Without probable cause to believe the weapon is stolen the office seizing the weapon and running a background check on that weapon commits a THIRD DEGREE FELONY !!! The officer is in fact creating a form of registration as the serial number will now be recorded in the system or in some other form of record. Not to mention 4th Amendment issues relating to unlawful seizure of property
790.335 Prohibition of registration of firearms; electronic records.—…….
(2) PROHIBITIONS.—No state governmental agency or local government, special district, or other political subdivision or official, agent, or employee of such state or other governmental entity or any other person, public or private, shall knowingly and willfully keep or cause to be kept any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms or any list, record, or registry of the owners of those firearms.
(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(a) Records of firearms that have been used in committing any crime.
(b) Records relating to any person who has been convicted of a crime.
(4) PENALTIES.—
(a) Any person who, or entity that, violates a provision of this section commits a
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(d) The state attorney in the appropriate jurisdiction shall investigate complaints of criminal violations of this section and, where evidence indicates a violation may have occurred,
shall prosecute violators.
Shall prosecute the offender.
Without probable cause to believe the weapon is stolen the office seizing the weapon and running a check commits a THIRD DEGREE FELONY and under Florida law
a citizen may arrest any person who in his presence commits a felony (Common Law). Further more the provision of 776.013 of the Florida statute states:-
(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another
or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
Forcible Felony is defined at 776.08
Forcible felony.—“Forcible felony” means treason; murder; manslaughter; sexual battery; carjacking; home-invasion robbery;
robbery; burglary; arson; kidnapping; aggravated assault; aggravated battery; aggravated stalking; aircraft piracy; unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb;
and any other felony which involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against any individual.
The question that needs to be brought to the attention of all LEO’s in Florida is that we the people have a course of action open to us if they intend to follow the “Officer Safety” Disarmament route.
As a former LEO (Retired) I take great exception to anybody abusing the law and infringing on my rights in the name of officer safety, instead of proper training and correct procedure, in other words laziness,
I do not endorse the use of force against any LEO unless justified by the law and in the case of unlawful disarmament of a lawfully permitted individual I have to consider whether officers and there senior management are blatantly ignoring the rule of law and are thereby placing the safety of their subordinates in unnecessary danger, I refer to the instruction issued by the Florida Highway Patrol.
http://www.flhsmv.gov/Bulletins/ConcealedLegalTraining.pdf