So, the police pull me over and the next thing I know he's holding a gun...

[hobbesTZ]

My friend and I had been playing paintball today and were on the way home. He was fiddling around with his Black Magic 'cocker and stuff when we hear a police car siren. We pull over and he pulls up behind. I wasn't speeding so we figured it was just because of the paintball gun...but it was much more than that.

He yells to get out of the car and I look in the mirror to see him and he's got his pistol out and is pointing it at us. We get out and he yells for us to lay face down on the ground with our hands behind our backs. We then get cuffed, and questioned a bit as to if there were any other weapons and such. We get frisked and sit there awhile. This also happened to be at a fairly busy street in town where EVERYBODY was staring at us as they went by (plenty of people I knew too). After about a half hour we were uncuffed. We didn't actually have any guns and it was explained to us that some lady told the police someone in my car pointed some sort of gun at her (which of course he didn't do, atleast not on purpose). We drive to the police station and then we talk and fill out a paper and stuff. They took our guns (both of mine were in a sealed bag, but they took them anyway) and just a few minutes ago they called me up and told me I could pick up my markers. I think it helped that the friend I had with me was the former police chiefs son.

Everything seems to have turned out alright. There haven't been any charges pressed. I guess it was sorta cool, it's not something you see/are in everyday. I wasn't nervous at all the whole time, I knew that we'd done nothing wrong at all. Everyone needs to remember that paintball markers should be kept out of site at all times, whether you're walking down the street with one, if you're in a car, or whatever.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

"paintball markers should be kept out of site at all times, whether you're walking down the street with one, if you're in a car, or whatever."

Especially since some manufacturors are making their markers look more real

[davidnj]

Wasn't the smartest thing to fiddle with the marker in the car at all imo. Could end up with just a minor annoyance like you did or depending on your states laws it might be worse. You didnt mention if the marker was gassed up but in some states its a felony to have a gassed up marker in the car.

[Duck Hunt]

No, you DID do something wrong. You played around with your "gun" in plain veiw of people who probably can't tell the difference.

Sean

[ramennoodles]

thats awesome, i wish that would happen to me, i would be more worried aobut them actually damaging my marker then getting cuffed and frisked and such. thats cool.

[Steelrat]

Good lesson for everyone. Cops have to treat every threat seriously, so if you decide you want to display your paintball gun, or (god forbid) your airsoft gun, dont be surprised when you have a cop sitting on your back putting the cuffs on.

[Fred]

what did you think would happen?

newsflash, the average person has NO CLUE that a paintgun is not a real gun. what you did was stupid, you're lucky to be getting your gear back at all.

keep it locked in the trunk when driving.

[Duck Hunt]

I'm not digging this "that was cool" thing. Someone awhile ago posted a link to a newsite were some Cursive language is NOT allowed on AO, please refrain from using any more poor choices of words. Armywere shooting people while driving and someone actually shot back, with a real gun....

Think about that.

Sean

[hobbesTZ]

I think you people are forgetting that I wasn't the one with the marker. I didn't even think it could be seen the way he had it, it's not like it was displaying it like he had done earlier in the day. He had it with the tank and barrel on right at my window. That one crossed way over the line IMO.

[Steelrat]

Guys, Hobbes is doing everyone a favor by posting this up. Lets refrain from ridiculing him. People get shot for wielding toy guns, its important to think about it.

[hobbesTZ]

I'm not digging this "that was cool" thing. Someone awhile ago posted a link to a newsite were some ******** were shooting people while driving and someone actually shot back, with a real gun....

Think about that.

Sean

Nothing happed to hurt me or anyone else. It was just something very differant. I don't want it to sound like it was enjoyable, or just something to laugh about.

[Mango]

Sounds totally legit and they did thier job. Don't do it again. Lessons learned.

[mbyankee10]

guys think about it i am a police officer. Makers should be in a bag or your trunk out of sight just like a reg firearm. Out there on the street the reaction is you see what you think is a gun you treat it as a gun. his reaction in drawing his weapon is correct.the officer must have had a level head or things might have turned out different. lets just be smart out there. Also remember 90 % of police officers are not weapons experts. Most officers only own one gun the one issued to them. weather you had the maker or not you are in the same car you are getting taken out at gun point.

