For those of you who wonder why I’m fundamentally antagonistic towards LEOs (and can’t play a Flash video on your smart phone) the video above features a squad of Maine State cops telling the world that Pine Tree State residents shouldn’t be able to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms (concealed) without their approval. Do they even know their objections violate their Constitutional oath and disrespects all those who sacrificed to protect our rights? In other words, they’re either ignorant bastards or self-serving sanctimonious pricks. Just sayin’ . . .

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121 COMMENTS

  1. Reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights has really enhanced my understanding of the way our country should operate.

    Those in political leadership at this time have either not read it, and are ignorantly betraying the words upon which our nation was founded, or have read it and are actively disregarding principles our citizens should hold most dear.

    • Me too. I’m sure I read the Bill of Rights, the Constitution AND the Declaration of Independence as a kid but as an adult I am able to understand and appreciate it much more. It has really opened my eyes as to where we are as a country and how far we have fallen from the whole “we hold these truths to be self evident, all men are created equal” thing.

  3. … a squad of Maine State cops telling the world that Granite State residents shouldn’t …

    New Hampshire is the Granite State.

    Maine is the Pine Tree State (or Vacationland if you go by their marketing program).

    • It’s also known as the Lobsters for Foodstamps state.

      FWIW, the Granite State (NH) has constitutional open carry, and CC licenses are shall issue, $10, and a mandated 14 day turn around time (mine took 2 days). I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

      • Yeah, I know. I’m a resident.

        It’s night and day compared to Massachusetts where I used to live.

        • I’m a former Masshole myself. My guess is we aren’t rare; all the gun clubs in the Merrimack area are a nightmare to get into. Waiting lists forever long.

      • Because… wait, what? If you’re going to boycott any state with cops that don’t like the 2nd amendment I think you’re going to have trouble finding a place to live.

  5. In other words, they’re either ignorant bastards or self-serving sanctimonious pricks.

    Why not both? *cue Mariachi band*

        • Nothing racist about pointing out that the overwhelming majority of the people who only speak Spanish in the US are here illegally.

        • Apparently you also failed 3rd grade math. 50 million hispanics/latinos, 11.5 million illegal residents of any race. Go look up the definition of majority.

        • It was a joke people!

          Maybe only a mildly funny one, but as you know absolutely nothing about this guy, pulling the R-card just isn’t warranted.

          WTF with all the PC nonsense?

      • Totenglocke apparently can’t escape his/her (questionable) heritage. @Totenglocke: 14/88 much?

        • Exactly what I was thinking. He’s either full blown or in the closet in respect to that, and if it’s the latter that closet has a glass door.

        • Your comment insinuates that only illegal immigrants speak Spanish.

          Plenty of people, natural US citizens(of both Latino descent and good ole’ WASPs) as well as legal immigrants, speak Spanish.

          The comment and your username suggest you have some quasi-hidden racist tendencies.

        • Does your use of the term “racist” mean you are a Trotskyite? After all Trotsky is the one who coined the term and first used it to attack people he didn’t like.

        • There is little to no evidence that Trotsky invented the words racist or racism, but even if he did, so what? Are you saying racial discrimination didn’t exist before 1907? Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what you’re saying.

          Oh, and Toten, 14/88 is a reference to neo-Nazism. While I hate to refer new members to those groups, if you aren’t aware of them I’ve got to say you’d fit right in.

        • If I’m reading your comment correctly; lets try the shoe on the other foot.

          The only people who are gun rights advocates are OFWGs.

          How’s that for justice?

  6. Born, raised, spent the first 30 years of my life, and still own property in Maine. I love my home and hope to go back there someday. Cops like this embarrass the rest of us. I have active LE in my immediate family up there and I grew up with a healthy respect for the law because of it, but it seems lately that I lose a bit of respect for LE each day because of things like this. The real crux of the issue with these jokers is that they are all sherriffs in the south 1/3 of the state and are completely out of touch with the bulk of the population. Those of us from the real Maine call that area “Boston North”

    • If I am not mistaken, some Masshole moved from MA to Maine and became a Senator or Representative and then actually tried to pass a bill to split that 1/3 of ME into a separate state and call it Northern MA.

