harmondundee
New member
A bad experience.
My son was stopped by a Park Ranger on the Natchez Trace Parkway the other night (shortly after midnight) for having both of his tag light bulbs out. It only got worse from there. The officer stated the reason for stopping my son (no tag lights - tag not easily visible, hence a violation - since when did vehicle inspection compliance become an issue?), and in the same breath, he asked if he had any weapons. My son, being truthful and honest, answered that he did, and the two officers went "ape", yelling at him to put his hands on the steering wheel, keep them so he could see them. My son had a shotgun in a case behind the seat (unloaded, ammunition stored in a separate compartment) of his truck and a .40 caliber pistol under the seat in a case with no shell in the chamber, but with a loaded clip inserted. The officers assumed my son was carrying, but during a pat-down, he finally convinced them that the gun was in his truck. They retrieved it and discovered the loaded clip, and tried to accuse my son of lying to them when they asked him if it was loaded. "Loaded" to me means one in the chamber, and he answered to the best of his knowledge that it was not. They disagreed (and were jerks about it), gave him a citation, and now he owes the U. S. Treasury $125 for having a loaded weapon on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Since he is a college student, has a clean record (until now) and no money, guess who has to pay the fine. My son also endured 20 minutes of a complete vehicle search while standing in the cold with his bare hands on the tailgate of his truck while his personal belongings were searched and his privacy violated, all because of being stopped for having no tag lights.
More knowledgeable people, I need your input. I have read here in this forum that it is sometimes routine for an officer to ask if someone they stopped has a weapon, but is it legal for them to ask that question while stopping a person for something else entirely? What should have my son said? If he had said "no", he would have gotten a ticket for no tag lights. Any reason to search the vehicle would have revealed the two firearms, and there would really have been a lot of trouble. Since he said yes, they searched his truck, asked if he had been drinking or doing drugs, ran his license, got smart with him on several occasions, and in general, acted like jerks. Mississippi has one set of gun laws, but the Natchez Trace Parkway has a different set. Around here, some low-life rednecks like to ride the roads at night spotlighting deer, and since there is no hunting within the Natchez Trace boundaries, no loaded deer rifles are permitted for obvious reasons. Good law, but it also extends to personal protection firearms, which defeats the purpose of self defense.
In my opinion, they should not have asked him if he had any weapons. It is none of their business, and they should have only acted only on the reason they stopped him. Am I wrong in thinking that? I have lost a lot of respect for the Park Ranger. Any policeman doing his job is taking a risk, but they don't have to be jerks about it. Why take an armed law-abiding civilian and treat him like a law-breaker instead of and asset who is exercising his Second Amendment rights? I shudder to think what may have happened if my son had sneezed and the smart-aleck SWAT guy hiding off the back rear corner of his truck would have done. He was being treated like a criminal, and I am upset with what all happened.
I am venting a little, but I would like some input from you guys.
Thanks.
My son was stopped by a Park Ranger on the Natchez Trace Parkway the other night (shortly after midnight) for having both of his tag light bulbs out. It only got worse from there. The officer stated the reason for stopping my son (no tag lights - tag not easily visible, hence a violation - since when did vehicle inspection compliance become an issue?), and in the same breath, he asked if he had any weapons. My son, being truthful and honest, answered that he did, and the two officers went "ape", yelling at him to put his hands on the steering wheel, keep them so he could see them. My son had a shotgun in a case behind the seat (unloaded, ammunition stored in a separate compartment) of his truck and a .40 caliber pistol under the seat in a case with no shell in the chamber, but with a loaded clip inserted. The officers assumed my son was carrying, but during a pat-down, he finally convinced them that the gun was in his truck. They retrieved it and discovered the loaded clip, and tried to accuse my son of lying to them when they asked him if it was loaded. "Loaded" to me means one in the chamber, and he answered to the best of his knowledge that it was not. They disagreed (and were jerks about it), gave him a citation, and now he owes the U. S. Treasury $125 for having a loaded weapon on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Since he is a college student, has a clean record (until now) and no money, guess who has to pay the fine. My son also endured 20 minutes of a complete vehicle search while standing in the cold with his bare hands on the tailgate of his truck while his personal belongings were searched and his privacy violated, all because of being stopped for having no tag lights.
More knowledgeable people, I need your input. I have read here in this forum that it is sometimes routine for an officer to ask if someone they stopped has a weapon, but is it legal for them to ask that question while stopping a person for something else entirely? What should have my son said? If he had said "no", he would have gotten a ticket for no tag lights. Any reason to search the vehicle would have revealed the two firearms, and there would really have been a lot of trouble. Since he said yes, they searched his truck, asked if he had been drinking or doing drugs, ran his license, got smart with him on several occasions, and in general, acted like jerks. Mississippi has one set of gun laws, but the Natchez Trace Parkway has a different set. Around here, some low-life rednecks like to ride the roads at night spotlighting deer, and since there is no hunting within the Natchez Trace boundaries, no loaded deer rifles are permitted for obvious reasons. Good law, but it also extends to personal protection firearms, which defeats the purpose of self defense.
In my opinion, they should not have asked him if he had any weapons. It is none of their business, and they should have only acted only on the reason they stopped him. Am I wrong in thinking that? I have lost a lot of respect for the Park Ranger. Any policeman doing his job is taking a risk, but they don't have to be jerks about it. Why take an armed law-abiding civilian and treat him like a law-breaker instead of and asset who is exercising his Second Amendment rights? I shudder to think what may have happened if my son had sneezed and the smart-aleck SWAT guy hiding off the back rear corner of his truck would have done. He was being treated like a criminal, and I am upset with what all happened.
I am venting a little, but I would like some input from you guys.
Thanks.
