New Jersey Gun ‘Appeasement’ Still Results in Citizen Disarmament

USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “To appease everybody, I had my firearms stored someplace else,” New Jersey gun owner and Army veteran Leonard Cottrell Jr. told New Jersey 101.5 after a June 14 visit from State Police,. “That way, during the course of the investigation, my son doesn’t have access to them and it’s on neutral ground and everything and everybody’s happy.”

Cottrell was recalling state troopers showing up at his door to confiscate firearms after his 13-year-old son was overheard discussing lax school safety with a friend.

Indoctrinated by a pervasive snitch culture — one that never seems to deter the blatantly obvious demonic nutjobs — the eavesdropping student told his parents, who told school administrators, who in turn called the cops. (Note “If you see something, say something” carries risks of its own – if you report the wrong person, you could end up smeared as a “hater.”)

“Cottrell said he made it very clear to the police that he was ‘not going to willingly give up my constitutional rights where there’s no justifiable cause, no warrants, no nothing,’” the report continued. Despite that, his home is now a “gun free zone” and that has been publicized by the media. He has, in fact, willingly ceded those rights, and by his own words in order to make authorities “happy.”

Before judging him for that, consider the environment that is New Jersey. Then consider the overwhelming force the state can bring to bear, and its predisposition to using it, especially if it’s to enforce citizen disarmament. It’s easy to anonymously declare “Molon Labe” on the internet. In meatspace, resistance is more effective when the aggressor doesn’t get to dictate the time and place, especially if that place is your home and you have family inside.

“[T]he troopers conducted an investigation and determined there was no need for the weapons to be seized,” New Jersey State Police spokesman Major Brian Polite stated. It sounds like Cottrell moved the guns offsite as a preemptive protective measure to preclude an escalation should the cops change their minds. But I doubt “everybody’s happy.”

Cottrell can’t be happy, not really. And neither is the State of New Jersey, which based on its actions wants everybody’s guns – at least those in private hands. They’ve made it clear they’ll keep moving toward that goal, one Intolerable Act infringement at a time.

This is the reason I support Oath Keepers. We are fast approaching a time where, depending on the state you live in, confiscation orders are increasingly likely. While many in “law enforcement” will no doubt obey such orders, it is to our advantage to encourage those who will not, and to get others thinking about the oath they took when they became sworn officers, and what that really requires of them.

Appeasing gun-grabbers, generally couched as “compromise,” is impossible. It’s like throwing a scrap of flesh to a circling pack of jackals and expecting them to be sated and leave you alone — instead of sensing opportunity and fear, and moving in closer.

That’s an analogy I wish more of our “gun rights leaders” in state and national groups would act like they understand.

About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.