Citizen said: SCOTUS said McFadden was justified, in relevant part, because according to SCOTUS it is reasonable for a cop to investigate suspicious activity, which in Terry's particular case was a "possible crime about to occur".
Goes back to previous threads (find them Citizen!) debating if carrying a gun constitutes suspicion. Under the law, I say no.
"Crime about to occur". Crime is the important word. Mere OC is not, without something more, enough to cause suspicion--I'm not stating law. In
Florida vs JL, SCOTUS expressly declined to make a gun exception to the standard Terry analysis, meaning the misgovernment wanted the court to make an exception for guns because...well...just because. The court expressly said no. That was Ruth Bader Ginsburg who wrote that opinion, by the way. Go figure.
The
only time I have ever heard of OC being ruled as even
contributing to suspicion was a VA case where cops had set up a drug-buy sting operation near an apartment building. The fuzz command post was in the building laundry room. Guy walks up to his building,
handgun in his hand. Cop claimed he was concerned for he and his fellow command post laundry room campers. They seized the guy, searched him, and found drugs and too much money. The court (VA Supreme or Appeals) ruled the intial seizure of his person legal. But, the OC was not the sole element. Safety (gun), drug area, maybe night time, were additional elements. Also, his gun was hand-carried, not holstered, but I don't think the majority mentions that as a point.
The dissent was interesting. Two things stand out in my memory. The dissent pointed out the misgovernment only proved that the defendant walked into his own building where he lived, legally carrying a gun. And, that without a CHP, that was the legal way for the guy to carry the gun.
I cannot recall the name of the case. I'll hunt for it.
The main point is that 1) carry is a fundamental human right 2) is recognized as a right in VA, and 3) it can't possibly give suspicion all by itself if it is a recognized right.