      • No, that was the rest of us trying to give it back.
        The Rep (from northern ME) who proposed did
        so to illustrate the divide. It just turned out that
        the idea has major support in all but the
        southern section. We could put it to a referendum
        vote but Mass will just bus up people to defeat it
        like a number of others.

    • Well, Maine was just a subset of Massachusetts until 1820, when it was split off as a free state to counterbalance a new slave state (Missouri? Alabama?). So you could say it’s just returning to its roots.

  8. I think very few cops give a rat’s ass about the oath they took. They took it as a formality so they could start getting a paycheck.

    Try walking up to a cop in a friendly, non-confrontational manner and ask them about their oath. Chances are, you’ll get no answer at all.

  9. I’d be fine with a shall issue permit system provided they make the same requirements (restrictions) for voting. If you had to pay $10/year and take a voting safety course to vote it would weed out the idiots, and after all, you can do far more damage with your vote than you can with a gun. Heck, I’d settle for a simple qualifying test. How about if you want to vote in a national election you should be required to name the party that currently controls the house, the senate and presidency, and a like test for state elections. That wouldn’t be considered an “infringement” now would it? Or maybe we should scrap the “shall issue” concept and go back to letting the local sheriff decide who can vote and who can’t?

        • Legal non-citizens were voting in local elections in many places all the way back in 19th century.

          Of course, back then there was also no such thing as “illegal immigrant”, and citizenship was obtained by residing and paying taxes in your state of choice for a year or two, depending on the state.

    • This comparison doesn’t work. Getting a CC where I live is easier than registering to vote. Sadly we let a bunch of neocon nutbags install voter ID last year (and a lot of good it did them), but hopefully we’ll repeal that next year.

      • Yeah, it’s a real shame not letting illegals vote themselves benefits from our wallets. /sarc

        • Oh, right, cuz the only thing between good ole America and a sticky brown skinned illegal voting welfare free-for-all is a poorly conceived solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

          You’re right though – all illegals want to do is vote and take free shit. None of them are here to do work Americans are too lazy to do for way less than we’d ever accept.

          Is it hard to be so wrong all the time or does it just come naturally to you?

        • I have refrained from making a comment regarding your ignorant racist stupidity till now.

          I am in Texas, I work with the illegal immigrants you disparage.

          Here is the real skinny. These people come here to make an honest living. They come “illegally” because our wonderful government is in the business of using them for their own corrupt purposes. Creating a problem, where none would exist if there was a sensible work visa / resident alien system in place.

          Sealing the border, with a decent program in place would allow us to concentrate our resources on the violent drug related war that is currently going on in our border states. How do I know? I LIVE here, in Texas!!!!

          The ones I know? Hardworking, respectful, and contributing with honest work and paying their fair share of taxes.

          Doing work I might add, that the lazy, shiftless, Americans refuse to do. That would cut into their welfare or unemployment checks. Heaven forbid.

          That alone is a lot more that many of your “exalted American” citizens are doing today.

          Your comments only show you are a ignorant, racist idiot.

        • It’s only those who vote Democrat (the same party the illegals support) that keep claiming that there’s no problem with voter fraud, yet every election we have plenty of evidence of voter fraud.

          But hey, better to insult people who actually want to ensure that the peasants citizens of the US actually have representation over the laws instead of non-citizens getting to determine what laws we must live by.

          @JPD

          At no point did you address anything I said. Nice to know that you can go full retard on the illegal love. I’m more than willing to buy you a one way ticket to Mexico if you love it that much – it’s the least I could do for someone who hates living here so much.

        • Cite one source that supports illegal immigrant based voting fraud.

          In the mean time, what line are you going to toe when your(presumed admittedly) GOP starts courting the Hispanic vote next election cycle?

        • Toten – I’ve never voted for a Democrat. Ever. In truth, I rarely vote republican either.

