member of the NRA

and the ACLU. Frankly, I don't see the difference.

[Hellenic_Pagan]

15. Me either

They are both about protecting rights.

But earlier, in another forum here, someone was told "you dont have rights".

There are people who are part of this very forum who feel we dont have inalienable or human rights.

Its scarry!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

19. Yeah, the corporate mindmeld. You really have no rights

except to consume. Some of us see a bigger picture. Sadly, the corporate mindmeld works very well. Commercials and media programing define who most people think they are. They actually think that the world revolves around pop tarts rather than the strugle of the workers. It really is about the struggle of the working class to have a life where they don't have to worry about falling through the cracks and ending up on the streets.

[Tunkamerica]

4. Just a question, but a legitimate one I think

Will these homeowners who submit to a search then be prosecuted should illegal guns be found?

[krispos42]

5. If they find a gun in a kid's room...

Do they bust the parents, too? Does the kid go to jail for illegally posessing a firearm, or to Child Protective Services to keep them away from their neglectful parents?

Questions, questions....

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Or if they find some pot in the kid's room

or elsewhere in the house.

Then what? Big bust for all?

[Recursion]

8. There's supposed to be an amnesty for any guns found

(Though the notion of a gun as something you need "amnesty" for having makes me kind of ill.)

It was conceived as a way for parents who were too scared to search their childrens' rooms for guns to have the cops do it for them. If the cops found a gun, and if that gun had not been used in a crime by the kid, there are no charges filed. It's not entirely clear what will be done if (when) they find drugs -- two Boston cops are regulars at the bar I go to and one had mentioned that they will have to confiscate and report any drugs they find, and that they couldn't do much to prevent a DA from bringing charges.

[Hellenic_Pagan]

16. Prolly

which is pretty fucked up.

Im just surprised people will let the police in thier house to search without a warrant. That seems like you are ASKING for trouble and handing your rights over to the state.

[Tejas]

7. Be it far from me to accuse, but

it would be a safe bet to assume they've already selected what part of town they'll start in.

[SteveM]

10. And to think, some anti-gunners accuse US of being racist. (nt)

[jody]

11. I can't believe a progressive city like Boston would engage in racial profiling when gun-grabbers

from MA constantly remind us how MA is a role model for other states, particularly those states that protect the natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense.

[Tejas]

12. Economical profiling

Don't want to upset anyone by knocking on the doors of the elite now do we, that economic tier wouldn't put up with it for one second......imagine the storm of calls that would hit City Hall!

[Hellenic_Pagan]

17. It already reeks of "racial profiling" n/t

[lancer78]

13. .....

Somedays you have to wonder what the difference between the radical right and the radical left really is. This might upset some people, but fascism is fascism.

[krispos42]

14. They can both be authoritarians

Stalin was authoritarian left. Hitler was authoritarian right.

Try taking this political test to see what I mean. I scored 26 econimically, where 0 is pure communism and 100 is pure capitalism, and 75 socially, where 0 is total authoritarianism and 100 is total freedom.

[Tejas]

18. Scared to know

but if you have a link to the "test", I'd be interested.

[krispos42]

20. Here is is...

I can't believe I forgot to put the link in...

:smackforehead:

http://www.okcupid.com/politics