Oh, Hell Yeah! Boston Globe: Police limit searches for guns

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/25/police_limit_searches_for_guns/?page=full

Police limit searches for guns
Opposition from residents is strong; Invited into homes without warrants

Boston police officials, surprised by intense opposition from residents, have significantly scaled back and delayed the start of a program that would allow officers to go into people's homes and search for guns without a warrant.

The program, dubbed Safe Homes, was supposed to start in December, but has been delayed at least three times because of misgivings in the community. March 1 was the latest missed start date...

...But for many of the 100 people who packed the Roxbury Family YMCA last Thursday to talk about the plan, the goal of the program was overshadowed by tactics they called invasive and misleading....

..."The community doesn't want this," Lisa Thurau-Gray, managing director of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School, said at the meeting. She likened the police persistence to a sexual aggressor who refuses to stop assaulting a victim despite her pleas. "What part of no don't they understand?" she said..

Snaps to the people of Roxbury on this one.

[tularetom]

1. What Mensa member came up with this dumshit scheme?

I'd be the first to concede that there is a lot of paranoia among gun owners about this kind of thing taking place.

But when shit like this happens it's hard to deny that there may be a reason for people to be paranoid.

I'd just like to say it ain't the second amendment violations that'll fuck you up, this is a blatant violation of the fourth amendment.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. This was supposed to happen in poor, largely African-American neighborhoods

...you know, the ones that gun control is supposed to help. As you can see, the locals
aren't taking to this idea.

If you read about halfway through the article, the head of security for some of the
Boston Housing Authority projects that were proposed as targets said that they (the BHA) would try not to evict people who "cooperated" with these searches and
had guns found.

Here's the problem with that statement. If some onegets found with drugs or an illegally
held gun in a Federally subsidised housing projects the Feds can and will EVICT the
householder. Even if the person guilty is a family member of the householder, not the householder.

Not only that, said householder is barred FOREVER from residence in Federally subsidised or financed housing. No section 8, no FHA loan EVER.

Now the Boston PD has promised the Sun, Moon, and stars re: immunity.

What they can't offer is Federal immunity. Why the cops thought no one would notice
this escapes me.

[L1A1Rocker]

3. Dispite some on this board I figured something like that was going on.

[SteveM]

10. War on guns, war on drugs -- cut from the same cloth.

The war on drugs has rendered one's safe and secure home a sagging shack, and given us the blueprint for both Patriot Acts; no surprise the police would use these well-worn skids. From the beginning, this was "plantation politics" designed to go after the most crime-victimized folks in our society, African Americans. The "turn it over to the Feds" caveat, properly explained in succeeding threads, is the little surprise people in Mass have now figured out. Why are authorities "surprised?"

[L1A1Rocker]

4. What caught my attention was

"the goal of the program was overshadowed by tactics they called invasive and misleading....".

I wonder what they are referring to here. The devil is ALWAYS in the details.

[krispos42]

5. What it comes down to...

...is that nobody wants to spend every hour of every day being pestered by government officials (including police) asking about things. Imagine if every single day, a policeman knocked on your door and asked "Hey, can I search your house for contraband such as illegal drugs or guns?". Then a fireman knocked on your door and asked "Hey, can I search your home to check for fire hazards?" Then a Children Protective Servies caseworker knocks on your door and askes "Hey, can I search your home to check for abused kids or potential hazards to your children?"

It's not just the fact that you have the right to refuse if they don't have a warrant or probable cause, it's also that the authorities should not be asking in the first place unless they have a specific reason to in the first place!

[hogwyld]

6. We have patience

Better luck next time in getting rid of the world's guns.

[L1A1Rocker]

8. So would the term gun banner be offensive to you?

[gorfle]

7. This shit would never get off the ground in a white neighborhood.

This is racism, pure and simple.

[L1A1Rocker]

9. I think you're getting very close to the bullseye on that one.