Hand Trowels Now Illegal Dangerous Weapons.

[BARKER]

Hi Folks; Here's one for you. Last June I was in a park I've hunted for over 30 years.A City worker came over and said I can't do that here.I'm defacing public property.As I tried to talk to this guy a cop comes over and joins in the talk. He asked to see my trowel to which I complied; Why not??? He looked at it and gave it back to me.Then he said that the trowel is too long and sharp and "IS" an illegal dangerous weapon.I just wanted to get out oof there away from them so I said fine I'll leave.I now refuse to go back to this park.I don't need it or them. What would you guys do or say?????? I await your replies. PEACE:RONB

 

[dave5710]

Is there a baseball diamond in that park? Although not sharp, baseball bats are long and can be dangerous weapons. If there are no city ordinances against detecting, and it isn't posted anywhere, you should go ahead and hunt. We need to force these cities, counties and park districts, to ban everybody or nobody. We will see if they would rather let us hunt or if they would rather spent a couple hundred dollars per park on signs. JMO

 

[BARKER]

Hi Dave5710; In Boston region they would need to spend a few "million" for those signs.Would never happen.Here they would pass a so called "COMMON" law where they'd give police free reign literally. That is why Massachusetts is called a "COMMON"Wealth. literally.Weird huh??? PEACE:RONB

 

[PaulMBurgess]

Yeah that goes along the lines of if you know martial arts or know boxing your hands are a dangerous weapon too,if you use them!

 

[hershey1]

A law enforcement officer with a loaded weapon, tazer, night stick, can of mace, handcuffs, radio, maybe a biting dog and wants to call a hobby digging tool a dangerous weapon. Now I bet he spends all his extra time waiting at the mail-box for patent approvals. That why I have a conceiled carry permit and carry because you never know where you might be confronted by a nut.

 

[snoopythebeagle]

I make a few assumptions here....

Small town. Police officer is effectively a 'co worker' of the city parks employee. Strike #1 against you. Police make up @#&* all the time to get a response from a perp. It's the mindset/training. In this case he was stating a fact. However, you were not using it as a weapon. I doubt he carried a description of the law, ordinance or regulation that defined this in the jurisdiction as a 'weapon', and had you challenged him for proof, you'd lose. Strike #2. Unless you had dug up something and they saw you do it, detecting is probably not the thing that is supposedly disallowed, it's the digging. But them-there folks are not going to make the distinction. Strike #3. You did the best thing - left. They got what they wanted.

But I would research their assertions and if incorrect contact the city parks folks as well as the police chief and tell them to get their employees on board.

But dealing with the gov't is like: (And that is coming from someone who works for the BIG gov't.)

 

[BARKER]

Hi Folks; Just a little clarity here. The town I live in is Boston, Massachusetts.There are over 4.5 million people here. Also the trowel is none other than the Gator Digger sold by KellyCo. So in a nutshell so to speak; KellyCo sold a million illegal weaons and the Government here is truly impossible to deal with. If I argued the point 3 things could happen: #1) KellyCo gets sued and #2) I get arrested for what ever law they want to cook up #3) I lose all the way around. This is the ultimate lose - lose situation. So I did the next best thing I left. What do you guys think????

 

[PaulMBurgess]

Lets face it as kids they were neighborhood bullies.And now all grown up they still are.You should have got his name and badge and file a IA complaint.And make his life miserable.

 

[BARKER]

Hi Paul; If I did that him and his "freinds" would be parking outside my house 24/7 if you know what I mean. Can't win. PEACE:RONB

 

[dahut]

Hi Folks; Here's one for you. Last June I was in a park I've hunted for over 30 years.A City worker came over and said I can't do that here.I'm defacing public property.As I tried to talk to this guy a cop comes over and joins in the talk. He asked to see my trowel to which I complied; Why not??? He looked at it and gave it back to me.Then he said that the trowel is too long and sharp and "IS" an illegal dangerous weapon.I just wanted to get out oof there away from them so I said fine I'll leave.I now refuse to go back to this park.I don't need it or them. What would you guys do or say?????? I await your replies. PEACE:RONB

I said years ago when people were clamoring for an inexpensive detector to open up the hobby... well, I said it was a bad idea then.

Once Whites began hammering home the commercials and a zilllion people got out there with their Ace 250's, Bounty Hunter/Radio Shack knock offs and so on, it marked the end. Detecting used to be something no one knew about and cared little for. Anonymity was our ally.

But, detecting has now become visible. People pay attention more in the Post-911 world, and we are all being watched more closely - even by our fellow citizens. Security has become more important than the dutiful citizens' individual pursuit of happiness. In most urban areas, service people like park workers, cable TV employees, UPS drivers, etc., are being trained to watch for, and report, anything "suspiscious." With an ever growing number of both 'watchdogs' and concerned citizens nipping at us, eventually the government at large begins to take notice.

A trowel as illegal deadly weapon? Hey folks, once you call a cop into the situation, he is duty bound to fulfill his enforcement mandate. That is what he does.
Any cop worth the name can find something to nail you on.

Sadly, all of this is self-inflicted by the detecting hobby at large. In our zeal to make money as manufacturers and share our fun as hobbyists, we shot ourselves in the foot. More and more parks are being controlled, or closed to detecting. Schools are right behind them; indeed many of those are now considered hallowed ground and are purely off-limits.

Meanwhile, fewer and fewer detectorists are contacting their leaders to demand the right to pursue their harmless hobby. This is especially true of the new-comers we so eagerly courted to come aboard with us. Unlike we rebellious old timers, they have been raised on an odd diet of compliance and moral outrage. Their motto is, "They need to pass a law!"

So there is what you must do if you love this hobby, old hand and newbie alike: rally a defense against strong arm regulation.

More people than ever are against us: Municipalities, States, The Feds, Private landowners, citizens at large and so on. The rest are ambivalent to us and will side with whatever they are told. This really is about the free man pursuing independent action.
So contact your leaders and respond. Mount a defense at your level and push back. Write a letter - make a phone call. Whatever.

We may not win; there is never that guarantee. It may end in a compromise, who knows? But its a good fight.
One thing is certain, though. If you do nothing, saying, "I'll just get mine while I still can" - - then you can one day join the rest of the good little fascists and lament the pastime you allowed to be taken away.




Welcome to the new world of municipally regulated detecting.

 

[BARKER]

Hi Folks; Funny thing is I'm one of the old timers who gave the manufacturers the input on the field tests I connducted on the first commercial type detectors starting with the BFO, TR, TR Disc., VLF, VLF Disc., up to present.Now I'm banned from using the veryy detectors and doig the very hobby I helped to design and bring about in the first place. My foot hurts.!!!! Today people ae "afraid" to do or say anything to help in these situaations especially after 9/11 due to a climate of fear of reprisals.I have done and continue to do my part but I can't get te rest of the mule pack to follow. Guess I need a bigger cattle prod. !!!! Anyway I await your responses. PEACE:RONB

 

[PaulMBurgess]

Yeah Barker i know what you mean they stick together like flies on fly paper

 

[BARKER]

Hi Paul; Your being nice now. KNOCK IT OFF !!!!!