[Target Practice]

hobbes, it was your responsibility as the driver to make sure that your friend had his marker properly squared away, just like it is your responsibility to make sure that he is wearing a seatbelt, or if the cops find drugs in your car. You are driving, you are responsible for the actions of your passengers.

[SIGSays]

i would have walked around anywhere with my chrome angel.. lol...

[pointm@n]

I wasn't nervous at all the whole time,

Uhhhh, not to question your manhood but I would have personally been scared shietless to have a 9mm pointed at me... :eek:

But I'm a pansy and have soft hands like a schoolgirl... :D

[RenagadeOfFunk]

...yeah I play with it too in the car... :D


...or you were talking about paintball markers ... :rolleyes: :p

[raehl]

Nothing happed to hurt me or anyone else. It was just something very differant. I don't want it to sound like it was enjoyable, or just something to laugh about.

Only because you were lucky.

What if you'd gotten pulled over without a lady calling the cop first, he saw the marker sitting in your lap, and just shot you straight up?

When you put an officer in a position where his gun is in his hand instead of his holster, you've greatly increased the chances that something goes wrong and somebody gets hurt. Keep your stuff where people ain't gonna see it, and don't let idiots play with their markers in your car.

- Chris

[AGD]

Having shot my share of cops when we did police training and seen how they react in stressfull situations, you should be SCARED TO DEATH to fool around with a paintball gun in public. If you picked up the marker to show him it was a paintball gun he could put three bullets in your brain and it would all have been perfectly legal.

"Your Honor, the perp pulled a gun on me, I feared for my life and defended myself with like force" case closed...

AGD (Always Gun'em Down)

[Off Center]

I think that for those of us who don't see how anyone could possibly mistake a marker for a firearm (especially a 'cocker), it's helpful to realize that people are stupid. As such, we have to make the world easier for them to handle; sometimes that means hiding the marker so they don't see it and get spooked.

On a separate note, I don't think that simplifying things so in defference to stupidity or ignorance is a good thing, but sometimes it is necessary to keep your *** from getting shot.

[Tobe2be]

I think it helped that the friend I had with me was the former police chiefs son.



i read this and thought... hmm i guess the cheif found out that your friend wasnt his child but the plumbers... sorry im tired and found that funny. But i wouldnt pull that stunt in NYC seeing how someone gets shot 41 times for a wallet think about a paintball marker...

[Target Practice]

Having shot my share of cops when we did police training and seen how they react in stressfull situations, you should be SCARED TO DEATH to fool around with a paintball gun in public. If you picked up the marker to show him it was a paintball gun he could put three bullets in your brain and it would all have been perfectly legal.

"Your Honor, the perp pulled a gun on me, I feared for my life and defended myself with like force" case closed...

AGD (Always Gun'em Down)

Always Gun'em Down. Gotta love that.

It is kinda the same way if someone is in your house illegally. You just say the same thing to the judge: "Your Honor, I feared for my life, and emptied the magazine."

[ghideon]

Moral of the story, your paintball marker is not a toy. Stop treating it as such.

Ghideon
Waiting for the day we have an equivalent to the Hunter's Safety Course.

[gc82000]

ok I know that you are not the only one to do it, but my friend did a similar thing on a military base and it was not fun. He lost privilges andthe thing that makes itworse is it affects not only him. his father got in trouble for such a stunt and had some punishment put on him as well.
My friend had a cocker too, maybe it is a WGP player thing that they feel compelled to flash their toys in the worst situation. :D I hope i dont see or hear of a mag user doing this.

[jdev]

this reminds me of a similar thing, which happened to me. i'll share for entertainment purposes.

I was working late one night, got out of work around 10, and drove home, the usual. didnt take any shortcuts, just got on the highway and headed home. on this particular day, for some reason, I had my marker in the backseat of my car, in plain view. Just the marker, no air or anything attached, though, my tank was nearby.

so, I get off at my exit and I am mere minutes away from my house, when i get stopped by a state police officer. He had asked for my license and registration, and asked that I step out of the car. I did so. He asked me to stand behind my vehicle, near the front of his cruiser. I do so.