          The fact is you haven’t come up with a single coherent, fact based argument to support your point of view. Instead you simply lump every Spanish speaking person into the same race-based group, make unfounded statements and then attack anyone who disagrees with you with a carpet bombing of emotional napalm. Don’t blame us for your inability to back up your ridiculous, racist, idiotic statements.

      • I have no issue with voter ID. In fact, I want it and advocate for it. Every human system has fraud, and voter ID would cut down on it. Just ask the corpses who voted for Obama. Or there is the laughable “prove their is voter fraud” folks when we don’t ID people. I’ve asked plenty of people without their licenses who they were, and I’ve got plenty of lies.

        Regarding illegals all being hard workers, that is simply another stereotype. Try investigating and locating hit and run drivers, murders, and serious crimes in the LA area. Illegal immigrants are well represented in the prison system. I also don’t see many undocumented citizens clamoring to pay taxes, but free education, health care, and other social services are just fine.

        You can call me a racist or a realist, the fact of the matter is that illegal immigration has both huge problems and huge benefits.

        • Finally, a rational, nonracist based immigration issue response. Well done sir/madam.

          As a semiO-FWG, who happens to be liberal leaning but also a CHL holder, I’m not above requiring ID to vote.

          Call me weird, but I don’t support non-US citizens being able to vote. Regardless of what their nationality is. Do I recognize that a ton of illegal immigrants are here trying to make their and their families lives better? You bet. Should they have a say in how this country is run? Nope.

        • Saying you support voter-ID, or stating you have issue with illegal immigration, or even immigration in general doesn’t make you a racist. Racism makes you a racist.

          That said, Accur, I disagree with you. I could take your entire statement, change several words (exchange illegal for gun owner, voter ID for common sense gun control) and it would make a great blurb for the Brady Bunch.

          Control is always dangerous, even when it’s not about guns. I’m not for illegal immigration, free stuff or voter fraud. I just recognize that the immigration system we have is broken and therefore favors the minority of immigrants who want to break the law and not the majority who want to work hard for a better life, and that systems like voter ID don’t solve the problems they were ostensibly created to.

      • @Blinky, as a fellow NH resident I have to call your statement, “Getting a CC where I live is easier than registering to vote.” out as complete BS. The statement is so ridiculous I wont even list the reasons why.

        Why do you stand against Voter ID?

        • In order to register to vote I had to stand in two lines (one at the DMV, one at the precinct), fill out several forms and offer three forms of ID (including a passport, social security card or birth certificate). I also had to display my ID again before actually voting.

          To get my CC I filled out one form, showed one ID and was given my permit two days later.

          The issue I have with voter ID isn’t just that it exists, it’s that it comes from a bunch of hypocrites that claim to be all for freedom, limited government and constitutional rights. Beyond that, it’s the fact that, other than anecdotal stories and heavily biased, right wing publications, there is absolutely no evidence that A) there is a large scale issue with vote fraud, or B) Voter ID would fix it.

          In NH you don’t have to do a damn thing to exercise your right to keep and bear arms. You can buy guns, own, possess and carry a gun with no permit. The only thing you need that permit for is to carry concealed, and while it’s not perfect, it’s good enough while there are other, bigger battle to be fought.

          Voting, on the other hand, a principal this county was founded on, can’t be done at all, in any election at any time until you’ve asked the government for permission. Is that the end of the world? No, but it’s an erosion of freedom, and it won’t fix a damn thing (again, see the 2012 elections).

    • As a naturalized citizen, I basically had to do that to get my right to vote. I don’t remember all if the questions, but I know I had to know the current President, and my Representative and Senators. I think I also needed to know Speaker of the House and maybe Chief Justice as well. It was easy for me since I’d taken plenty of American government classes over the years, but I know some people really stress about it.

      • It would be real nice if natural-born citizens also had to take a similar exam before being allowed to vote. IMO, if you are not interested in politics and/or not knowledgeable about it, you shouldn’t vote – how could you rationally vote without any research along these lines, anyway?

