Gaston County PD Threatens Gun Owner With Confiscation For Supposed Ordinance Violation

We received a report from one of our friends and comrades about an incident he experienced this past weekend with the Gaston County Police Department. (North Carolina) 
Since the complaint is still pending, we will not post his name for his own sake. We felt this should be shared because the facts of this incident are concerning not only in regards to gun rights but property rights in general.
On Sunday June 15, the subject of this incident (who we will refer to here as "John") was sighting in the scope on his rifle behind his home on his own property. He began his session at around 1:00PM approximately.
Taking his time to properly sight in the optic, he continued on into the afternoon until about 3:45PM. At this time he heard shouting , and turned to see a Gaston County PD officer standing at the edge of the wooded property. The officer had his hand at a ready position to draw a weapon, which to be fair is probably standard procedure when responding to a firearms related call.
"John" carefully and cautiously placed the rifle on the ground and in accordance to law, informed the officer that he was a Concealed Carry Permit holder.
The officer seemed to ignore him, either because he didn't care or it was not a concern of his.
The officer was overly aggressive, and told John that a neighbor had called in a report of a lot of gunfire, and there was a county ordinance in Gaston Co. restricting the discharging of a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling, including one's own.
He informed John that he was not allowed to target shoot on his property and could only do so at a range. John told the officer that he was not aware of the ordinance, but he was beyond 500 feet from his or anyone else's residence. The officer became extremely agitated  and then began questioning why he was shooting and what he was shooting at. John told the officer he was simply trying to zero in the scope on his rifle, which seemed to displease the officer a great deal. 
According to John, at no time did he establish himself as any kind of threat to the officer, if anything John may have been quite submissive to the officer's demands.
This is the most concerning part:
At this point the officer said:
"THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. You are going to stop shooting right now. And if I have to come back out here, I WILL CHARGE YOU AND I WILL CONFISCATE YOUR FIREARMS."
So let's recap this. A neighbor well out of range of the 500 feet limit calls the "County Police" on John, Officer shows up and tells John he is in violation of an ordinance when in fact, John is well within the limits of the law. Officer gets agitated when John points this out, and then threatens his person and his property with State sponsored aggression to prove his point.
At no time was John rude, obstructive or belligerent with the officer. In fact, John's politeness and calm demeanor seemed to irritate the officer more.
I spoke with John last night and he has this to say:

"The last thing disturbs me more than anything in this encounter .and it should for 

anyone who would hear such a thing. “…I will come back, charge you, and 

confiscate your firearms.” That’s chilling. It also seemed designed to elicit a response

because many firearms owners usually would get angry at hearing that, and they 

should, but that was not the time to do so. Is aggressive and threatening behavior 

standard protocol for Gaston Police? To confiscate firearms because of a little noise,

and an ordinance I wasn't aware existed? Is that the proper response for this 

situation? Are you telling me that a neighbor can complain about a noise, one time, 

and then my property is stolen and my rights taken away? If this is standard 

procedure for Gaston County Police then I need to be aware of it. Gaston County 

citizens need to be aware of it. North Carolina citizens need to be aware of it. There 

was no call for that officer to behave in this manner whatsoever. This is a disturbing trend in Law Enforcement as of late.

This desire to confiscate the weapons of law abiding citizens. We have seen evidence of this in Connecticut, and New York

State. There is NO place for it here in the Old North State. We will keep you informed of what comes of this incident.

News and Observer Reporter With Anti-Gun Views May Have Committed Gun Crime, GRNC Says

Another example of hypocrisy from the anti-gun camp as N&O reporter Barry Saunders possibly admits to violating the law with a firearm, while criticizing responsible gun owners  .

This report from Grassroots North Carolina :
http://www.grnc.org/grnc-alerts-archive/644-grnc-alert-06-04-14-did-anti-gun-nao-columnist-commit-a-gun-crime

The N&O’s Gun-Totin’ Action Hero

In his May 28 News & Observer (N&O) column, anti-gun writer Barry Saunders refers to pro-gun-freedom Facebook commenters as “Hopalong Cassidy wannabes” and “Quick Draw McRib[s].” Yes, ol’ Barry sees all them stoopid, gun-totin’ rednecks as wannabe action heroes with more ammo than sense. Of course, these absurd caricatures that Saunders has floating around his head are exactly that—absurd caricatures. If Barry wants to track down a real gun-totin’ action hero wannabe, he may not have to look very far. In this very same column, Saunders writes of an incident that suggests that he himself may be guilty of a gun crime.

Shootout at the Saunders Corral

Saunders’ misguided column about how scary a soccer mom with a .380 can be does have one very important take-away: 
Anti-gun Barry, who it turns out actually owns a gun, may have confessed to engaging in the dangerous and illegal behavior that he consistently forecasts others will engage in. In his May 28 column, while telling of his own experience finding a burglar in his home, Barry shamelessly admits the following:

“Fortunately for [the burglar], by the time I threw him out, ran back upstairs to get my gun and went looking for him, I saw a Durham cop who took his description and sent my ridiculous self home.”

Yes, you read that right. According to his own words, Saunders first saw the burglar flee his home. Then, instead of locking the door and waiting for the police, he ran upstairs to get his gun, and then went outside to look for the burglar. Had it not been for the police arriving in time to get between Barry and the fleeing man, Barry’s own street may have run red with blood. Whose life or limb would Barry have been defending? 

Barry Saunders’ horrific visions of citizens carrying guns are clear cases of psychological projection. Prophecy of shootouts over fender benders and drive-thru murders over condiment errors are likely the columnist’s own imaginings of how he, in his own undisciplined and sporadic ways, might react to such things. Saunders may not understand that most people do not live in such erratic self-indulgence, and they would never react in such horrific fashion to life’s inconveniences and aggravations. 

According to his own statement, Barry Saunders may indeed react in this sort of irrational and undisciplined manner. True, finding a burglar in one’s home is no small thing (a bit more than an aggravation). However, seeing him flee your home, and then meditatively retrieving a gun in order to go outside and chase him down is not only irrational, it’s likely illegal. Threatening the use of a gun against a person who is not an immediate threat to you is against the law, and if Barry had shot the man before the police arrived to cut the hunt short, neither the “Castle Doctrine,” nor “Stand Your Ground,” laws that Barry almost surely hates, would offer him legal protection.

Saunders Must Go

Is it sensible for the N&O to employ an anti-gun columnist who demands one thing, admits to doing the opposite, and then boasts about his hypocrisy? Like the Carl T. Rowan story, are we seeing another case where an “elite” few see themselves as above the law, while impugning the character of the rest of us? Enough is enough. Confessed hypocrite and, according to his own words, possible gun-criminal, Barry Saunders, should not be the anti-gun voice of the N&O. 

Below, find out how you can get in touch with the N&O, and tell them that you’ve taken all of the insults you can stand from Barry Saunders. Tell them you don’t appreciate being preached to about guns by self-professed gun-toting man-hunter, Barry Saunders. Insist that N&O management show Barry Saunders the door (but you might advise them to stay behind cover when they do it).