Police showed up at a man’s house this past weekend, without a warrant, demanding to see all of his guns, after a photo of his young son holding a .22 was spotted by a concerned citizen on Facebook. The story has been receiving a great deal of attention in the heat of the gun control debate.
The man, Shawn Moore of New Jersey, took to the Delaware Open Carry forum to share his story. He wrote:
The fight has officially been brought to my front door. Last night I was out with a buddy of mine. I got a text from my wife that the cops and dyfs are at the house and they wanna check out my guns and needed me to open my safe.
I’m instantly on my way. I get in contact with evan Nappen on the way. I explain the situation. I walk in my house and hand the phone to the first cop I see. Then direct all of em outside. Dyfs got a call because of a pic on my son holding a gun. They wanted to look around and check all my guns out, make sure they were all registered. Obviously that didn’t go well because I refused. I had Nappen on speaker phone the entire time so they had to deal with both of us. They kept trying to pressure me to open my safe. They had no warrant, no charges, nothing. I didn’t budge. I was told I was being “unreasonable” and that I was acting suspicious because I wouldn’t open my safe. Told me they were gonna get a search warrant. Told em go ahead. Nappen (my lawyer) asked me for the dyfs workers name. she wouldnt give it. i asked for credentials and she wouldnt show em. i tried to take a pic of her and she turned around real fast and walked away. After a while of them threatening to take my kids, get warrants and intimidation they left. Empty handed and seeing nothing.
People it can happen that fast. Most people wouldn’t have stood up to them like I did.
He also posted the photo of his son holding the gun that started off the whole thing:
“They never even saw the picture,” he Moore wrote. “It was all hear say. Just a phone call saying someone saw a pic of a child holding a gun.”
Moore himself has three different kinds of gun certifications, and his son is actually certified himself, according to reports. The Blaze reports:
Shawn’s son is also someone who has been certified by the state of New Jersey. In order for a person under the age of 18 to go hunting in New Jersey, they must be accompanied by a parent or adult supervisor, and they must also pass a state firearms hunter safety test. The young Mr. Moore passed the test and his father was NOT his instructor.
According to The Daily Caller, Moore is considering taking legal action.