He then proceeded to ask me if I had any weapons in my vehicle. I think quickly and don't recall any knives or the like I may have in here, and in the heat of the moment, I retorted, and stepped forward as I say it, "no sir, only my paintball gun"

*blink*

that forever taught me NEVER to refer to my paintball gun as such again. I am not even sure the officer even heard me say the word paintball. and being foolish and naive, I stepped forward to show him. I dont think I have every seen someone react so fast. He had his hand on his sidearm, and directed me to step back. just as quick as I made the mistake, I had quickly stepped back, and far out of his way. this carried on for another minute or so, and he let me go with a warning.

oh yea, the reason he pulled me over to begin with, broken tail light.

[CodeMA]

wow, that sux0rz...

honestly, Ive been known to be teching markers in the back seat and stuff on the way to the feild, no air or paint near mind you, and not brandish it openly, window tint is a good thing...

anyway... got my own little story from last night: paintballing 45 min away, 7 people, 2 vehicals, a 4runner and a truck, both packed with gear and people

Stop at a mexican restraunt, alchol consumed by those of age... finished, made the drive back... haveing to stop a few times for one of the guys wifes to projectile vomit... welllll

second stop, we left early, didnt feel like waiting for them, passed by a cop, having someone stoped already, we get home, 10 min later the truck shows up...they had an intresting story to tell...


Seems they got pulled over for speeding: 50 in a 35 or something of the sort... pretty much everyone in the vehical had atleast one margirita, the driver, 2... the wife. still sickjumped out when the husband did, husband went to get into bag for wallet, stated such, couldnt find the bag, cop helped him find the right color bag, got the wallet, cops attention turned to the wife who ran off the road and proceeded to projectile voimit again.... perfect out, he told the cop something about trying to get the sick wife home, cop said ok, whats in the bags(timmy w/halo sticking half outta one of the bags, my pack straped to the side of my bag, etc) he told him, inching away so the alcohol wasnt smelled, well, it seems the cop was a paintballer, used to play tourney ball at that, so he showed him his licence and gave him our card, and he let them go.... kinda cool if you ask me ;)

[-=Squid=-]

Hmm... good thing nobody saw us on the way to KC last week.

I had my viking in hand, klay had his speed, and cody had his imp. Like that every time we go places. Granted, mines in my lap as is klays just fiddling with it you know, but we have to constantly stop cody, hes always pointing it at things because hes retarded or something.

[phantomhitman]

sucks that it has to be that way, but it is safer for the community and for the cop to assume the worse. i have a little story too.....

last sunday i was coming back from my local field. i see an unmarked cop so i quickly pull my seatbelt on.....not fast enough :) He pulls me over, gives me a no seatbelt ticket...fine i deserve it. when he goes back to the car to write the ticket he comes back with his buddy who promptly search my truck because i have 2 markers, tanks, hoppers, etc laying everywhere in my truck. he let me go after the search, but i still got the ticket :(

[cphilip]

Well if I was a Policeman and you pointed something at me I am going to take my chances with the review board not the emergency room.... Fast choices and second guess later.

[shartley]

We had a saying when I was a police officer…

Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 8.

[sps16]

similar thing happened to me and ZAust, not fun at all :(

[cphilip]

Not suprising. A Paintball Marker is like your Penis. Keep em in your pants boys. :D

[GT]

We had a saying when I was a police officer…

Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 8.


i thought it was tried by 12 than carried by 6?


In Texas.........
its not uncomon to see guys with full gun racks in the wal-mart parking lot. TX we are a different country...

[shartley]

i thought it was tried by 12 than carried by 6?


In Texas.........
its not uncomon to see guys with full gun racks in the wal-mart parking lot. TX we are a different country...
It could be carried by 4 as well if you only have 4… 6 or 8 is not the important thing. I have been on details that had 6 and 8. But I guess that would only matter if someone wanted to make an issue about the number and not realize the meaning is what is important…………

It is also not uncommon to see guys with full gun racks around many parts of the country. But having a shotgun/rifle in a rack is a far different situation than what is being discussed.

