Millstone Township, New Jersey – -(Ammoland.com)- An Army veteran father says State Police tried to confiscate his firearms without a court order or warrant just because his son was overheard discussing school shooting news with a classmate.
Police said their visit was sparked by a conversation that Leonard Cottrell Jr.’s 13-year-old son had had with another student at the school. Cottrell said he was told his son and the other student were discussing security being lax and what they would have to do to escape a school shooting at Millstone Middle School.
The conversation was overheard by another student, who went home and told his parents, and his mother panicked. The mom then contacted the school, which contacted the State Police, according to Cottrell.
The visit from the troopers came around 10 p.m. on June 14, 2018, Cottrell said, a day after Gov. Phil Murphy signed several gun enforcement bills into law.
After several hours, Cottrell said police agreed not to take the guns but to allow him to move them to another location while the investigation continued.
“They had admitted several times that my son made no threat to himself or other students or the school or anything like that,” he said.
Cottrell said he made it very clear to the police that he was “not going to willingly give up my constitutional rights where there’s no justifiable cause, no warrants, no nothing.”
The troopers searched his son’s room and found nothing, Cottrell said.
“To appease everybody, I had my firearms stored someplace else,” he said. “That way, during the course of the investigation, my son doesn’t have access to them and it’s on neutral ground and everything and everybody’s happy.”
Major Brian Polite, a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police, stated that the troopers that conducted the investigation determined there was no need for the weapons to be seized. He also said he could not comment on whether the incident was related to the new gun laws.
“In the Garden State, the usual approach is to confiscate first and ask questions later, and victims of this approach often don’t know their rights.  ‎In this case, the victim pushed back and confiscation was avoided — but the circumstances surrounding the incident are outrageous. A student expressing concern over lack of security is not a reason to send police to the student’s home — but it might be a reason to send police to the school to keep students and teachers safe” said Scott L. Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs and a member of the NRA board of directors.
Cottrell said if the school had contacted him and talked about what had happened instead of going to the police first, “it would have been worked out right then and there.” He said he also would have understood if he’d gotten a call from the State Police to learn more, instead of the late night visit to his home.
They didn’t respect his rights. They are New Jersey government workers. Such concepts aren’t in their training. The fact that they showed up is complete nonsense. The snitch should be fined for wasting people’s time and money.
Sorry those officers without warrants would never get in my home, or get anywhere near my firearms with out meeting resistance! Up to and including filling body bags for violating my constitutional rights which the constitution gives me the right to defend! Don’t get me wrong I pray to live my life in peace as a law abiding citizen. I will not let the government violate my constitutional rights. I don’t understand how people allow states like Mass, CT. NY. IL. and CA to violate them and people there just suck it up?
Badges? We don’t need no stinkin badges.
Whoose Kid Got Scared ( no safe space)
Went Home and Cried to Momma !
They Talked About Guns and Stuff ! I got Scared !
Too many Mamby Pamby Kids Now Days !
Parents Raise Lifetime Tit Suckers Today !
KEEP THE PUSSY HOME TILL HE GROWS A PAIR !
I’m sorry but what am I missing here…where is the pushback when he let the NJ brownshirts search his sons room warrantless? Without warrant they would not be in my house unless they beat the shit out of me which I never put past cops. And I, like Jakk above would have been homeschooling a long time ago. What is referred to as school these days is nothing more than paranoid, liberal indoctrination camps teaching what the politically correct narrative is, leaving out or perverting the truth.
The level of hysteria currently being whipped up by leftists is creating unnecessary but dangerous confrontations. As it grows, the probability increases that an officer or homeowner might be injured or killed. This incident demonstrates how professionals can be momentarily swayed to ignore their training and stupidly put themselves in harms way, or vice versa. The law was poorly crafted, devoid of due process and could easily be improved for both sides to soften their rhetoric. A court may order an analysis and documentation with two written, signed opinions by licensed psychiatrists. If they find this 13-year-old is a danger… Read more »