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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | ||
| Gun suit vs. Upper Darby will cause ripples (Nutter proposal affected) | ||
| 2007-12-08 | ||
| Delaware County attorney C. Scott Shields says Mayor-elect Michael Nutter's "stop-and-frisk" proposal for getting illegal guns off Philadelphia's streets is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Only a nutter would try something this here in Texas. Not sure about Philly.
Shields is representing township resident Mary Welsch, who claims in a federal lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sanchez that police illegally took her deceased father's guns from her house, then refused to return them without a court order. The township has agreed to give the 16 guns back to Welsch, her father's sole beneficiary, but she is pushing ahead with the civil rights suit in an attempt to have the department's gun-seizure policy declared unconstitutional. If there is a ruling in the case, it could potentially set a precedent that impacts Philadelphia's ability to seize guns in certain situations, said Temple Law School professor David Kairys. The lawsuit, filed in October, stems from an incident last summer, during which Upper Darby police cleared Welsch's Dennison Avenue home of firearms after her father shot himself to death with a revolver. But, the suit states, police later refused to return the guns even though the death was ruled a suicide the next morning and the investigation was closed. Ray Britt, a retired Upper Darby detective who served on the force from 1996 to 2004, said yesterday that uniformed cops were routinely instructed to seize legally owned guns when they responded to domestic disputes. When the owners came to the station to get their guns back, Britt said, police typically told them that they needed to hire an attorney and get a court order. Some of those firearms were later resold to local gun shops, he said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the state attorney general's office are investigating aspects of the township's policy. Those investigations are focused on activity that apparently predated Chitwood's arrival in 2005. Upper Darby no longer resells guns to dealers. But its policy of confiscating firearms – sometimes solely for safety reasons – then requiring a court order before returning them could leave the township open to lawsuits from legal gun owners, said Widener Law School professor Wesley Oliver. "It's very clear to me that her constitutional rights have been violated," Oliver said of Welsch. There is also a word here in Texas for people who take the property of others at gunpoint. We call them "thieves." | ||
| Posted by:Angique Gonque2974 |
| #9 Mary, have you checked out the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association at www.pafoa.org yet? They're a small (5,000 members right now) but growing PA-based gun-rights organization. Not sure they can give you much if any material assistance, but you'll certainly get lots of moral support: go into their discussion forum, and you'll have plenty of like-minded company, including a number of other Delco residents. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-12-08 22:29 |
| #8 Or Huckabee's America Yup. That alone is one reason I won't ever vote for him. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-12-08 16:14 |
| #7 Mary contact the Second Amendment Foundation f you haven't yet done so. saf.org is a law based organization that may be able to help. Dudley Brown at RMGO may be able to help you raise funds as well. Visit RMGO to contact him. And good luck - being right is a very difficult struggle when the courts and elected bodies have been skewed so hard against individuals. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-12-08 14:57 |
| #6 Thank you, Mary, for taking a stand against tyranny. It is an honor to have you post here at Rantburg. |
| Posted by: Angique Gonque2974 2007-12-08 13:19 |
| #5 *Salute* Mary! Bless you for being informed and right! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-12-08 12:18 |
| #4 The "powers that be" obviously didn't count on my being informed and able to separate our tragedy from the bigger picture, that being the rights that my Dad was so passionate about in life. Our PA State Constitution also states: Security From Searches and Seizures Section 8. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed by the affiant. Right to Bear Arms Section 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned. :) Mary |
| Posted by: Mary B. Welsch 2007-12-08 11:51 |
| #3 "said Widener Law School professor" Yet another indication that my decision a few years ago to redirect my alumni contributions from the PC bastions I attended to Widener (and Hillsdale.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-12-08 09:01 |
| #2 Or Huckabee's America. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-12-08 07:30 |
| #1 pretty outrageous behavior by the police. I'd say the people in power need to be sued individually for civil rights violations as well as the city. Bankrupt them both. Sounds like there needs to be wholesale firings. This is what I see as HRC's America if she gets elected |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-12-08 06:41 |