      • My point was that you get these morons who want to “throw the bums out” and they don’t even know which ones are the bums! You don’t like the direction of the country, but you don’t bother to take the time to find out who’s running it before you vote. BDL – Brain Dead Liberal.

  10. I read the “Maine Cops” as “Marine Corps”,mentally adding an “r” after the second letter of each word.

  11. Southern Maine might as well be part of the Comintern of Massachusetts. There really are two Maines. The north is cool, the south is an abomination.

    As far as cops are concerned, some get into the business to do good and some to make a living. Some become cops because they have no idea what they want to do.

    The rest become cops in order to exercise power and control. Those in the power and control group are among the most dangerous people on the face of the Earth.

    Since it can be hard to tell one from the other until they shove a plunger handle up your @ss, I tend to treat them all with a modicum of suspicion.

  12. It’s CONCEALED. As in, hidden. Why do you need a permit to hide something that is lawful to carry in the open, and how would they know anyway?

    The genesis of these laws is that the police could detain you for being blackfrom another tribe, and charge you if they found a weapon on you. And if you were from the police’s tribe, they would wink and let you go. If you looked funny, off to jail. Just a big fat loophole in the 4th amendment, thats all.

      • They do a pretty good job of ethnically cleansing each other. Personally I’m all for removing cops from the ghetto and letting LINK/SNAP cards purchase firearms and ammunition.

        • Thanks for directly answering Totenglock’s question. I also would have accepted “Totenglock” as an answer.

  15. Maybe I’m missing something here, but I don’t see what’s so wrong with keeping up a permit system for concealed carry. As long as permits are shall-issue and not subject to the whims of local law enforcement — and assuming open carry is legal by default (as it ought to be) — it helps ensure that there’s a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys.

    So…tell me what I’m missing.

    • Nothing. Good, right minded people that are passionate in many areas of debate fail to think strategically, and instead approach the gun rights fight with an “all or nothing” attitude. I’d rather win quietly 98% of the time than lose loudly all the time.

      • Que? Full respect of our rights is t he goal. It has been won in several states. Concealment is almost required in a Maine winter in regular clothes.

        • Neither Ing nor myself said it wasn’t. I simply said demanding nothing but a specific, broadly reaching end goal is setting you up for failure. I prefer incremental victories for my side and consistent defeats for the other side.

      • OK, I thought you were a “lives under a bridge” type from your other comments, but now I know for sure. Thanks for clarifying.

        • Yeah dude, totally. I disagree with a racist moron that can’t be bothered to back up a single one of his statements and I’m the troll. At least I’m in good company.

    • The same argument we have towards background checks: it puts a burden only upon the lawful, as the criminal element will just circumvent it. And like background checks can be/is used as a foot in the door for more restrictions/ registry/undermining of constitutionally protected rights, once again for lawful citizens. At least in my view

    • How about because it means registration? Not just registration, but literally treats law abiding citizens like child molesters just for wanting to exercise their right to bear arms. Those who are going to commit a crime won’t bother jumping through the hoops and paying the fines fees to get a permit – they’ll just do it anyways. Literally the only thing that these laws exist to do is punish the law abiding citizens and discourage them from carrying a gun. That's the primary purpose of all gun control laws, to prevent people from owning / carrying a gun. I know plenty of people who want to carry a gun on a regular basis but they don’t want to deal with the absurd hoops they have to jump through in order to do it – which is why the system exists.

      it helps ensure that there’s a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys.

      There’s already an clear line – the bad guys already have a criminal record. Check someones license at a traffic stop and see if they have a criminal record, if they do and are banned from having a gun you arrest them – it’s something that’s already frakking done, yet you want to punish all the non-criminals just for kicks.

      • Good point. But be careful with this “you want to” business. You may think it’s intolerable double punishment, you might even be right, but that doesn’t mean *I* intend to punish anyone. The prohibitionists probably do want to punish everyone (including themselves, I reckon), but that’s a different story.

