HELP...I need Legal advice, maybe a Lawyers number

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Do any of you guys know a local/competent Lawyer in my neighborhood...who I could put on retainer... to help me protect my rights??
I am an old man (close to 60), I have a CHL and I own a house ina suburb of Dallas. A short while back I was busy in my front yard, painting my house, when all of a sudden a cop car came screeching upto a halt, a young policeman jumped out, ran towards me, screamed a question... "DO YOU HAVE A GUN?"... and at the same time, he grabs his own gun with his right hand !!

My heart jumped into my throat, I @#$% myself,pissed my pants, dropped my paint can and my paint brush, and turned around with my arms in the air. "Where's Your Gun?" heyells while he is frisking me down. I tell him that I do have a CHL, but my gun is inside my house. About that time two more cop cars come screeching up and two more policemen join in. I was glad to see them get there...they were older and probably more experienced than the original cop...and I was hopefull that their presence would make the original young cop more comfortable, and maybe he would take hishand off of his gun!?

Now that I had some witnesses, I felt more comfortable about demanding to know whatwas going on!? He says to me..."We got a report that you were BRANDISHING A GUN !!"

I said... "Well it's obvious that I am not. But let me ask you this... what are you going to do about the person who filed a false police report? Isn't that a Felony?" He argued with me that it was just a misdemeanor...technically he was right...it becomes a felony once I get the person to court; but he would not tell me who made this false police report...what a bunch of bulldooky.

Of course I knew who made the call...I have a crazy old fat ugly neighbor lady who had made two previous "false police reports". She also twice tried sending hillbilly relatives over to "beat me up" and repeatedly sicked her dogs on me, and I toldher one day that I had a CHL, and thatshe should consider that whenshe thinks about messing with me. There is nothing that retarded Bullies hate more...than finding out that their intended victim, is carrying a gun.

I told those three cops that they HAD to do something to stop her harassment of me, but the young one just acted obviously angry, he tried to take it out on me...and started in with A FORMAL INTERROGATION...asking me the pointed questions they need answered to take you downtown..."WHATS YOUR FULL NAME, WHATS YOUR PHONE NUMBER, HAVE YOU HAD ANYTHING TO DRINK, ETC"

I refused to answer... I was in the right, and he was wrong!! I refused to take part in his INTERROGATION... I was on my own property... I own this house... it is paid for... this is my property... and in the State of Texas... it is not against the law to carry a gun on your belt...UNconcealed...if you want to...on your own property. My front yard, my back yard...I don't have to conceal my gun...on my own property...if I don't want to!! The whole concept of him accusing me of "Brandishing a Gun", while I was standing on my own property (even though I was unarmed???)... was legally wrong!!!!!

He got pissed off when I refused to participate in his interrogation. The three of them got back in their cars and sped off.

I got pissed off and sent several emails to the Chief of Police.

I got no reply. I guess their attorney toldhim not to reply, because of possible litigation!? That really pisses me off, that grown men don't have the character to admit when they are wrong. I had no intention of going to court over this. But now I am worried that maybe... maybe I should?... just to protect myself. There are a lot of "Policemen" who are just pissed off about Texas Gun Laws that allow citizens to carry and protect themselves. In a way, I don't blame them, but on the other hand... I sure as hell don't appreciate being ROUSTED in my own front yard, in front of God and Country!!!

Do any of you guys know a local/competent Lawyer in my neighborhood...who I could put on retainer... to help me protect my rights??

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I don't... just wanted to say kudos to you for sticking up for yourself.

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ironclad wrote:

I toldher one day that I had a CHL, and thatshe should consider that whenshe thinks about messing with me.

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Not smart.

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If you have no documented the incidents with your neighbor, do so. Keep it updated.

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I am not a lawyer. Please check with one before trying any of my suggestions. I am not liable, etc.

However, the Texas Open Records Act might be your friend. I'd start by sending a formal request for the police report(s) pursuant to the Texas Open Records Act, sent certified mail, return receipt requested.

Go to the station, demand an official complaint form. TAKE IT HOME, do NOT fill it out and hand it in in person - it could disappear into the round file. Fill it out at home, swear out an affidavit of FACTS (who/what/when/where/why/how), sign it in front of a notary, MAKE COPIES for your records, and send itcertified mail, return receipt requested. But understand that doing this might gain you unwanted attention from your local PD, and it may be advantageous to mount a videocam in your car ala Darrow...

Document the daylights out of everything. Install surveillance cameras around your home. Sue the heck out of your crazy neighbor. Take out a peace bond to start the documentation trail.

