I live in upstate NY and decided that while my girlfriend lounged around in her parents' pool, I would try my luck at shooting some red squirrels in a wildlife management area called Tivoli Bays. Now for those of you who don't know, Tivoli Bays has been the site of two rape incidents in the past six years, the latest happening two years to a mother AND her young daughter. Anyways, I was hunting red squirrels with my Crossman air pistol. First I saw a woman on her bike. Then I saw a couple in their Acura, THEN I saw a couple in a Jeep Cherokee. Well one of these lovely people decided that they needed to call the police and let them know that someone was down in Tivoli Bays with an " automatic pistol!!" I had already returned to my girlfriend's parents' house across the street when five minutes later a state trooper pulls up about 500 feet from their house, gets out and locks and loads his shotgun! My girlfriend's mother saw the commotion and told me so I figured I better straighten this out and walked over- BIG mistake. I was searched, and then questioned by not only some of NY's finest, but BCI as well. Then ENCON pulls up, to check my hunting license to make sure IT was up to snuff. Now get this- Not only do they all but accuse me of having knowledge of or being a party to those rapes( one of which is no longer valid due to statue of limitations), but one of the BCI guys has the balls to ask me why I shave my head!!( personal preference, low maintainence)After they ran my license and checked the pistol for prior use in crimes or if it was stolen, they handed everything back and told me that I should tell people when I'm going down there. HELLO!!!! It's a friggin' wildlife management area- people hunt there. Am I to knock on everyone's door ( all 3 houses) and tell them I'm not a rapist I'm just gonna hunt? Christ I thought this was America- land of the free and innocent 'til proven guilty- guess I was wrong. Can you imagine if I had my AR15? I'd probably be sharing a cell with Bubba for carrying an "automatic rifle." God Bless America.

Sounds like a you need a beer, Hell, after
reading this I'am going to have a beer![smoke]

well it's not like we are moving towards a police sta.... oh, well.  

Just be sure to tell us next time you think of touching your guns, there is a remote chance you could come into contact with air....or even a person, by god.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.  Glas you'll be in your own bed this PM.


Zaz

you could file a lawsuit for police harrasment.
Might not stick but it's worth a try.

too bad you are in a state where guns are feared and not respected as they ought to be.
That's why NY sucks.

-Chuck

Times have changed my friend...

Nowadays it's GUILTY until proven Innocent...

Seems the norm is to aprehend, detain, look for something to charge you with, and if nothing is found they will send you on your way with a stern warning.

Shit like this has happened to me but in an unrelated situation...

To make a long story short...

Got pulled over, backup was called, I was detained for more than an hour, and finally left go after drug dogs "sniffed" me and my vehicle.

AGAIN...

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT...

I hear that brother!

Two questions:
(1) BCI???
(2) ENCON???


BISHOP

They can check if an air pistol was used in a crime and if it is stolen? Never heard of that. Also, I am with BISHOP on this one.  [thinking]

BCI = Bureau of criminal investigations.
ENCON= Environmental Conservation.(Basically, game warden)

Hey Kalifornia,
It's new to me too.

Wow, I can't believe they gave you so much grief.  After all, you approached them to explain the situation.  Most rapists and criminals don't approach police to chat or try to straighten out any situations, but apparently they think so.

Seems like some cops think everyone is a criminal...just for mere possesion of a firearm.

Perhaps they need to teach the Constitution & the BoR in Police Academy?

"Protect & Serve"...but whom is the question.

Best practice for police loading shotguns in front yard - ask him if he has a warrant, if he doesn't tell him he is trespassing and you'll give him 5 seconds before you are going to perform citizens arrest on his rear.  See how he likes that.  Then prepare for more exciting dialogue.

Lets see ----you go to the WMA with an air pistol to hunt squirrels.  As a result of being seen [b]hunting[/b]in the WMA, the State Troopers, State pseudo FBI, and the Game Warden are all called to come and check you out. They proceed to accuse you of knowledge of felony crimes and inquire as to why you shave your head. They then run your pellet pistol serial number to see if it was used in a crime, or stolen property.  And instruct you to inform everyone in the area before going to do it in the future.  

