Weapon confiscation?

[novaDAK]

"Wacker" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKrKxqg_BEo&NR=1

There's a bit of language in the commentary that follows.

And that equipment isn't cheap...that guy's a dedicated wacker. Think of all the guns and ammo he could have bought with that money...I would have...

 

[SomeKid]

...do they buy that because it looks cool, criminal purposes, or some other reason?

Maybe a more on topic question would be, what caliber for whackers?

 

[RoadkingLarry]

So, your a cop, but you got no badge and no official ID on you.. Yeah and I'm the Queen of France, pound sand...

 

[Coronach]

My question is, can a LEO confiscate a weapon just like that because he thinks its an illegal weapon. They were in civilian clothes if that makes a difference. Who can confiscate weapons? Under what conditions? What are the rights of a civilian in situations like these?

The answer is "maybe." Assuming he is a real cop and within his jurisdiction (in reference to location, time, and subject matter), if he has probable cause to believe that you are committing an offense and that the gun is evidence of a crime, he absolutely has the power to arrest you and take possession of the weapon as evidence of that crime.

However.

The scenario you describe sounds MIGHTY hinky. The very first thing he should be doing is pulling out his credentials and displaying them prominently, and making it very clear that he is an officer with XYZ agency/service/department. Otherwise, if you decide to take off or not cooperate, your first defense will be "I had no idea who this yahoo was. He just walked up to me and said he was taking my gun. So I said 'like **** you are' and the fight was on." Guess what? Place that set of facts before any judge in the land and he's going to side with the defendant.

That defense ("I didn't know you was the poh-leece!") is tried every day, and the only reason it fails 99% of the time is because it is usually glaringly obvious that the defendant is full of poo. In this scenario, though, that is not at all the case.

Mike