Good gracious, why in the world do y'all doubt the veracity of THIS particular story?

Have you never heard of idiot LEOs in your entire lives?

Well, it appears SubnetMask may have run into the only one in the history of California!

The language that this lady used was almost verbatim what a TEXAS Highway Patrolman once asked me on the side of US Hwy 287 near Henrietta, Texas, about 8 or 9 years ago.

Our conversation went something along the lines of:

'What sort of weapon is that in your rifle rack?'

'It's a Colt AR-15, officer.'

'Is it full-auto or semi-auto?'

'Semi-auto, of course.'

'Well, some people convert them to full-auto', sez he.

'Not this person', reply I.

'I need to take possession of the weapon during this stop.'

'Officer, if you're worried about me making a play for the weapon, let's just move to the rear of my pickup.'

'No. I need to run the serial numbers to see if it is a stolen weapon.'

'Officer, it's not a stolen weapon, but I don't want to argue with you about that. Take it.'

'No, you get it out of your vehicle and hand it to me.'

As I reach inside the vehicle, I think to myself how stupid the officer must be IF he really thinks that I am up to no good. He's standing there, with his weapon holstered, not knowing the condition of my weapon, and allowing me to take it from the rack?

After handing him the weapon, he told me to get back in my vehicle while he and his partner checked to see if it was stolen.

From my rearview mirror, I note that the first thing that the officers did when they get into their cruiser is to break open the weapon.

I turn to my passenger, REALERIC, and asked him when did Colt start putting serial numbers on the inside of the receiver?



I doubt they even ran the serial numbers, they were simply checking to see IF any 'unauthorized' parts were in my weapon.

Which is totally bogus, since a great many of the early Colts came from the factory with full-auto bolts, sears, hammers, and disconnectors.

Like the first Colt AR-15 I bought in 1974. It had a full-auto bolt in it, but the remainder of the parts were for semi-autos.

Anyway, the officer returned my weapon to me, informed me that it wasn't stolen, and we were on our merry way.

So, shiite on the side of the highway can happen in the Great State of Texas just as easily as in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.

Well, maybe not as easily, but I think that no one should reflexively doubt SubnetMask's story!

Eric The(NotTooGullible)Hun

i have a friend that is a usfs ranger in virginia. the last i talked to him, he was carrying a .357 revolver (dunno if that is issue or his choice of firearm).

the local game wardens, here in ohio, are said to have more powers than a deputy sheriff (???) and they carry a semi-automatic pistol of some sort...looks like it could be a smith or a sig (it's been awhile since i talked to one).

Yeah you need to file a complaint with her CO. First you weren't in violation. Second her behavior was unwarranted.

I have no problem with her pointing her pistol in your general direction and taking control of what she thought was a bad situation.  I do have a real problem with her apparant trigger discipline and her approach to the situation.  Had she thought that she was really approaching bad actors in the wild, she should have had that previously mentioned AR in hand, not her pistol.  Second, as for the disarming and checking you out, no problem there either, presuming it was polite and brief.  Her partner obviously did not pervceive the same level of threat as she did.  Perhaps there was later discussion about it, if he was the senior.  Now, as to what started this problem in the first place, the ranger at the station was a serious asshat.  His job is to assist the public, not mislead or refuse to inform them.  He should have told you where it was safe to shoot and that would have been that.  

We often get people shooting in areas that are probably not the best locations, or even perhaps unsafe areas.  Once we check them out and find them to be ok, we usually re direct them to better spots to enjoy their sport.

Quoted: What I want to know is, why the cops have to "check out" a legal activity at all.  Maybe they should just go around on the street checking everyone out just to make sure you aren't breaking any laws.

Because they got a complaint and didn't know if what they perceived to be full auto fire was in fact legal given that such weapons are generally banned in that state.