Semi-comical, but sadly ironic founding fathers music video. YouTube – Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration.
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The 5th Amendment rights vs. police investigations (0)
While I can appreciate the need to investigate crimes, and have the utmost respect for law enforcement officers; I cannot agree with the tactics employed by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in their investigation of a shooting in Weleetka, OK.
Excerpt from Tulsa World article:
The OSBI agents knew the caliber of the guns used in the killings, so they merely checked with area gun dealers and pawnshops to determine who had bought or recently pawned .40-caliber Glocks.
That prompted concern Tuesday among many in the public, who noted that Oklahoma does not have a gun-registry law nor a central database of gun owners.
Tom Harris, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Tulsa, confirmed that.
According to Harris, most states, including Oklahoma, and the federal government do not have lists of registered gun owners.
He said the only way to get a listing of gun owners is by canvassing gun dealers or pawnshops individually to find out who bought weapons — as the OSBI did.
Harris said gun dealers — “federal firearms licensees” — have to fill out ATF form 4473 whenever a weapon is purchased. The form lists the buyer, the address and other pertinent information.
They also have to contact the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to determine whether the prospective buyer can legally purchase a weapon.
Harris said the 4473 forms stay with the gun dealers and are not submitted to any government agency. They are, however, available to law enforcement.
If a gun dealer goes out of business, the 4473 forms are stored in an ATF warehouse, he said.
Thus OSBI developed a Pseudo list of gun owners in the area with a particular make and model of pistol. These owners were then contacted and asked to volunteer their weapons for testing by OSBI. These tactics, while they may have been the only option for the OSBI, skirt on the edge of Oklahoma laws and individuals rights. In particular laws that prevent Oklahoma from maintaining a list of registered gun owners etc.
Individuals who either ignored or did not comply with the original request are now reprieving letters requesting compliance. The OSBI, should take note that individuals may ignore these requests based on the 5th amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Hopefully this crime will be solved by OSBI without further trampling of individual gun owners rights.
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