St Petersburg FL cops unveil gun bounty for Assault Weapons and other guns

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http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/con...-pete-police-unveil-gun-bounty-program-today/

I take it the 4th Amend no longer applies in St. Pete if the local cops can get your neighbors to tell them you have an "assault weapon" or other gun, then pin a charge on you for it. This is going to cause a lot of false call in's to 911 as neighbors rush to call each other in.

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If any of these "assault weapons" are actually confiscated/turned in, I wonder how many will end up in their inventory vs. being destroyed via the usual evidence disposal.

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So this is what they do as opposed to real police work of cracking down on the gangs. Sorry, this smells of BS.

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Who, exactly, are they targeting? The criminals with guns, or law abiding gun owners?

If they are after anyone who has a gun, this sounds like a declaration of war.

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It doesn't say you need to be a resident, so what if you just drove the streets while in vacation in Florida and started making calls about every house. Just playing the odds, you'd be sure to get lucky on at lease twohouses. That's an easy $3k. Think of all the wasted legwork by the police. They'd be busy for weeks.

Are the guns they show in the picture illegal in Florida?

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buster81 wrote:

It doesn't say you need to be a resident, so what if you just drove the streets while in vacation in Florida and started making calls about every house. Just playing the odds, you'd be sure to get lucky on at lease twohouses. That's an easy $3k. Think of all the wasted legwork by the police. They'd be busy for weeks.

Are the guns they show in the picture illegal in Florida?

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Every gun in that pic is legal here, even that "HI-CAPACITEEEEEEEEEE OMFG!!!!!!" drum mag for the AK is legal here.

SHIT! I need to delete my avatar! :cuss::cuss::cuss::cuss::cuss::cuss:

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Vandal wrote:

http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2009/apr/24/241214/st-pete-police-unveil-gun-bounty-program-today/

I take it the 4th Amend no longer applies in St. Pete if the local cops can get your neighbors to tell them you have an "assault weapon" or other gun, then pin a charge on you for it. This is going to cause a lot of false call in's to 911 as neighbors rush to call each other in.

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I have an idea. Call 911 and give them the address of all the LEOs you know.

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With the bounty program, police will pay a $1,500 reward for every confidential tip made to Crime Stoppers of Pinellas County that leads to an arrest, a recovery of an assault weapon and a weapons charge in St. Petersburg.

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Let's say they get a tip that you've got a scary AK in your closet. Wouldn't they have to prove you've broken a law before they can actually do anything? Simply having an "assault weapon" isn't a crime in Florida is it? Unless you're a known wife beater, felon, or you have unregistered machine guns there is no probable cause to get a warrant. Even if someone did call in a tip if you aren't breaking the law they can't enter your residence to recover the weapon. Even if they did and took the weapon you haven't broken a law to be charged, and now you have grounds to ruin their day by bringing a lawsuit for the violation of your 4th amendment rights.

It seems like feel good talk from the cops.

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A friend of ours that lives in the Clearwater/Tampa area said that the actions taken by St Pete LE is aimed at the gangs in that area. The bounty is necessary to get those that live in the gang infected areas to snitch on the BG's.