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Russell Laing's Story
Russell Laing's Story
The Utter Abuse of a Gun Owner
Below is the story of a man abused by
excessive gun laws. This type of activity on the part of law enforcement is
indicative of how important it is that we keep our guns. God Bless Russell
Laing!
This message was emailed from Russell Laing
on February 22, 2000 to the following email addresses below.
-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Laing <rlaing@usa.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2000 7:09 PM
To: MillionMomPA@aol.com; millionmomwestpa@aol.com;
vicdym@hotmail.com; psa@nauticom.net
Cc: adbco@netaxs.com
Subject: Victim of Gun Hysteria Responds
I am referred to your e-mail addresses as the contact points of "Million Moms",
described as an organization advocating more intrusive and controlling legislation to
further restrict the lawful exercise of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
I thought my story might be of interest to you.
In April 1996 my home was surrounded by members of a local police department, after they
had learned that my employer had contacted a local paramedic/EMS organization expressing
concern that I "had not reported to work nor called off sick" (police
testimony). In front of my neighbors, these officers drew their weapons (that's loaded
guns, to you), and in a SWAT-team manner made a dynamic entry to my home. They ran down
the main hallway, burst into my bedroom and literally leaped on me ...as I lay in my bed
asleep!!
Noticing a locked gun safe (by their own testimony, my guns were locked away and never a
factor in any way), they called my employer in an unsuccessful attempt to solicit a
statement that I was considered "armed and dangerous" (my employer later
provided a written account of this). I was then led away to be incarcerated in the
psychiatric ward of a local hospital based on a statement by one of the officers
expressing his belief that "I was unable to care for myself".
The police then seized my lawfully owned gun collection. They did not possess a warrant of
any kind to enter my home nor one to take lawfully owned property. They did not possess a
warrant to remove me from my home and detain me for mental health observation -- they
relied upon a section of the PA Mental Health code that allows any police officer to order
such a detention based on his own judgement. I have no criminal record at all, and was
never accused of making any threats or other public disturbance. I was, and still am very
successfully employed in senior management of the health care industry.
The hospital where I was detained almost immediately issued the only piece of paper that
they ever filed outside of their own walls -- a notice to the County Mental Health Office
that they had determined that I was NOT mentally ill and not in need of confinement or
treatment.
I then went to court to obtain the return of my property. Because my case involved the
return of firearms, it was automatically assigned to criminal court, even though there was
no criminal or threatening activity of any kind (save the actions of the police
department). The police were therefore represented by the Allegheny County District
Attorney's Office, who characterized me as "a ticking time bomb waiting to
explode" and referred to my 12 gun collection (still locked inside the metal safe
dragged from my home) as a "veritable arsenal". Lacking any evidence of violent
behavior by ME, the focus of the DA's Office and police testimony centered around HOW
DANGEROUS MY GUNS WERE.
At my first hearing, a Common Pleas Court Judge noted the complete absence of any violence
or other threatening activity and ordered the return of my property. The police refused to
obey this court order and the DA's Office scheduled a re-hearing before the same judge in
which they argued that UNDER A NEW GUN CONTROL LAW IN PENNSYLVANIA (PA Act 17 of 1995) --
anyone subjected to a police-ordered detention for mental health observation would
automatically lose forever the right to own a firearm -- even if there was never any
warrant or hearing at any point in the process. Just the police officer's
"opinion" that I was "unable to care for myself" was sufficient to
void a fundamental constitutional right, and even though the hospital discharged me
(again, without any hearing) because they had determined I didn't need to be there.
Over the next three years, I argued my case across four separate court petitions filed in
eight different court systems. I had to hire three different attorneys, and the DA's
Office assigned three different criminal prosecutors to oppose my case. At one point, my
wife received a call at work from the police asking if she would object to the return of
my gun collection (she strongly supported my efforts, even though our marriage failed
during this period, in part due to the stress of what I was being put through by the legal
system).
In the fall of 1998, the police officer in charge who had ordered the confiscation of my
gun collection was brought up on 21 different charges by the Chief of Police. These
charges included allegations of filing false and/or misleading reports against various
residents of the community. One of the charges pertained to me, although I could not
obtain specifics. The officer was fired in early 1999.
I won three of the four court petitions which I had filed. The fourth petition, a lawsuit
against the police and the hospital, was settled to my satisfaction (part of the
settlement prohibits me from disclosing further details). My record was completely cleared
and expunged; my PA License to Carry Firearms was reinstated with the active consent of
the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department. My gun collection was returned to me. My case
was reviewed by the United States Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, which ruled that the Pennsylvania gun-control laws would not be recognized
because they denied citizens the right to due process (ie. a simple hearing where I could
plead my case). In June 1998, Governor Tom Ridge signed into law amending language to help
prevent the kind of abuse I was subjected to (PA Act 70-1998). My case was cited by the
House Speaker Bob Godshall in presenting this amendment for a vote.
In August 1999 I testified before the PA Judiciary Committee on Firearms Law held in
Cambridge Spring, PA. The attorney who finally won my legal rights is a very
left-of-center civil rights activist who serves on the board of the Pittsburgh Chapter of
the ACLU. He is one of the finest men I have ever met.
The only analogy I can give you, as to the extent of the ongoing gun-hysteria, is to liken
my case to the Salem Witch Hunts in which irrational fears were used to justify trendy new
laws which provide for the presumption of guilt without any hearing or other due process.
Indeed, my own legal counsel remarked that the extensive resources mounted by the DA's
Office likely reflected their desire to "make an example out me" as the means of
setting a precedent for active future use of an intrusive law ...since I was a law-abiding
citizen who was engaged in a productive and successful business career. In short, I was
"soft-target" compared to the countless criminals and violent individuals whom
these "progressive laws" will never affect in the slightest.
Speaking of trendy new laws, about a year ago a five year old student in the school system
where my three children go was suspended and sent home after showing up for his class
Halloween party in a fireman's outfit --complete with a four-inch plastic hatchet that
violated the school's trendy new zero-tolerance weapons law. The story made national news,
although my case was suppressed by the media as it starkly demonstrated the actual effect
of laws being actively promoted by them.
In April of 1998, I discussed my case at length in a direct meeting with the legal counsel
for the hospital. Within two months, the hospital's volume of mental health detentions
declined by a factor of 97%. Does it concern you that everyone who has been subjected to
these non-adjudicated mental health detentions ordered by police officers is now entered
into a mental health database maintained by the PA State Police -- even if they never have
an intention of owning a firearm? One of the judges in my many court battles mentioned
that there are at least 8,000 of these detentions in Allegheny County, alone, per year.
The extent of gun hysteria has come to the point where such laws are actually endangering
society, instead of making it safer. How much of the decline in mental health detentions
at the hospital where I was detained reflects a broad trend by mental health providers to
refrain from such discretionary admissions based on perceived legal liability; how many
law enforcement officers will by-pass a legitimate discretionary action for the same
reason. How many wives, MOMs, and significant others will refrain from seeking help for a
potentially troubled family member or friend out of fear that they will ignite the kind of
nightmare I was forced to endure?
I hope you give this some thought. While I am sure that your fundamental motives are
sound, you must understand that when hysteria and excessive unrestrained desire to control
others is unleashed, we are setting loose a force that is far more powerful and
frightening than any firearm ever made, including the ones wielded by the men who stormed
into my home nearly four years ago and forever changed my life.
Let's go after violent and criminal behavior, instead of the increasing level of energy
being directed to monitoring, further restricting, and controlling the lives of law
abiding citizens. We can all sleep easier for a world of freedom and respect for basic
rights.
Sincerely, And Ever Free, Russell Laing
KABA Director's Note:
As this letter was sent to the folks working on the Million Mom's March in Washington,
D.C, I have one question for all the women planning to attend that event:
In the evenings when you are in the nation's capital, are you willing to walk alone
through the rougher areas of town where the mothers you work to disarm must live?
You're working against Freedom when you talk
about taking guns away from law-abiding people. Please wake up--we could use your help.
Read THIS.
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