Friday, July 25, 2008

Another Look at Freeport Gun Seizure

A member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp. is suing Nassau County to get back nine rifles and 15 handguns seized from his Freeport home by police after he made repeated visits to the office of Rep. Carolyn McCarthy to complain about what he believed to be "illegal aliens" in his neighborhood.

Aides to McCarthy (D-Mineola), whose husband was one of six people slain by Colin Ferguson in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre, eventually called police, which led to the seizure of the weapons.
"Freeport gun seizure." Now there's an oxymoron.

We discussed this story the other day.

I've been in touch with Mr. Razzano. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with him yesterday afternoon, and he briefed me on the background of the case as well as sent me some corroborating information. Here's the thing: because there is a case pending, we need to make sure his legal interests are protected and not jeopardized by premature or imprudent disclosures. As such, I've promised him that no information will be released here without his express consent, allowing him to vet things with his lawyer to make certain our desire to share the truth doesn't harm his chances of having his property returned or that his ability to obtain justice isn't diminished.

I'd also like to add that I was the one who volunteered presenting things this way--Mr. Razzano made no demands. I don't want to be responsible for hurting someone I'm trying to help.

It's a story of official arrogance and abuse of a citizen's rights that I still have trouble accepting, only because it is so outrageous and un-American. I hope to be able to disclose more next week, but will be playing everything by ear. All I can say now is stay tuned, and please understand the need for these self-imposed constraints.

In the mean time, after reading the title-linked NewsDay piece, feel free to leave a comment on their site--the more reader interest they see, the greater the likelihood they'll stay on top of this story.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

David, you if I have this correct are saying that you believe the guy was hosed having heard his side of things. The dots connect and fill in the missing pieces.
OK fine, see if you can get his lawyer/s to release a statement to you once they have everything filed.
This could be what we need to show this woman is off the deep end and is working against guns/the Constitution out of pure hate trying to revenge her husband's death.
Personally, she should demand that lawful people carry and the federal government do something about illegals in this country.

Kent McManigal said...

When someone approaches government to send them after someone else, they shouldn't be surprised when the beast bites them, as well. Do you want to keep your guns bad enough that you will refrain from using government against the other guy? If not, welcome to the USSA.

Anonymous said...

Things we we like to know when possible:

Was he ever charged with a crime. NY Post reported "disruptive and threatening". Is that Disorderly Conduct or Assault?

What was on the affadavit used to secure the search warrant used to take the guns? Or does NY have some weird govt-can-take-em-whenever-it-wants-law?

Anonymous said...

Kent,

I'm not sure I like what you are saying, here. Are you implying that he somehow deserved what the corrupt State representative did to him? Are you implying that somehow demanding that the goverment employees do their jobs according to law and the Constitution is an illicit "use of the State against" someone else? Are you implying that being opposed to the presence of illegal aliens in this country is immoral?

If the following facts are true, then I believe you gots some 'splainin' to do.

1) Mr. Razzano appears to have requested (or demanded) that an elected representative of the State actually do her job.

2) The State (in the form of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security, all overseen by Ms. McCarthy's organization, the House of Representatives) has assumed all authority and jurisdiction over the admittance and conduct of aliens in the US.

3) Mr. Razzano is specifically prohibited from engaging in any law enforcement actions himself, or in concert with others.

4) The only legal option Mr. Razzano has is to complain to his State Representative that the job is not being done.

So, to take your statement and it's implications to their logical extreme, the proper exercise of the right of the people to petition for redress of grievances is a valid reason for the representatives of the State to enter the petitioner's domicile and seize the petitioner's property, without probable cause, arraignment, indictment, or conviction. And you are okay with that because the immoral, racist, statist bastard tried to sic the government "beast" on some poor, helpless, "undocumented workers" who were just trying to make a better life for themselves.

How does this square with your aggressively anarchistic libertarian principles? Or was your post just a thoughtless, reflexive attack on government?