Google 'Texas Open Records Acts', 'Texas Peace Bond'

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To All of You,

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Sincerely, thank you very much! This is something that has always troubled me, ever since the very first day that I put my CHL into my wallet and my handgun into my holster... when it comes to the LEGAL ASPECTS of carrying a gun or pulling a trigger, most of us are woefully untrained and uneducated. We even find it very hard to get a list of local lawyers who share like-minded attitudes, who might educate us and protect our rights. Why is this?Maybe I just haven't finished my research yet? I shall continue; ...appreciate past comments and look forward to future suggestions...about legal issues simplified and/or local lawyers to put on retainer.

Regards,

Ironclad

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You're welcome!

Oh, and: once you have a competent attorney, see if you have sufficient grounds to bring a civil rights action against the cop.

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I think a civil rights action sounds a tad extreme. A trip down to the precinct to talk to the officer's superiors seems to me to be a reasonable solution. The LEO needs to be trained to not over react. If the cop was green, he was probably over zealous. We have all been a little big in our britches at some point or another.

This of course is just my humble opinion. I always start with the most level headed, reasonable sounding route. That way - if I don't get satisfaction and am forced to put on my :cuss: face - I can say, "look...I tried to be nice about this first".


Had our original poster been arrested and tossed in the slammer, I would feel considerably different.

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don't make excuses

do everything in your power to hurt them, its the only thing they will respond to.

making complains to masters rarely results in any positive action

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Ironclad, by his description of what he told the officers...wasn't complaining to his "masters"...he was directing his "servants"As an ex-cop, I'm fully aware that a rookie is a dangerous thing...and the fact that you stood up to them and didn't let their officious attitude cause you to cower...that's good...

Still, the call of "A man with a gun" has to be dealt with...but not with a pistol pointed at a paintbrush......the advice to get the report is good...that will remind them better than your emails, which the chief may not have seen, that you're documenting things...a simple composition book with details, times, dates, etc...will come in handy should she ever stir up trouble again...and, most importantly, I'd not talk to her about the weather, much less anything else...I have a surly neighbor I see about 8 times a week...never say a word...no chance for trouble....

I hope you learned something by this unfunny circumstance...that you have no business painting your house...when you could be out shooting...or taking a nap...or something else worthwhile..

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Mr Sheepdog, thanks for your "backup"... I appreciate your understanding of rookies ...and I appreciate you sense of humor... I laughed my butt off when I considered your suggestions for something better to do than painting my house!

However...THIS REALLY WAS NOT A FUNNY SITUATION ! I appreciate that you are a former officer. Having said that,my question might seemredundant, but I have to ask... what was your reaction?...the last time that somebody came running up on you, screaming at you, pulling a gun on you?? Maybe it's never happened to you?...so maybe you don't know what it feels like? I was not exaggerating or trying to be funny when I said that I Sh-- myself and pissed my pants. There was absolutely nothing funny about it. This is not something that can be forgotten or forgiven, for as long as I live !!

This forum here, as we consider"open carry laws", should consider my experience as a very pertinent example of whether or not "open carry laws" will be respected !? If our local police departments will notrespect our rights as landowners/homeowners/citizens of Texas... what makes you think they will support our rights if ... if we do get laws passed to allow us OPEN CARRY?? If I can't even carry a holstered gun on my own property, without being threatened with Imminant Death/Lethal Forcefrom law enforcement, WHAT MAKES ANY OF US THINK THAT IF AN OPEN-CARRY LAW IS PASSED...THAT WE WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO BEING SHOT DOWN BY OUR LOCAL POLICE FORCE ????

If you are a landowner in Texas, and standing on your own property (front yard or backyard)... you are legally entitled to carry a holstered gun!! This is TEXAS!! As long as you are standing on your own property, and you have not unholstered your gun... you are Legal. So... let me tell you where the problem comes from...

THE MORTGAGE FIASCO... Texas is being invaded, of course, by indigentillegal aliens from south of the border, but what is worse,with failed mortgages nationwide, is the indigent/carpetbagger/Yankees who are coming to Texas from... California, Massachusettes, New York, Connecticut, etc etc. These people do not understand Texas, they do not agree with our attitudes or our gun laws, and some of them even getjobs working for local police departments!?? They move in next door to us and become our bitching neighbors. They file illegal false police reports against innocent people. They tell lies to 911 operators. They think, in their own minds, that their attitudes about gun lawsin Texas should prevail. They don't care what we feel and they don't care what our lawmakers in Austin have decided. These out-of-state bastards who have moved here are treating Texans like doormats... and I say..."DON'T TREAD ON ME !!!" I say... "REMEMBER THE ALAMO".

If I can't carry a holstered gun on my own property, when it is currently legal, without being threatened with DEATH by the local police... what makes any of us think, that if we can get an OPEN-CARRY LAW passed... that we won'tlikewise be threatened with DEATH by the local police, every time they see us??