    • There’s a reason why certain states that have adopted unlicensed concealed carry, just so happen to call it “constitutional carry.” It’s because concealed carry laws are unconstitutional. You have the right to bear arms – not “the right to bear arms, exposed at all times.”

      Let’s be honest. The majority, if not all, firearms laws on the books, directly violate the second amendment. Concealed carry laws are one of the top offenders.

      • The supreme court, unfortunately, disagrees with you. People can cross their arms and stamp their feet all they want, but it won’t convince anyone else nor will it help our side at all.

        I’m not saying ‘constitutional carry’ is bad, I’m saying I have better battles to fight, like any restrictive legislation coming down the pipe and any truly restrictive legislation still on the books.

        • Yep. The same supreme court that says I have to buy into Obamacare or face a tax penalty or jail time.

        • That’s a different argument, and while I agree with you they used the same logic used by drug war proponents (that state’s rights don’t count when the Federal government doesn’t want them too).

          In regards to the constitutionality of shall issue licensing, I think you’d have a tough time convincing any constitutional scholar, of any political ilk, that it’s flat unconstitutional. That might get me flamed, but I’d rather be a realistic wolf than an unrealistic sheep.

    • All good points, and I do agree that in an ideal world we could all carry however we wanted with no permits, but this is not that world. Being able to mostly exercise the right as it was intended is better than being technically right about something you can’t do.

      Whether concealed carry permits by themselves violate the Constitution is arguable. There is that “well regulated militia” part that says the government gets to set some rules (not the ones the prohibitionists want, but rules and standards nonetheless). Registration of some sort could conceivably be part of it; not that I’m all for it, but how else would anyone know who the militia is, much less organize or train it? On the other hand, if the *only* way you can carry is by registering with the state for concealment permit, that’s likely unconstitutional. In states where open carry is a legal option for everyone by default, I think that could satisfy the constitutional requirement, as it makes licensing optional.

      Anyway, I’ll keep thinking about it.

  17. At the beginning of the video the voice refers to the recently defeated US Senate bill as a “bi-partisan bill”. I suppose that is to give the bill more of an air of validity. They always fail to mention that the opposition to the bill was bi-partisan as well. Who’s got the numbers? I suspect the opposition was more bi-partisan than the support for the bill. (i.e. more Dems crossed over than Reps).

    • Get with the program, man. If one Republican votes for it, that makes it bipartisan.

      In the media.

  18. America has a serious problem. Capt. Nick suggests there’s a line somewhere around Illinois where cops tend to support citizens more than establishment. I can understand, Robert, why you fled to Texas.

    The issues facing America have gone national. One wonders what will become of these corruptions and misfeasance in relation to TTAG’s “slave/free” State meme:

    http://guardamerican.com/index.php/blog/38-protect/735-treasury-conspired-to-protect-president

    The lines are drawn. We are a bi-cultural nation, and this will not end well.

    • Well dang it. This link doesn’t work.
      Guess ill have to wait till tomorrow to watch it on a PC.

  21. “…they’re either ignorant bastards or self-serving sanctimonious pricks.”

    What if they’re neither ignorant nor self serving? What if, instead, they’re fascist control freaks? What if they’ve fallen prey to the corrupting influence of power? What if they think that because they have badges that makes them our overlords?

  22. Look, I hate to go against the trend here, but they can also say whatever they want. You know, the whole freedom of speech thing. You have your view of the Constitution, they have yours. That’s the absolutely awesome thing about America. We can have the argument.

    • Yes, we can have the argument. But only a cop can deny you your human rights just because he feels like it. And you know, that’s not much of an argument.

    • We ain’t concerned because he’s exercising his 1st Amendment rights, we’re pissed off because his views are piss poor.

  23. I like how the one chief uses as his example of why permits are good a case where a guy filed one just after a protection order was lifted…

  24. The crux of The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights is that all power is in the hands of the citizens, unless the citizens cede the power to the government. Those in government quickly try to reverse this process to their own benefit. As time passes, it seems more needed to remind the politicians of the true source of power in a democracy. King George learned the hard way. It seems like a new reminder is needed.

