My first post to these boards and a very interesting place to start (especially considering my name)! I apologize up front for the extremely long post ... it is a bad habit of mine.
I am a FIRM believer in protecting what the constitution and many of it's amendments give and/or protect. That should be obvious by my name, but thought I would point it out. I would also like to note that I signed up and created this name BEFORE finding this thread (I actually use the name on several sites).
I do not have a license yet as I have to get my record expunged (I was a bad 19 year old) first ... but it is already in the works.
Anyways, the point of this post is to make note of several observations I have made while reading this thread. There are numerous comments that I applauded and was very proud to feel the same way. Here we go:
First off, just because you have a constitutional right to do something, does NOT mean that you have to exercise that right. Exercising a right is not always the same as defending that right. Simply put, just because you have the ability to exercise a right does not mean that you need to, or should, do so. The founding fathers were all about protecting liberties, but I'd go as far as say that they were men of practicality as well (read: good common sense). While the majority of sheeple out there do not even understand or know their rights, just because you DO know them does not mean that you MUST exercise them.
A simple example: There have been several mentions of refusing to let a LEO search a vehicle. While that is your RIGHT, it is not always (or even the majority of the time) the right thing to do. Why? Let me explain ...
I drive like a nut. I love going fast and I have a sticker on both my truck and car's windshields that reminds people what lane they should be in (a reversed sticker that when read through a rearview mirror states: SLOWER TRAFFIC ----->). Obviously, I get pulled over quite a bit. :cray: I have had LEO's ask me many, many times if they could search my vehicle and unless they were being very rude to me, I allow them. I have nothing to hide and if I refuse we will both have to wait for a good long while ... just for a K-9 unit to arrive so my car can be sniffed (to try and get probable cause).
My car has been searched an entire ONE time. I was 21, had a stripper in the car with me, had just left a strip club, it was around 3 in the morning, I had been speeding, and I gave permission to search. Every time that I have allowed a search, they have not actually searched (minus the above exception) because I was acting in a responsible way, did not hesitate to acquiesce to a search, and laughed when they asked the silly question about drugs, prostitutes, bombs, and guns.
Also, LEOs that are complete jerks do not always 'stick it to you'. I've had my vehicles sniffed by many a dog and the cops never 'pretended' that the dog acted in a peculiar way. Not a single time. Please remember that every time I told the cop no it was because he was already acting like an ass. Could it happen and they pretend the dog smells something? Sure. Have I received several tickets because I made the officer wary and made his job harder and more frustrating? Yes.
The fact is, most LEOs that ask for permission to search your vehicle are looking for guilty behavior and gauging your response and demeanor when asking the question. By refusing, that makes them cautious and maybe even mildly suspicious ...
Common sense dictates that at some times, exercising a right isn't the wisest idea. The same applies to showing your license even when not required. It doesn't 'strip away' a right when you CHOOSE not to exercise it. In that case, it is simply a common courtesy. The cop will 'usually' appreciate the gesture as well as the knowledge that you are carrying. Sure, you would have appreciated not being pulled over ... but chances are high that the cop is just doing his job enforcing a law. Sometimes you just get pulled over, but kindness and courtesy beget kindness and courtesy and sometimes it takes a bigger man to start the cycle rather than meeting cold and indifferent with the like.
Think of it this way: if everyone who was pulled over refused to allow a search, the chances are high, due to the progressive anti-constitutional society that dominates our current political parties, that the laws would quickly change in regards to probable cause. Seriously think about that and don't discount it while pointing at any great documents (constitution, bill of rights, etc) as they have proven time and time again that they are only as valid as the politicians want them to be at any given moment. Hell, just look at the FED, the income tax, the laws on firearms, etc.
If you disagree with a thing, the best forum to address it is where you can change it (politics, voting booth, etc.) and probably not where it can just cause you discomfort at best (sitting on side of road with a LEO) and changes or defends nothing.
Don't misunderstand me, I fully understand discomforting yourself to uphold a principle, and if you guys feel that the cost is worth the gesture ... that is your right. I just personally think that making a token gesture is not worth the cost, especially when in the grand scheme of things it changes nothing. It doesn't protect your freedoms, it doesn't change anything, it costs you time and money, and it makes that officer's job harder when he is just like us and wants to get home to his family. The founding father's, I like to think, would have wanted us to use those rights with common sense and save that extra time, effort, and money towards getting our country back to the way it should be.
Sorry if my first post seems overly aggressive or offensive, but this is a topic that I feel VERY strongly about. The great thing about having rights is that we get to use them when we feel like as they are just what they sound like: rights! :man_in_love:
Just my 2 cents,
ConstitutionComeHome
leasantry:
