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Robert Baillio

Waco WaltzWaco Waltz Member Posts: 10,828 ✭✭
Recently, the National Association for Gun Rights was the first to break
> the incredible story of the suspension of a man's Second Amendment rights in
> Shreveport, Louisiana.


> At the time, no other gun rights organization bothered to expose this
> violation of Second Amendment freedoms. But when we tracked down the victim,
> Robert Baillio, for an interview, we couldn't believe what we heard, and we
> immediately sent out a nationwide alert.


> The story went viral overnight.


> If this tale of government abuse moves you, send it to a friend or family
> member to get the word out.



Welcome to Shreveport: Your rights are now suspended
According to Cedric Glover, Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, his cops "have
a power that the President of these United States does not have."

Mayor Glover claimed his police officers had the power to take away certain
rights.


And would you like to guess which rights he had in mind?


Just ask Shreveport resident Robert Baillio, who was pulled over for having
two pro-gun bumper stickers on the back of his truck -- and had his gun
confiscated.


While the officer who pulled him over says Baillio failed to use his turn
signal, the only questions he had for Baillio concerned guns: Whether he had
a gun, where the gun was and if he was a member of a pro-gun organization.


No requests for a driver's licence, proof of insurance or vehicle
registration -- and no discussion of a turn signal.


Accordingly, Baillio told the officer the truth, which led the police
officer to search his car without permission and confiscate his gun.


However, not only does Louisiana law allow residents to drive with loaded
weapons in their vehicles, but Mr. Baillio possessed a concealed carry
license!


What does such behavior demonstrate, other than transparent political
profiling -- going so far as to use the infamous Department of Homeland Security
report on "Americans of a rightwing persuasion" as a how-to guidebook, no
less?


Mr. Baillio made no secret of his political affiliations -- he proudly
displayed an American flag and other pro-freedom stickers and decals on his back
windshield.


In fact, when Baillio asked the officer if everyone he pulls over gets the
same treatment, the officer said "No" and pointed to the back of his truck.


Baillio phoned Mayor Glover to complain about this "suspension of rights"
only to find that his city's "commander in chief" was elated to hear about
the story.


According to Glover, Baillio was "served well, protected well, and even got
a consideration that maybe [he] should not have gotten."


Thankfully, Mr. Baillio recorded a good bit of that phone call. I've
reproduced a chunk of the call below:


Baillio: (in the context of being asked about the presence of a gun) Well,
I answered that question honestly, and he disarmed me.


Glover: Which would be an appropriate and proper action, sir. The fact that
you gave the correct answer -- it simply means that you did what it is you
were supposed to have done, and that is to give that weapon to the police
officer so he could appropriately place it in a place where it would not be a
threat to you, to him or to anyone in the general public.


[. . .]


Glover: My direction to you is that, had you chosen not to properly
identify the fact that you had a weapon and directed that officer to where that
weapon was located; had you been taken from the vehicle, and the officer, in
the interest of his safety, chose to secure you in a safe position, and then
looked, found, and determined that you did, in fact, have a weapon...then,
sir, you would have faced additional, [inaudible], and more severe criminal
sanctions.


Baillio: So what you're saying is: I give up all my rights to keep and bear
arms if I'm stopped by the police: Is that correct?


Glover: Sir, you have no right, when you have been pulled over by a police
officer for a potential criminal offense [which would be what?! - DB] to
stand there with your weapon at your side in your hand [Baillio's weapon was
nowhere near his side or his hand, and Glover knew that. - DB] because of your
second amendment rights, sir. That does not mean at that point your second
amendment right has been taken away; it means at that particular point in
time, it has been suspended.


Will Grigg from ProLibertate, an excellent freedom blog, has this to say:


According to Glover, a police officer may properly disarm any civilian at
any time, and the civilian's duty is to surrender his gun -- willingly,
readily, cheerfully, without cavil or question.


From Glover's perspective, it is only when firearms are in the hands of
people other than the state's uniformed enforcers/oppressors that they
constitute a threat, not only to the public and those in charge of exercising
official violence but also to the private gun owner himself.


"I felt sick," Baillio told NAGR. "My uncles didn't die for this country so
I could surrender my rights like a wimp. I felt terrible. I was just
thinking of all that my family has done for freedom in this nation -- including
dying -- and here they are disarming me at a traffic stop."


I know this kind of harassment occurs frequently all across the country. In
fact, the Department of Homeland Security has on many occasions warned law
enforcement officials to "look out for" folks like Mr. Baillio who have
bumper stickers that promote ideas such as "liberty."


There is danger in the Congress, as well. Right now there is active
legislation that seeks to label gun owners like you and me as "terrorists."


If you are interested in fighting that piece of legislation, please sign
your petition to your Congressman and Senators demanding that you not be
labeled a "terrorist."


I'll leave you with one last consideration. As a licensed firearms
instructor in charge of a hundred different students every month, I'm often asked
if indiiduals should voluntarily inform police officers of the presence of a
firearm during a routine traffic stop.


While different states have different laws, my answer for the state I live
in, Colorado, is an emphatic "No."


Colorado law doesn't require you to volunteer that kind of information, and
this case in Louisiana proves why, if at all possible, you should never
invite trouble by doing so.


For Freedom,



Dudley Brown
Executive Director


The National Association for Gun Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan,
single-purpose citizens' organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the
Constitutionally protected right-to-keep-and-bear-arms through an aggressive
program designed to mobilize public opposition to anti-gun legislation. The
National Association for Gun Rights' mailing address is P.O 7002,
Fredericksburg, VA 22404. They can be contacted toll-free at 1-877-405-4570. Its web
address is www.NationalGunRights.org/


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