NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

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bignflnut
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NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by bignflnut »

Millstone Township, New Jersey – -(Ammoland.com)- An Army veteran father says State Police tried to confiscate his firearms without a court order or warrant just because his son was overheard discussing school shooting news with a classmate.

Police said their visit was sparked by a conversation that Leonard Cottrell Jr.'s 13-year-old son had had with another student at the school. Cottrell said he was told his son and the other student were discussing security being lax and what they would have to do to escape a school shooting at Millstone Middle School.

The conversation was overheard by another student, who went home and told his parents, and his mother panicked. The mom then contacted the school, which contacted the State Police, according to Cottrell.

The visit from the troopers came around 10 p.m. on June 14, 2018, Cottrell said, a day after Gov. Phil Murphy signed several gun enforcement bills into law.

After several hours, Cottrell said police agreed not to take the guns but to allow him to move them to another location while the investigation continued.

“They had admitted several times that my son made no threat to himself or other students or the school or anything like that,” he said.

Cottrell said he made it very clear to the police that he was “not going to willingly give up my constitutional rights where there's no justifiable cause, no warrants, no nothing.”
Kudos to this citizen for standing firm...and, I guess, if I have to, but I doubt this is the end of the story, to the cops who didn't do what they were sent to do -- how do you think that went over?...

Sufficed to say, schools are a crazy place, where a game of telephone starts very innocently and becomes a police state visit or worse.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by WestonDon »

This just makes me sick. I wouldn't give the father too much credit. Yes, he somehow managed to avoid having his guns confiscated, but he allowed an unwarranted search of his house. I know it was his son's room but it was his house. Not my idea of standing up for one's rights. I suppose I should cut him some slack because he was taken by surprise by the cops showing up at his door late at night.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by Bruenor »

Surprised they didn't take the firearms anyway with their new red flag laws they passed in June on the books in NJ.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by catfish86 »

I am actually OK with them coming to the house to talk to the boy and his parents given a report that a school shooting may be afoot. From all accounts it appears this boy is stable and no danger. I do get the feeling that this father would have been walked on if he did not stand up for himself. Fine lines must be observed here. Compare this to the Parkland shooter and the road map laid out to the point that when gunshots were heard many of the students knew who the shooter was likely to be without personally seeing him there. We are seeing this play out in a range of scenarios across the country.

That being said I just listened to the video on it and it describes more of the attitude and behavior of the troopers. The troopers went beyond what they should have done, which is interview everyone and gather facts, not seize property and ask questions later.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by bignflnut »

Sgt. First Class Jeff Flynn, a spokesman for the state police, declined to say whether the Cottrell incident was related to the new law. However, he told NJ.com it was determined the Cottrells did not pose a threat.

“Troopers responded to Mr. Cottrell’s residence in reference to the report of a possible school threat. Based on their investigation, it was determined that Mr. Cottrell’s weapons did not need to be seized,” Flynn said.

Despite being cleared as a threat, Cottrell said his son was not allowed to attend his school’s graduation.

“He’s upset. He didn’t do anything wrong, and he doesn’t understand why it happened – he was just having a conversation with nothing as far as threats. It shouldn’t have blown up the way it did. But he understands it happened, there are consequences and there’s fallout from his actions,” Cottrell explained.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by WY_Not »

First mistake was letting them in the house to begin with. They want to talk, fine they can stand on the front step and talk. Want in? Come back with a warrant.

Not being able to attend graduation ceremony AFTER being cleared?!?! WTF? All because some idiot overheard part of a conversation wrong and reported it. Once it was cleared up, he should have been allowed to attend.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by rattlehead »

WY_Not wrote:First mistake was letting them in the house to begin with. They want to talk, fine they can stand on the front step and talk. Want in? Come back with a warrant.

Not being able to attend graduation ceremony AFTER being cleared?!?! WTF? All because some idiot overheard part of a conversation wrong and reported it. Once it was cleared up, he should have been allowed to attend.
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Re: NJ State Police don't take the guns, this time.

Post by kcclark »

WestonDon wrote:This just makes me sick. I wouldn't give the father too much credit. Yes, he somehow managed to avoid having his guns confiscated, but he allowed an unwarranted search of his house.
It is not in the story posted but it was the wife who allowed the search. I'm not sure whether the father was ever on site during the encounter. Article I read said he was at work. His part may have been all via the phone.

https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2 ... teran.html
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