The District Attorney of Harris County, down in Houston (he was probably from California!??)... he recently got his ass fired because he was one of those left-wing leberals who did not agree with the new Texas Law HB1815...the "anti-hijacking law" that allows people to carry in their glove compartment without a permit. I personally HATE AND DISAGREE COMPLETELY with this stupid law... BUT... I am not a cop and I certainly am not a District Attorney!If I was... a cop or a district attorney, then I would feel obligated... to FOLLOW THE LAW!! This DA told his cops down in Houston to... "just continue to arrest anyone with a gun! I don't care what the law says! Let me worry about it! I'llwork it out in the courtroom! Just put them all in jail and @#$% them over, and I'll take it from there!!" Well... he is unemployed now!!... arrogant bastard!!

LET'S FACE IT... LAWS ARE OFTEN... BENT, BROKEN, IGNORED,or CORRUPTED... by law enforcement. This is also part of our Texas Heritage and I support everything Texan, even the parts that are not perfect... so I hesitate tocomplain about it... this is the way it has always been in Texas... local Texas law enforcement can become territorial/sometimes illegal/and always dangerous. But having said all of this... I have to add... to this forum about being Pro-Open-Carry... Iwonder if this law will ever be passed. And even if it is passed, I know it will not be respected by local police depts. I would feel more comfortable walking down the street with my wacker hanging out of my zipper, than I would...open-carrying a gun on any streetin any city in TEXAS!?!?!? Doesn't matter if it is legal or not. Not in Texas... local cops and local lawyers decide what is "legal" in Texas... they don't care what thelawmakers in Austin decide. And I'm not going to be... a Dead Martyr, for the Cause!!

So, I say, finally... I am going to continue to be constantly armed and dangerous!! But as a CHL holder, I will continue to try my best to hide my weapons... I guess, even on my own property so that I don't alarm my Yankee/California neighbors...screw them, I just wish they would go back where they came from, where theirleft-wing gun laws fit their pansy wimpy sensibilities.

But, since this is Christmas Eve... I say Peace on Earth... and remember that Jesus was not a pansy (like Yankees and Californians are!)... Jesus was the one who walked into the Temple... and kicked the crapp out of the "money-changers". Yes,Jesus was the Prince of Peace... but he also could open up a can of whoopass, when he had to. Let us all follow, in his example...

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Ironclad I had an idea but not sure if it exists due to the fact that I am sitting here in the freezing Great White North.

You could contact NRA and ask them if they have a list of pro-gun lawyers in the Dallas area who could help you.

Hope this helps and good luck with everything.

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I agree with Sleepless. The NRA loves to get involved in these kinds of things. I can only assume you're a member, but if not, I would become one. If the NRA is a little "wishy-washy" you might consider the Gun Owners of America. Those guys are no holds barred 2nd Amendment. Where the NRA might give up a couple of things on legislation to advance the rights of gun owners, the GOA is like a pit bull and doesn't give up anything. In fact, the GOA may have a list of attorney's as well.

I also like FreedomJoyAdventure's recommendation. Make sure you right down any dealings with your adversary and don't go out of your way to talk to the neighbor. Get copies of all the PD reports. Make sure you're very specific in your log. Right down date, time, subject, and summary of the conversation. Don't leave out facts...you may need them later on in court.

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Sleepless wrote:

Ironclad I had an idea but not sure if it exists due to the fact that I am sitting here in the freezing Great White North.

You could contact NRA and ask them if they have a list of pro-gun lawyers in the Dallas area who could help you.

Hope this helps and good luck with everything.

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Sleepless,

Thanks for your response, and support. I will follow up on your suggestion.

And... please accept my apology for my having to have written a diatribe about how everybody North/East/or West of Texas was a wimp Yankee. When I got your response from... "the Frozen Great White North"... I realized, and was ashamed that I might have insulted a lot of really good people!! For that matter, I bet there are plenty of really good, strong, patriotic men from even California or New York!??

My Texas attitude gets the better of me, sometimes. Being a strong/righteous man doesnt really have a geographic definition... for that matter, I know a lot of Native Texans who allow their wives to keep their balls in a dixie-cup, locked away in a wall safe!! Both of my sisters trained/pussy-whipped their husbands/my brothers in laws that ..."there will be no guns in our house!!". So... here is Kudos to all the good men, in every state, in the Great White North, or wherever!

IronClad

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ironclad wrote:

Sleepless wrote:

Ironclad I had an idea but not sure if it exists due to the fact that I am sitting here in the freezing Great White North.

You could contact NRA and ask them if they have a list of pro-gun lawyers in the Dallas area who could help you.

Hope this helps and good luck with everything.

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Sleepless,

Thanks for your response, and support. I will follow up on your suggestion.