[Target Practice]

sucks that it has to be that way, but it is safer for the community and for the cop to assume the worse. i have a little story too.....

last sunday i was coming back from my local field. i see an unmarked cop so i quickly pull my seatbelt on.....not fast enough :) He pulls me over, gives me a no seatbelt ticket...fine i deserve it. when he goes back to the car to write the ticket he comes back with his buddy who promptly search my truck because i have 2 markers, tanks, hoppers, etc laying everywhere in my truck. he let me go after the search, but i still got the ticket :(


Wait a minute. He pulled you over for no seatbelt? I am under the impression that if they stop you for something like that or speeding, and they ask to search your car, you can say no. They don't have any reason to do a search. They reason I bring this up, is that I drive home from college with a handgun in the back of my truck (it is always locked behind the passenger's seat with the ammo locked in the glove box). So, I get pulled over for speeding, and the. CHP officer asks if I had any weapons. I said yes, and told him what I had. He asked me to get out of the car. When he asked If I would mind if he searched my car, I said yeah, I would mind. He wouldn't have found anything of course, but it was my right to refuse the search. He said ok, wrote the ticket, and I was on my merry little 55-mile-an-hour way. They don't show the people that refuse searches on COPS. Makes for bad TV.

[shartley]

Wait a minute. He pulled you over for no seatbelt? I am under the impression that if they stop you for something like that or speeding, and they ask to search your car, you can say no. They don't have any reason to do a search. They reason I bring this up, is that I drive home from college with a handgun in the back of my truck (it is always locked behind the passenger's seat with the ammo locked in the glove box). So, I get pulled over for speeding, and the. CHP officer asks if I had any weapons. I said yes, and told him what I had. He asked me to get out of the car. When he asked If I would mind if he searched my car, I said yeah, I would mind. He wouldn't have found anything of course, but it was my right to refuse the search. He said ok, wrote the ticket, and I was on my merry little 55-mile-an-hour way. They don't show the people that refuse searches on COPS. Makes for bad TV.
You are correct, you do not have to consent to a search. And no, they don’t show the people who refuse to consent to a search on COPS…. I really wish they did. Why? So that folks can see that just refusing so consent to a search does not mean it will not happen. With PC it is very easy to get a search warrant. And contrary to popular belief, most civilians don’t understand what is and is not PC. PC is one of the easiest things to get/have.

And the reason for the traffic stop is really not the determining factor for PC for a search… it is only the reason for you being pulled over.

I hope that helps…

[phantomhitman]

they did not jerk me out of the car and search it. they asked me first, and since i was already caught i just said yes. i had nothing to hide from them, and if i did say no i would just be there for another 30 minutes until they got the search warrant. that was something i did not want to do after 8 hours of ballin :) I think the main reason for the search was because of a cooler in my floorboard. i guess that state tropper wanted to get me on something else besides a seatbelt ticket. i was going 40 in a 45, so speeding was no issue in the ticket. he did cross a median at a busy highway jsut to give a seatbelt ticket...but oh well :p

[matmc89]

yea messing with guns are a bad idea, i had just got an a5 and the people beside me freaked out when i was holding it in the car.

[tyrion2323]

Seems they got pulled over for speeding: 50 in a 35 or something of the sort... pretty much everyone in the vehical had atleast one margirita, the driver, 2... the wife. still sickjumped out when the husband did, husband went to get into bag for wallet, stated such, couldnt find the bag, cop helped him find the right color bag, got the wallet, cops attention turned to the wife who ran off the road and proceeded to projectile voimit again.... perfect out, he told the cop something about trying to get the sick wife home, cop said ok, whats in the bags(timmy w/halo sticking half outta one of the bags, my pack straped to the side of my bag, etc) he told him, inching away so the alcohol wasnt smelled, well, it seems the cop was a paintballer, used to play tourney ball at that, so he showed him his licence and gave him our card, and he let them go.... kinda cool if you ask me ;)

Not cool at all. Anyone who drives under the influence is a dirtbag. End of story.

If you'd like to argue with me, please meet me at my sister's grave.

[phantomhitman]

i agree completely tyrion2323

[lldb003]

lol me and my friend got aressted for havin paintball guns in our car.. they pulled us over and searched the car and found the bags with all of our gear in it and they thought we were goin around town and shootin people so he took us to jail for like 4 hours then let us go and told us he didn't want to see us agian lol punk *** cops...

[Target Practice]

lol punk *** cops...

Those "punk *** cops" guard you while you sleep. Have a little respect, won't you?

[oldsoldier]

In regards to consent to search: MGL states that, if you are operating a vehicle on a public road, the officer MUST ask, BUT, regardless of your answer, he can search your vehicle. By having a valid drivers liscence, and operating on a public motorway, you are not expected to have privacy within your vehicle.
now, before you get up in arms, think about it; if your car were considered under the same privacy act as, say, your house, you could get away with damn near anything. Hell, you could cover the windows and live in it. Essentially, this law is to protect officers. They can search for weapons. So, it is a courtesy to ask...and not in violation of any laws in MA. Besides, what are you hiding?

[lldb003]

sry man but cops here were i live don't do nothin but eat donuts all day and drive around and give me tickets lol

[the larch]

respect is a two way street. I live in a town where the officers won't get out of their cruiser to look into my broken in to, robbed and vandalized car. With over $300 property stolen this is a felony they won't open their car door for. Of course, I live in a trailer park and not a $200,000 home. When a 911 call about a mob of drunk highschool kids fist fighting in the mall parking lot on a Sunday (slow) night results in a 52 minute response time, you gotta wonder.
No offense, some of my best friends are police officers and my wife works for the department of juvenile justice, but respect is earned, not a fact of life.
I'm quite happy with the idea of guarding myself with a couple of big dogs while I sleep. The only thing the local police are guarding is the crime scene after I am dead.

[Digits]

there is a big difference from fiddling around with a gun in the back of a car to shooting at someone with it.. Don't be so uptight buddy.. Obvoiusly the people who actually shot the gun were doing something wrong.. And if the gun was not gassed up in your car there is absolutly nothing I could see you doing wrong.. That's like saying a golfer can't polish his golf clubs in the back of his car..

The grandma sounds like some idiot old gossip granny..

BTW.. I carry my gun with me in the back of my car all the time.. I'm not going to put it in the trunk where it'll get scratched up if I don't have to.. If anyone thinks this is wrong all I have to say is you need to loosen up, I bet it's the same people that complain about TV making this sport look violant.. Please give it up.. The only people that know the difference are actual paintballers


I'm not digging this "that was cool" thing. Someone awhile ago posted a link to a newsite were some Cursive language is NOT allowed on AO, please refrain from using any more poor choices of words. Armywere shooting people while driving and someone actually shot back, with a real gun....

Think about that.

Sean

[pbzmag]

Wait a minute. He pulled you over for no seatbelt? I am under the impression that if they stop you for something like that or speeding, and they ask to search your car, you can say no. They don't have any reason to do a search. They reason I bring this up, is that I drive home from college with a handgun in the back of my truck (it is always locked behind the passenger's seat with the ammo locked in the glove box). So, I get pulled over for speeding, and the. CHP officer asks if I had any weapons. I said yes, and told him what I had. He asked me to get out of the car. When he asked If I would mind if he searched my car, I said yeah, I would mind. He wouldn't have found anything of course, but it was my right to refuse the search. He said ok, wrote the ticket, and I was on my merry little 55-mile-an-hour way. They don't show the people that refuse searches on COPS. Makes for bad TV.

If they still suspect something, say drugs, they can bring in a drug sniffing dog and search around your car. If the dog smell something, the officer has a valid reason to search your car more. For those who think that using a dog is an illegal search, it's not. The officer never entered your car. I'd give a more detailed reason but I'm tired and don't really want to search my California criminal justice book.