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Case involving GA open carry settles
Here's the story. Fellow was openly carrying (and both has a license, and is military, either of which suffice to make open carry legal). His gun was seized and they refused to return it. Georgiacarry.org took the case, got return of the gun, damages, and attorney fees.
Here's the settlement order.
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This is not the first and won't be the last lawsuit by GCO against counties and cities within Georgia that act unlawfully against legal firearms owners. They've already won a number of lawsuits against counties and cities that were illegally barring firearms from parks.
I can NOT believe that this is all the money they asked for. They should have asked for 100X that much. Crazy to settle for next to nothing.
Police are going to wander into these suits like coons going into a havahart after cat food. They ought to be trapped and stripped to their underwear every time they try to enforce law that doesn't exist. IGNORANCE of the law is NO excuse.
Cities that tolerate and encourage this kind of police behavior ought to be gacking up millions per event, along with retraining, certification and an injunction against ever doing it again.
This is a cash cow for gun rights folks. 1K isn't it. Neither is the 3K for the lawyer. I bet these police didn't learn a thing will repeat this illegal behavior.
Robert makes a good point about ignorance of the law. If it's not a justifiable excuse for a citizen, why is it justifiable for a cop? To me, it's insane to give a man a gun and a paycheck to enforce the law when he doesn't know what the law is.
Another win for freedom and Georgia Carry dot Org!
I continue to be thankful that I joined GCO early and will gladly renew.
They need to start making the settlements contingent on the officers involved surrendering their police certifications.
Robert,
Thanks for your comment, but the case is not about the money. The important relief in this case is the declaration that the seizure of the firearm was unconstitutional.
That said, if you can explain how a few weeks' seizure of a gun is worth millions of dollars in damages, I'm all eyes.
Interesting to say the least. Seven years ago I was stopped in Aberdeen, MS and asked to show my registration for the legally carried pistol in my car. The odd thing about the officer's request was that we NO registration in this state so there was absolutely no way I could comply. Only through the intervention of another office who actually knew state law was I able to leave with the pistol.
Hopefully cases such as this one in GA will cause some education for LE to understand what is allowed and what is not when they encounter a law abiding citzen with a legal firearm.