And... please accept my apology for my having to have written a diatribe about how everybody North/East/or West of Texas was a wimp Yankee. When I got your response from... "the Frozen Great White North"... I realized, and was ashamed that I might have insulted a lot of really good people!! For that matter, I bet there are plenty of really good, strong, patriotic men from even California or New York!??

My Texas attitude gets the better of me, sometimes. Being a strong/righteous man doesnt really have a geographic definition... for that matter, I know a lot of Native Texans who allow their wives to keep their balls in a dixie-cup, locked away in a wall safe!! Both of my sisters trained/pussy-whipped their husbands/my brothers in laws that ..."there will be no guns in our house!!". So... here is Kudos to all the good men, in every state, in the Great White North, or wherever!

IronClad

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Let's not cast women into a bad light, sir..lol. For every good man in the world there is a good woman somewhere too. A woman who allows her man to not just retain his balls, but is happy to remind him to use them now and again.

A man who allows himself to be "trained" to go against his nature wasn't much of a man to begin with, I'd wager, and what exactly does that say about what kind of women your sisters are?

Let's just say Kudos to good people in every state, in the Great White North, or wherever and leave it at that.

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Miracle wrote:

what exactly does that say about what kind of women your sisters are?

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I'm not sure, Mr (or Ms)Miracle... :cuss:WHAT'S IT SAY ABOUT YO MOMMA !??

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ironclad wrote:

Miracle wrote:

what exactly does that say about what kind of women your sisters are?

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I'm not sure, Mr (or Ms)Miracle... :cuss:WHAT'S IT SAY ABOUT YO MOMMA !??

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lol..Mrs. Miracle.

And you didn't answer my question..

My mama however is quite proud of her daughter and is very glad I am gun savvy.

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Dear Mrs. Miracle,

In all sincerity...I am so proud of you...a female gun-toting, positive attitudinous full grown woman, who is actively involved in this blog/website and probably also involved in voting likewise... you see, you are very very important to the future of our gun rights!! ... and all of our rights!!

Big Hairy Men can rant and raive all they want, about our constitutional rights and our gun rights being stripped from us... and all that happens is the liberal radicals discount us men as being "rednecked hillbillys". BUT... when WOMEN get involved, and voice their opinions... then the tide turns, in a big way.

I want you to understand... how much POWER you have, as a woman, involved in this fight. Every time that you (as a woman) sends an email to our Congressmen... or for that fact... to anyone... you are "blowing peoples minds".

The next time that you send an email to a Congressman, or a newspaper editor, or to just anyone... make sure that you make it a point... that you are a proud, gun-toting... "WOMAN"!!!!

All of us, in this movement, ... are working so hard, to get our women involved... so that we can make the "California Lesbians Against Guns Movement"... sound as rediculous, as they are!!!

Good for you... Mrs Miracle!! I am so glad to hear that another full grown, attitudinous, well-informed WOMAN... is on our side... and speaking her mind!!

Keep it up... and do us a favor... you have power, as a woman... keep sending your emails to Washington... keep sending your emails to Austin... as a Woman... you are getting attention, that you might not realize.

You Are... a Miracle !!

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ironclad wrote:

Dear Mrs. Miracle,

In all sincerity...I am so proud of you...a female gun-toting, positive attitudinous full grown woman, who is actively involved in this blog/website and probably also involved in voting likewise... you see, you are very very important to the future of our gun rights!! ... and all of our rights!!

Big Hairy Men can rant and raive all they want, about our constitutional rights and our gun rights being stripped from us... and all that happens is the liberal radicals discount us men as being "rednecked hillbillys". BUT... when WOMEN get involved, and voice their opinions... then the tide turns, in a big way.

I want you to understand... how much POWER you have, as a woman, involved in this fight. Every time that you (as a woman) sends an email to our Congressmen... or for that fact... to anyone... you are "blowing peoples minds".

The next time that you send an email to a Congressman, or a newspaper editor, or to just anyone... make sure that you make it a point... that you are a proud, gun-toting... "WOMAN"!!!!

All of us, in this movement, ... are working so hard, to get our women involved... so that we can make the "California Lesbians Against Guns Movement"... sound as rediculous, as they are!!!

Good for you... Mrs Miracle!! I am so glad to hear that another full grown, attitudinous, well-informed WOMAN... is on our side... and speaking her mind!!

Keep it up... and do us a favor... you have power, as a woman... keep sending your emails to Washington... keep sending your emails to Austin... as a Woman... you are getting attention, that you might not realize.

You Are... a Miracle !!

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Thank you and Thank you.

I make zero bones about being being pro gun and pro safety/knowledge/training. When people stop fearing things...great strides can be made.

keep us posted if the NRA has anything to report.