Posted on 05/16/2012 5:01:03 AM PDT by marktwain
Sean Combs, the 18-year-old Troy High School senior who was arrested by Birmingham Police last month while walking through downtown Birmingham with a rifle slung over his shoulder, is set to attend an evidentiary hearing in three weeks after attending a pre-trial hearing Tuesday afternoon in front of Judge Marc Barron in 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills.
Combs pleaded not guilty May 1 on charges of brandishing a firearm, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer – all misdemeanor offenses that each carry a maximum 93-day sentence and $500 fine.
Combs' attorney, Jim Makowski, said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case entirely within the next couple weeks, saying Birmingham Police violated Combs' rights when they stopped him without cause.
"I think Birmingham Police just didn't like what he was doing, and I think what they did was wrong," said Makowski, who specializes in Second Amendment law.
Makowski said all the other charges would be void if the stop itself were unconstitutional, which he believes it was. Once Makowski files the motion to dismiss, the city of Birmingham has seven days to respond.
Meanwhile, Combs maintains he was wrongfully arrested and fully within his legal rights to openly carry the loaded M1 Garand rifle, which he had recently received as a gift from his parents for his 18th birthday.
"I'm pretty confident," Combs said. "Not overly confident, because anything can happen, but I think it's going to be definitely arguable, if nothing else."
A hearing date has not yet been set.
This is how much things have changed, it used to be fairly common to see someone carrying a long gun in town. They might be taking a new gun home or taking a gun in to a gunsmith or just walking to a neighbor’s house to show someone what they have. Nobody paid any attention, I can even remember high school students showing long guns to others on the school grounds. If a student drove his own vehicle he might display a rifle or shotgun in the rear window. As for knives I had a teacher borrow my pocketknife at least as early as fourth grade. Boys used to play games with pocketknives on the school ground in grade school. I never remember anyone cutting someone though.
Hmmm...carrying a rifle slung over your back is “brandishing?” when you draw a weapon from its holster
and point it, you are ‘brandishing.’ When you unsheath a knife and threaten, you are ‘brandishing.’
There used to be a time when law enforcement in this country weren’t afraid of a citizen with a weapon. They were confident in their abilities to do their jobs even given the numbers of citizens who openly carried.
We are a far, far cry from that today. About all you see in the media today are LEOs who armor-up in the most ridiculous assault gear possible, mostly to shoot some poor family’s dog or to shoot someone 83 times because it looked like he had a gun, or to shoot an 80 something year old grandma who tried to protect herself with an old revolver as the Atlanta drug squad mistakenly invaded her home. There are way to many stories like this.
I had dinner with a Canadian co-worker last night. The topic of guns came up and she said the thought of owning or using a gun was simply foreign to her. I asked what she would do if someone invaded her home. She said, “run or stab them with scissors but I would have to be careful not to kill them or else I would go to prison.”
Isn’t a defenseless society grand? For criminals...
Heaven forbid that he should see a long, lean, 160 pound, fifty year old carpenter openly carrying a claw hammer, who knows what he might have on his mind. I think on average I would rather be shot than attacked with a claw hammer. How about some of these huge bodybuilders who bench 500 pounds, they should not be allowed to openly display their muscles, who knows what state of mind they might be in. They should not be allowed on the street unless handcuffed behind the back. Oh, and another thing, young track stars who run very fast should have to wear a ball and chain so they can’t run up to an old man like me and hit me and then run away.
The 'Y' was located right in the center of downtown Syracuse, NY, across the street from the public library. One street away from City Hall and police headquarters. I'm pretty sure some of the kids took city busses to get to the 'Y' and carried their rifles with them.
Now, that 'Y' is closed and nearly abandoned. So's the library. It was a beautiful building with marble staircases, bronze statues, beveled glass windows on interior doors and partitions. The drinking fountains were built in to niches in the marble walls. Now it's permanently locked up. I don't know if it's been vandalized inside.
I think there may be some sort of relationship between these things, at least on a karmic level.
No more shooting range in the 'Y', no more ornate central public library across the street either.
So true.
I'd add that we used to have to check our (cap) gunbelts at the door of (a private) kindergarten (no K in the public schools).
There was a time in this country when local, paid law enforcement, for all practical purposes, didn’t even exist.
Yes. There were sheriffs.
But the posses he might assemble were civilians.
And people were familiar enough with the law to do the prosecutions themselves. It wasn’t “DA’s” filing criminal charges for “The State”, people, sometimes the victims, would file criminal charges themselves.
Someone with a badge wanted a Garand, too!
I can remember years ago I lived in a n area of DC known as Congress Hghts., I had an older friend who owned several firearms. We used to walk from Congress Hghts to Fort Simms, a National Gaurd unit, and use their range located off the forts grounds. We were never stopped by police or even questioned even while carrying several firearms openly in public. These included 1918 Colt 45, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, German Luger, 12 ga shotgun, Colt 45, .357, NAvy Cap and Ball.
And I was like 14 at the time.......
I think we need to take another long and critical look at the gun laws passed in 1968 and subsequent years. This is ridiculous.
Mumbly Peg
I don’t think there should be any restrictions on anyone not in prison. If they’re a threat, they should be in prison, if not, they should be free, PERIOD.
I wonder if the writer of that comment could point to the part of the constitution guaranteeing her the right not to suffer from subjective fear. I can’t find it.
My husband and his cousins carried shotguns to school so they could go hunting on the way home. No problem. Of course that is back in the day, when kids understood their actions brought consequences.
“There used to be a time when law enforcement in this country weren’t afraid of a citizen with a weapon. They were confident in their abilities to do their jobs even given the numbers of citizens who openly carried” yeah since WHEN. COPS have ALWAYS been Gun-Grabbin PUSSIES!
With this kind of logic... Every martial artist needs to be imprisoned... for being a weapon and might hurt someone.
I don’t think that’s true in all cases. There are some LEOs, the ones in my town for example, who aren’t the macho assault troop sort. A few of them even carry revolvers.
A couple have even been in my basement where I practice my ‘hobby’ (once when I was away and my wife had them search the house when the alarm went off). Had this been up North somewhere you’d have seen an article where some gun nut’s ‘arsenal’ had been seized. It’s been 2 years since that time and nary a word from them. I don’t wanna say ‘Mayberry’ but it is reminiscent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.