Including ...Non Emergency Police Contact • President’s Message • Attorney Question • Book Review • Editorial • About this Journal
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Non-Emergency Police Contact
An Interview with Massad Ayoob
Interview by Gila Hayes
Comments from members frequently drive the focus of our Network journal. Throughout our 11 years of operation, questions and concerns have often been raised about armed citizens’ contact with law enforcement not only after self defense but under the most benign of circumstances, while driving, walking or in other facets of daily life.
These questions make it clear that law abiding citizens are afraid of losing their gun rights through charges they obstructed law enforcement, resisted arrest, or committed other offenses stemming from hostile contact with police. With Network benefits reserved for the monumental expenses to fight the legal aftermath of use of force in self defense, paying to defend against charges resulting from arguing with patrol officers is outside the scope of the Network’s help. As with so many armed lifestyle challenges, the manner in which the armed citizen comports him- or herself is the key to avoiding trouble.
President’s Message
Legal Defense Fund Tops Two Million Dollars
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
Sometimes I really like my job, especially when I get to announce milestones like the one I am about to announce. Today’s announcement is that the Legal Defense Fund is fully funded, with the astounding sum of TWO MILLION DOLLARS! That is right, “two million” is not a typo.
Thanks to our loyal members who keep renewing like clockwork, and thanks to each member who contributes a little extra to support the Legal Defense Fund when they pay their dues, and thanks to our corporate sponsors who donate goods and services for our auctions to raise additional money for the fund, we have achieved this lofty goal. That means that we are no longer worried about running out of money for our members, and we can concentrate on other worthwhile goals–like building up the fund another half a million dollars or so and using that extra to fund the legal defenses of our members, while keeping the Fund balance well in excess of this two-million-dollar figure.
Attorney Question of the Month
Many states are considering or already have “red flag laws” to allow a police agency to confiscate guns from an armed citizen if someone believes they pose a danger and can get a judge to issue an order to remove their firearms.
Network President Marty Hayes, in response to members’ questions about extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) and Red Flag Laws, sought out our affiliated attorneys’ opinions on the following questions–
1. What are a citizen’s options when the police knock on the door with a warrant and want to confiscate the citizen’s guns?
2. Assuming the guns are securely locked in a gun safe, do you advise the citizen to comply and open the safe?
3. What consequences do you anticipate would result from refusing to open a safe?
So many affiliated attorneys responded that we published the first half of their commentaries in April and complete the topic this month.
Book Review
Surviving The Age of Fear
By William D. Langlois
Published Sept. 1, 1993 by WRS Group, Inc.
246 pages, paperback
ISBN: 978-1567960136
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
Last month’s lead interview with Ed Lovette included an excellent suggested reading list. One, Surviving The Age of Fear, was a book I’d read many years ago but was no longer on my bookshelves. Long out of print, copies still exist, although often priced prohibitively. I was very fortunate to find an affordable used copy online, but knowing readers may not have the same luck, I would like to share some notes from my rereading of a great story that contains many lessons.
The autobiography is written by William D. Langlois (1934-2001), a San Francisco, CA police officer famed for his undercover work posing as a fragile old man to catch violent robbers. As Lovette indicated in last month’s eJournal, Langlois’ exploration of what attracts criminals makes this story highly instructive. Even police officers rarely get to “watch a felony from the moment the idea pops into the head of the perpetrator to the instant it is actually committed,” Langlois wrote, but that experience taught the decoys and back up officers what factors balanced the risk-reward equation in a violent criminal’s mind.
Editor’s Notebook
We start this month’s chat with a thank you letter our member Spencer Newcomer just sent us. Spencer writes:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all of the members of your network for contributing to the go fund me fundraiser you had set up. Paying off my legal bills and helping me get back on my feet was a huge weight off my shoulders. The number of people who donated is a testament to the organization you have created. It also drives home the point that we as gunowners need to stick together and help each other out in these uncertain times. Hopefully my story, which you were an integral part of, will benefit your members and perhaps they can better cope with or avoid altogether some of the issues I faced. I am forever in your debt and look forward to helping your organization and its members any way that I can.
Sincerely, Spencer Newcomer
I think I speak for all of our Network family members when I respond, “Spencer, it truly was our pleasure.”
About this Journal
The eJournal of the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc. is published monthly on the Network’s website at http://armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal. Content is copyrighted by the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc.