After one of their officers was shot last week, it would appear that the police in Oshkosh, WI need a refresher course on the Fourth Amendment.

From the Wisconsin Gun Owners website:

Police evacuated citizens from their homes within a quarantined area near Smith Elementary School Saturday night (July 17, 2004) to conduct a broad gun sweep of the neighborhood following the shooting of Oshkosh police officer Nate Gallagher.

  Residents reported returning home from area shelters—where they were herded by police—to find their guns gone.

  Others watched in awe as police took their firearms after giving police consent to search. Some were told by police their firearms would be subjected to ballistics tests, and would be returned.

  “However, the bullet that hit officer Gallagher was not found,” said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. “So how can police conduct ballistics tests if there’s no bullet with which to match the results? It defies logic.”

  Graff said the biggest issue is what he calls the department’s “Guilty-until-proven-innocent” posture towards citizens.

  In what appears to be a blatant knee jerk abuse of police power, the department unleashed the dogs — literally — when the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) showed up with its K-9 Unit to begin house-to-house searches.

  According to media reports, the suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood, and has not been apprehended.

  Warrants for searches were issued for at least two homes, (perhaps more) but homeowners in the area reported having all their firearms taken by police.

  Some witnesses said the whole neighborhood was evacuated by force and citizens were being told – not asked, but told – to hand over their guns. Some weren’t even asked.

      “That’s what makes me so mad,” said resident Terry Wesner in an Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004). “They had no reason [to remove firearms] without a warrant. . .I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns.” [Emphasis Added]

  In a subsequent report, another resident, who worked the late night weekend shift, reported he came home to find a scene that looked like his home had been burglarized — he said personal belongings were thrown about — and his gun safe was empty.

  “They didn’t even leave a note, telling me what was going on,” the man said on camera.

  An elderly woman said she woke up to find police — who were reported to be dressed in black, quasi-military gear — conducting a search in her home in the early morning hours.

  “Did the fact that this poor senior citizen happened to live in the immediate area of the crime warrant “Reasonable Suspicion” or “Probable Cause” that she could have committed this heinous act?” asked Graff.

  “Is Grandma taking pot shots out her kitchen window? Is she hiding something in the cookie jar?” He said.

  In the same Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004) Oshkosh Police Captain Jay Puestohl was reported to have, “declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms…”

 

I think this just shows once again why you should never, ever allow police into your house without a warrant.  Of course, the police may barge in anyway, but if they do at least you still have legal standing to contest their entry.  If you give consent to a search you’ve given up the ability to challenge the search.  The same goes for traffic stops.  I will never, ever give consent to a search of my house or vehicle, even if I haven’t done anything wrong.

Because Wisconsin Gun Owners don’t provide any way to link directly to their news articles I’ve reproduced their entire article in the extended text area of this entry so it will be available in case it scrolls off of their main page.

Oshkosh police say ‘Sorry’ for trampling citizens’ rights in door-to-door gun confiscations.

  Oshkosh, Wis.—In what appears to be an admission of wrong-doing by the Oshkosh Police Department, Fox 11 WLUK (Green Bay) has reported that area resident Terry Wesner was offered an apology by the department.

  Police evacuated citizens from their homes within a quarantined area near Smith Elementary School Saturday night (July 17, 2004) to conduct a broad gun sweep of the neighborhood following the shooting of Oshkosh police officer Nate Gallagher.

  Residents reported returning home from area shelters—where they were herded by police—to find their guns gone.

  Others watched in awe as police took their firearms after giving police consent to search. Some were told by police their firearms would be subjected to ballistics tests, and would be returned.

  “However, the bullet that hit officer Gallagher was not found,” said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. “So how can police conduct ballistics tests if there’s no bullet with which to match the results? It defies logic.”

  Graff said the biggest issue is what he calls the department’s “Guilty-until-proven-innocent” posture towards citizens.

  In what appears to be a blatant knee jerk abuse of police power, the department unleashed the dogs — literally — when the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) showed up with its K-9 Unit to begin house-to-house searches.

  According to media reports, the suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood, and has not been apprehended.

  Warrants for searches were issued for at least two homes, (perhaps more) but homeowners in the area reported having all their firearms taken by police.

  Some witnesses said the whole neighborhood was evacuated by force and citizens were being told – not asked, but told – to hand over their guns. Some weren’t even asked.

      “That’s what makes me so mad,” said resident Terry Wesner in an Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004). “They had no reason [to remove firearms] without a warrant. . .I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns.” [Emphasis Added]

  In a subsequent report, another resident, who worked the late night weekend shift, reported he came home to find a scene that looked like his home had been burglarized — he said personal belongings were thrown about — and his gun safe was empty.

  “They didn’t even leave a note, telling me what was going on,” the man said on camera.

  An elderly woman said she woke up to find police — who were reported to be dressed in black, quasi-military gear — conducting a search in her home in the early morning hours.

  “Did the fact that this poor senior citizen happened to live in the immediate area of the crime warrant “Reasonable Suspicion” or “Probable Cause” that she could have committed this heinous act?” asked Graff.

  “Is Grandma taking pot shots out her kitchen window? Is she hiding something in the cookie jar?” He said.

  In the same Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004) Oshkosh Police Captain Jay Puestohl was reported to have, “declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms…”

  “If officers were acting honorably and respecting property owners’ rights, why not say so? Why not be upfront? Why the secrecy?” Graff said.

  One resident in the neighborhood may have found himself the subject of the investigation simply by refusing to consent to a search (entirely within his rights) according to the news report.

  The Oshkosh Northwestern story quoted one neighbor — who suspected homeowners who exercised their right to refuse consent to the heavy-handed searches, were presumed guilty by police — as saying:

      “. . .[T]hey’ve been downright rude to us. . .You don’t treat so-called civilians this way.” [Emphasis Added]

  The news story goes on to say that Captain Puestohl “. . .declined to say whether officers pursued the warrant because the residents refused a consent search.”

  This hysteria-driven Oshkosh neighborhood gun grab could establish a nightmarish precedent for a wide-open abuse of police power to be unleashed upon Badger State gun owners said WGO.

  The silence from other gun rights groups on this issue is deafening.

  “The institutional gun lobby is just as scared as the poor people in that Oshkosh neighborhood,” Graff said. “They might be thinking, ‘If I speak out, will my guns be next?’”

  Wesner, one of the brave gun owners to speak out against the rash of gun confiscations that occurred after the shooting, said police confiscated his guns after entering his home without a search warrant.

  He reported in a Thursday, July 22 television interview with WLUK-FOX 11, “They [the police] are not going to come in my home again [without a warrant].”

  That same report stated that the police “acknowledged a lack of proper procedure [in not obtaining a warrant].” 

Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. said the most effective response for gun owners is to join and contribute to the organization’s bold, no-compromise educational crusade.