    • Someone on a previous post said something like
      ‘The second amendment is the citizens veto power’
      I really like that.

  28. so Maine already has open carry without a permit. that’s a lot more lax than where I live now. It’s a shame the SCOTUS has to make up a bunch of mumbo jumbo infringing on our RKBA, rather than saying the something like “the 2A doesn’t need any interpreting by this court”, and do away with all of these permitting laws.

  29. I know plenty of police officers that support the 2nd amendment, even constitutional carry.

    Being “fundamentally antagonistic towards LEOs” because a squad of State Troopers put out a video is a bit ridiculous. Sure, judge those troopers, or any LEO that speeds out or acts in a way that conflicts with our individual right, but being fundamentally antagonistic toward any one group because of the actions of some, isn’t going to do anything to help your(and our cause). This blog already has been sliding to an anti-cop bias, coming out and stating it makes it easy for anyone to lump us pro-gunners as anti-police/law and order.. I personally know officers that do their thankless job for the right reasons, they’re good allies to have in the gun debate, arbitrarily lumping them in with the antis and alienating them from our side is just stupid.

  31. Sounds like these guys enjoy their current desk-jobs. Doing background checks via computer seems a lot easier than working a beat. Of course, I’m not a LEO, so maybe typing stuff into a computer is really hard work.

    I guess if I was a desk-bound LEO, and I thought the legislature was about to make my cush job redundant, I would be upset as well.

    Highly paid cops doing clerical work is an enormous waste of resources. Highly paid cops infringing our constitutional rights is criminal.

    -ted

  32. I’m going with the “self serving sanctimonious pricks” & a Sylvester the Cat delivery(here’s my handherchief). Somehow they just can’t quite grasp the “of the people by the people thing”, Randy

  33. they’re either ignorant bastards or self-serving sanctimonious pricks
    Hey those are not mutually exclusive. They can be both.
    Ignorant, self-serving, sanctimonious, bastard, pricks.
    See? It works.

  34. Robert, as a Maine resident, I was watching this closely. Most of the opposition came from SOUTHERN Maine police chiefs such as the super anti-gunner Portland Police Chief Michael Sausachuk (Who is an absolute disgrace, by the way) If he had his way, no one in Maine would own firearms. That is the problem in this state. South of Topsham, Maine is a whole different world. It seems like Portland and the rest of southern Maine has a disproportionate voice in the state house. We need to stop Portland politics and southern maine interests from permeating throughout the state, because there is a whole lot more Maine rather than the trash Southern portion, where life is a WHOLE lot different. I am so fed up with liberal politics being forced down our throats just because Portland is the biggest city in the state. Personally, I wish Massachusetts would take back everything south of Topsham, because you can hardly call it “Maine”. What people don’t realize is that, when you hit Portland, they think there isn’t much more of the state to go through. From Portland to the Canadian border is roughly another FOUR HUNDRED MILES.

  35. Ok, here are my concerns with what this joker they call Chief of Police in South Portland said.

    1- He denied 12 permits. 12 out of how many total? 12 of 12, 12 of 12,000?
    2 – Why were they denied? Each one. And was it truely justfied and objetive or was it subjective judgement that they wre declined?
    3 – The one mentioned as a protective order having just expired. I do not now the laws on this, but I have an issue with this. Was he convicted of a crime or found to be mentally incompetent? From my understanding, anyone can feel threatened ad file a protective order on anyone (slight exaggeration but close to the truth).

    I’ve never dealt with a protective order but my understanding is they can issue them as a precaution and to give the parties in question time to cool down. So an arbitraty decision can strip your rights even though no law has been commited? Again, subjective and a very slippery slope for everyone.

    Also, how would an objective means of issuing a CCW or CCP be a disservice to the public? Everyone is treated equally and against equal criteria/facts? Rather than some subjective measure based on one persons bias? Interesting….

  36. I swear. There is no worse balance of Libertarians people to Liberal politicians than in this state.

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