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Home > News & Columns > Dave Henderson > Are Nazis at your door?

Are Nazis at your door?

By Dave Henderson
Saturday, March 15, 2008

You are sitting at the dinner table with your family eating the latest incarnation of meatloaf and taters. The doorbell rings and you proceed to answer it. To your surprise, there are two armed police officers standing at your door. They tell you, "Sir, we are conducting door to door searches for illegal guns. We are asking for consent to search your home. If you sign this release you will receive amnesty for any contraband we may find in your home."

You are now faced with a life-altering decision. If you stand by your convictions and beliefs in the constitution and that you have rights, they will assume that you must be hiding something. If you let them search, they will have the right to look through all of your personal possessions to which they have no legal right to do. If you say, "No," will they come back with a search warrant and kick your door in with a SWAT team?

Does this sound intimidating to you? How would you respond? After all, you have nothing to hide, right?

"But this is America! We have rights and this can't happen!"

Well folks, that is exactly what is planned to begin on March 24, 2008, in Washington D.C. Some other cities, like Boston and Philadelphia, think this is such a good idea they are planning their own invasion of our privacy.

I know some of you are thinking, "What has Dave been smoking? This can't be happening in America. What about the Fourth Amendment? Common Sense? The ACLU? Good old American ideals? Apple pie and hot dogs? This just can't be true!"

I can tell you no, I have not been smoking anything; and no, I'm not some paranoid right-wing lunatic. I'm also as pro law enforcement as one can get and this does not reflect on our local deputies. I must ask, however, did the mayor and chief of police in D.C. study the same constitution that I did?

On March 12, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced the "Safe Homes Initiative for the District of Colombia". It is a door-to-door search program to confiscate and destroy handguns. This is despite arguments pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the constitutionality of its ban on the ownership of firearms in Washington D.C.

The program is scheduled to start March 24 in the Washington Highlands area of southeast Washington. Officers will go door-to-door seeking permission to search homes for weapons. Police later plan to visit other areas, including sections of Columbia Heights in the northwest and Eckington in the northeast.

Homeowners and renters who agree to allow the search will be asked to sign consent forms. If guns are found, they will be tested to determine whether they were used in any crimes. If the results are positive, police will launch investigations, which could lead to charges, according to a Washington Post article.

The Post article also quotes Arthur B. Spitzer, legal director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union, as saying the program is "a very bad idea." He said officers might act so aggressively that residents feel coerced into letting them in. "It sends the message to the public that the police ought to be able to search your house anytime for any reason," Spitzer said. "People will be intimidated. That cheapens civil liberties and privacy for everyone." For once in my life, I agree with the ACLU.

Do these paragraphs ring any bells?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

How about:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The Washington D.C. Police have also set up a tip line where citizens can call in by phone or send text messages to inform police about suspected illegal guns.

Do I understand this right? All you need to do is text a message to the police, and your neighbor is investigated? Does this remind anyone of Nazi Germany? It definitely reminds me of the Hitler era!

To clear up a point, in Washington D.C. any handgun is considered illegal because of a city law strictly restricting the possession of handguns and places strict controls on long guns.

Attorneys for Dick Anthony Heller, a security guard who is licensed to carry a firearm on his job, sued to overturn Washington's law that prohibits citizens from owning or having handguns on the grounds that the law violated his constitutional rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

Other residents joined in the suit, claiming their Second Amendment rights to own a gun and protect their families. Washington D.C. has one of the nation's highest violent crime rates. A district court judge rejected their claims, but in 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled the amendment also protects the right of individuals to privately own guns. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments March 18, 2008.

So has this country stooped to treating everyone as if they are a criminal while the ultimate problem is the real criminals who are treated as if they are the victims of our evil society? That appears to be the mentality of these city officials.

But wait — I'm not done telling you about this lunacy.

In Berlin, Wisconsin (not Germany), David Olofson, an 16-year Army veteran, loaned a legally purchased, 20-year-old AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to a friend who was considering buying it. This friend took the rifle to a local range and shot about 800 rounds of ammo through the weapon when the weapon malfunctioned. This malfunction caused the gun to fire more then one round at a time thus acting like a fully automatic weapon.

A few days later a SWAT team, the BATF, and local law enforcement raided Olofson's home. They broke down his door with a battering ram, confiscated his guns, computers, personal papers, and other items they felt could incriminate him in this "Crime". He was arrested, charged, and convicted of illegally transferring a MACHINE GUN.

The gun had not been altered it simply malfunctioned! This is not uncommon in older guns. It happened to me with a pistol. All it needed was a new sear.

Due to his conviction, Olofson has been kicked out of the Army reserve lost his job and now awaits his sentence for a felony conviction which could place the veteran in prison for many years. For more of the story, see Freedom under fire.

I ask, "Who are the criminals here?"

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Dave Henderson is the Vice-President of Operations for RIMOFTHEWORLD.net and it's parent company Vicinitas, LLC. Dave is the commercial and operational manager for the site.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Dave Henderson.