Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveM55
Ok so a cop sees a guy walking down a street and carrying a wooden axe handle with nails sticking out of it. The cop doesn't know if that's a POW or not. Two different reactions here.
1) So bearing on the side of caution, the cop calls for backup, disarms him at gun point, cuffs him, and takes him into custody for investigation. Come to find out it was just a realistic movie prop he bought for a Halloween costume.
2) Because he's not sure of the law, the cop doesn't take any action and he ends up critically hurting someone later.
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I guess choice 3, observing behavior to determine if there is RAS to stop isn't on the menu? BTW, a common handgun carried openly in a holster is not a POW, so I don't see your point.
Anyway, if the handle with nails is a POW (I don't know nor really care to spend the time to find out -- axe handle with nails doesn't seem to come up too often
), then by definition possession of it is a crime so why would there be a problem with a stop? If the handle with nails is not a POW and the officer wants to give the citizen the "treatment" without RAS to make a lawful stop, the officer may write the state assembly, same as anyone else, get the law changed, and then go Rambo on the guy to his heart's content.
It really isn't rocket science.