RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

Hire a lawyer and bring a lawsuit against the town. That should give them a nudge to give them back to eliminate a costly trial. I agree with some of the guys who already commented. You should have handled your discharge from the academy in a different way. You hit a couple of hot buttons and the police were just doing their perceived job.

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

This the same board that you posted this in the deer hunting section, and I seriously doubt that you will get any more sympathy in the gun section. Good luck though!

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

Having been in law enforcement for several years, I know the kind of pressurecorrections officers are under, and also know the great turnover of such personnel. Corrections departments are constantly recruiting and training new folks because they just can't keep the ones they have.

However, your use of language that could make someone in authority consider that you MIGHT BE or MIGHT BECOME a danger to yourself or others, in this day and age, is bound to set off alarm bells.

I believe you are going to have to sue those who are refusing to return your guns, and in order to prevail, you will probably have to PROVE that you are NOT a danger to anyone. But, if you sue and win your case, you might be able to recover court costs, in which caseyou will ultimately recover thelawyers' fees. This is particularly true if you furnish the authorities who are holding your guns with proof that you are not unstable BEFORE going to court with your complaint, and they still force you into a lawsuit!

(Before you lay out a lot of money for legal fees, etc., I would consider the cost of merely replacing the guns with new ones - if you can pass the required Federal background check, as you claim, you should have no problems at the gun dealer's place of business. Of course, this would depend on WHAT the guns are! Did they take your grandfather's Royal Grade Holland & Holland .475 #2 double rifle, your Parker 28-gauge, or a Purdey shotgun?)

BTW, you may "know your rights" under Rhode Island law, but that will NOT keep some judge from making a decision which is apparently totally off the wall, neither logical nore in accordance with the law, AS YOU READ IT!

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

Eldeguello makes several good points.....the cost of replacing the guns may indeed be less than that of hiring a good attorney. As others have said, you made a big mistake by telling those people you felt you may harm others or yourself if you continued down this path. You really left them little or no option but to react as they did.
It seems to come down to either replacing your guns yourself, or get ready for a court fight with the possibility of an unknown outcome. If, at a court trial, you are still denied the return of your guns, it could possibly set precedent for your future denial for ownership. This is shaky ground, at best.
Whatever your decision, good luck..............

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

It stinks that they are able to do this. Bottom line is that you need to learn when to talk and when to keep your mouth shut.

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

First of all, I did not put up this post for sympathy purposes. I posted it for help. I want to thank the memebers that actually read the story, it was very long and I appreciate your time for reading it.

I know that I should not have said the things that I said, BUT LET ME TELL YOU THIS>>>>> THE TRAINING OFFICERS DEMANDED A REASON FOR ME LEAVING THE ACADEMY>>>>>> MY FIRST STATEMENT THAT I GAVE THEM WAS "THAT THE JOB WAS NOT FOR ME.">>>>>>THEY DIDN'T WANT TO HEAR THAT AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY......BECAUSE I WAS NUMBER 1 IN THE CLASS BY A MARGIN OF OVER 30 POINTS IN TEST SCORES FROM THE NEAREST PERSON DOWN. I WAS THE (FIRST) PERSON EVER TO ACHEIVE (7) 100'S ON EXAMS IN A ROW. THE STATEMENT....."THE JOB WAS NOT FOR ME" WAS APPARENTLY NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THEM BECAUSE THEY SAID THAT I WAS APPEARENTLY VERY INTERESTED IN THE ACTIVITIES AND THEY DEMANDED A REASON WHY....AND THEY WERE NOT LETTING ME GO.

SECOND...I DID NOT ADMIT MYSELF TO ANY HOSPITAL....THEY TOLD ME IT WAS WHAT THEY HAD TO DO.

THIRD....I HAVE THE POLICE STATEMENT THAT THEY WHERE AT MY HOUSE ( BEFORE A DIAGNOSIS ) TO TAKE MY GUNS.

4TH IN DOING SO........NOBODY!!!!!!!! BUT A MEDICAL DOCTOR COULD HAVE SAID THAT I WAS MENTALLY INCOMPETENT....SO ON WHOS DIAGNOSIS WERE THEY AT MY DOOR TO TAKE MY GUNS....(THEY WERE NOT EVEN GOING TO ASK TO TAKE THEM FROM ME.

5TH> IN THE GREAT STATE OF RHODE ISLAND....CITIES TOWNS AND VILLAGES CANNOT SET UP THEIR OWN LAWS UNDER THE PREEMPTION ACT. ALL LAWS WILL REST SOLELY IN THE STATE.