This would be funny if it weren't true.  It could happen in lots of places in the good old USA.  The General Public is extremely suspicious of anyone with any type of gun in most urban areas. I don't think the police should have responded to a call in which no crime was being committed.  Maybe the game warden, but not the troopers and the state pseudo FBI.  I guess that is why I couldn't live in NY, or KA, or lots of other places.  People around here are still much cooler about guns in general.

Here is a synopsis of my last contact with law enforcement at a public WMA.  Two of us see the warden drive by and wave at him.  He stops his truck, we walk over to talk to him -mind you we are carrying loaded 12 ga. shotguns.  He told us we shouldn't be hunting here because there were much better places that he would show us.  Didn't check our licenses and said he could tell we were "good people" and didn't need to.  We are both lifetime hunting and fishing license holders with plugged shotguns and even the new HIP permits in our pockets.

He then told us to follow him and he took us to a place were we could limit out easily, showed us deer, quail and told us that when he retired he would be guiding and gave me his card.  He said he would take a man turkey hunting for  $ 75.00 (way too cheap) and it included overnight accommodations and breakfast at his house.

This man has dedicated his life to helping people enjoy the outdoors. I just wish he would retire soon.  They don't make 'em like they used to.

Sounds like a cut and dried case of obstruction of justice on your part and another reason why civilians should not be allowed to own any type of guns.

That's f@#$ up.

From a class I took at the SCDPS, the instructor told us several times that if someone approaches you and doesn't immediately ask you an innocent question (like for directions), then most likely they are guilty of something.  As the instructor stated, most people ignore cops and security guards; they're part of the scenery.  Why walk up to them unless you know you've done something?  Also, many criminals think they can talk their way out of the situation.  When the instructors pound this attitude into LEO's, what hope do they have in respecting the Bill of Rights?

Uhhh.... wow. I guess the idea that somebody may have witnessed / been part of something that may have caused cops to be called is a concept foreign to this "instructor."

Reminds me of when I got a ticket in MO on Int. 44. Full lane of traffic in right lane, cop in right lane. I am in left lane moving slightly faster, so I eventually pass cop (checked speedometer when I first saw him, went EXACTLY THE SPEED LIMIT). Cop gets behind me, speeds up (almost to my bumper). I see an opening a few cars and two large semis ahead on the right. I think this guy has to go somewhere. I speed up a little. He speeds up a little. I have a good gap before the next car ahead in left lane, so I speed up some more. Cop stays on my ass. Finally I get in front of lead semi, and quickly switch lanes. I expect the cop to flip on his light and haul ass up the street. Figure he got a call of some sort. Instead he follows behind me, flips on his lights, and pulls ME over. Says he had me going 80 mph in a 65. I call bullshit. He says my "oversized" tires on my ?87 blazer probably threw off my speedometer. BTW, my tires were stock and close to bald!!. Gives me a ticket. I look at it later that day - no radar, he "paced" me at 80 mph. No shit! I thought he was claiming he got me on radar as I drove up to his car (he was really smug about having an unmarked car and "blending" into traffic - yeah, that was why the whole damn street was going 2 -3 mph UNDER the limit, buddy - and I couldn't see that huge red light on your dash). Instead, he apparently "paced" me after he got behind me. Heck, the whole time until I could pull into the right lane he was going faster than me - I was just trying to hurry and get out of his way. I probably hit about 75 (10 over) by the time I switched lanes (a slightly paranoid part of me wanted to make sure I didn't exceed the famous 10 over mark). He was going faster though - heck the whole time he was driving like he was trying to ram me! I would have fought it if the county was anywhere near where i lived. Unfortunately I was travelling at the time.

Moral of the story? Don't offer to help or even think it would be good to help a cop. The majority that would appreciate it don't make up for the minority that see all "civilians" as the enemy and are total jackasses. I had an 80 dollar ticket and three years of higher insurance rates to ingrain that concept into my head. You got off easy.

No good deed ever goes unpunished.