6TH DEPRESSION IS (NOT) CLASSIFIED UNDER MENTAL INCOMPETENT!!!!!!
A MENTALLY INCOMPETENT PERSON IS A VERY SERIOUS THREAT TO SCOCIETY.

7TH IF I WAS A THREAT TO SCOCIETY.....GUESS WHAT, I WOULDN'T BE ON THIS COMPUTER RIGHT NOW......I WOULD OF HAD TO BE PLACED IN A MENTAL INSTITUTION....BY RHODE ISLAND LAW!!!!!

8TH....BY THE DOCTOR RELEASING ME FROM THE HOSPITAL........PROVES THAT HE NEVER THAUGHT THAT I WAS A THREAT. OR ELSE HE COULDN'T OF RELEASED ME.

GUESS WHAT.....IF THE COPS TOOK MY GUNS BECAUSE I WAS A DANGER TO MYSELF......WHY DIDN'T THEY TAKE AWAY MY AMMO......OR OTHER WEAPONS.
BY ME....GETTING PLACED BACK INTO MY HOME.....I COULD HAVER HUNG MYSELF WITH A ROPE....OR STABBED SOMEONE....OR TAKEN AN OVERDOSE ON PILLS.

IF I WAS A THREAT TO SCOCIETY....WHAT SECURITY WAS SCOCIETY GIVEN BY THEM LETTING ME COME BACK TO MY HOUSE AND LET ME KEEP ALL MY OTHER WEAPONS?

I WILL ALSO ADD THIS , I HAVE OWNED GUNS FOR A BIT OVER 13 YEARSAND NEVER A CRIME WAS COMMITTED.....I CURRENTLY OWN 57....BUT THEY ARE NOT HERE IN RHODE ISLAND....THEY ARE IN THE STATE WERE I USED TO LIVE. IM GLAD THAT I DIDN'T BRING THEM HERE.

ALSO, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TOLD ME THAT I CAN STILL LEGALLY BUY GUNS FROM ANY DEALER.

I DO APPRECIATE ALL THE HELP THAT I GOT HERE......AND YES.....I WILL NEVER OPEN MY MOUTH AGAIN FOR THINGS LIKE THIS B.S

THANKS AGAIN.

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

That was a bad way to describe your "potential" feelings.Just buy some new guns, if they'll allow you to. I think it would be the cheaper route to take. Just think, that word potential, is why you're not getting those guns.[:@]

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

You didn't need to explain anything. Just that the job was not for you. There is no reason to say any more, just quit showing up to work/class, they can't MAKE you go. It is wrong that they took your guns, and I hope you get them back, but in a way, you brought it on yourself. I have a few friends that work for DOC here in California, and there is some stuff that you just don't say.

Good Luck

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

I hope the record of what has happened doesn't affect your ability to purchase a new gun. Ihave heard ofsome guys that have been involved in a simple divorce and somehow the excuse for the divorce made them look like abusers and they were red flagged in their gun qualification records. Either way good luck.

RE: POLICE TOOK MY GUNS.....ILLEGALLY....PLEASE HELP
 

Buckstalker1187
I went to medical school in Pennsylvania and each state has different procedures so my experience may not apply to Rhode Island. When I was doing my psychiatry rotation, if someone was brought in because they were believed to be a suicide risk they would be evaluated by a doctor. Normally, they are asked if they feel like hurting themselves and if they do, do they have a plan. It is far more ominous when someone not only has suicidal ideations but also has a plan for carrying it out. If the doctor believed the person wasa serious suicide risk they would be involuntarily committedinto alocked psych ward for 72 hours of further evaluationand assessment. Since you were only at the hospital for about 3 hours and then released it does not sound like the doctorwas genuinely concerned that you were a suicide risk. I do not think you were actually "discharged" from the hospital becuase it does not sound like you were everadmitted. It sounds like you were evaluated, possibly diagnosed with some form of depression, and then released for possible follow up as an outpatient.

I don't think we even asked people about firearm ownership unless they said they planned to shoot themselves as part of their suicide plan. The doctors do not seem to think you are a suicide risk but the police, who may be practicing medicine without a license, seem to have other ideas and they are the ones that have your guns. You should try to get a copy of the written evaluation of you done by the doctor at the hospital and see what the doctors actually said as to what kind of danger you might pose if you had access to firearms.

Caldoc