you're doing it wrong, Copblock.org. silly cow

I'm no lawyer, but I think the citizens in this case didn't properly understand the law. Normally, they are right--the 4th amendment states that the police need a warrant to search a private residence. However, there are several exceptions to that rule including two that are applicable here--the plain view exception and the emergencies exception (see this link).

The plain view exception states that if the police have a clear view of what they believe to be illegal activity, they may enter a private premise without a warrant. And those airsoft guns, which from a distance do indeed look like real firearms, are in plain view from the street.

The emergency exception states that police may search a premises without a warrant if the evidence can be easily destroyed or moved before a warrant can be issued. In this case they had an anonymous tip that illegal activity was taking place at the location? If the citizens were actually selling guns, by the time the cops could secure a search warrant the sellers could have packed up all their stuff and left town.

I think in this case the fact that the guns were on sale in the driveway in plain view coupled with the anonymous tip gives police all the probable cause they need to search the premises without a warrant. I think if these people decided to be assholes and file a lawsuit claiming their civil rights had been violated or something, they'd be up shit creek without a paddle.

"I'm with copwatch" and I'm selling realistic looking guns on my driveway and you guys got an anonymous tip saying they were real oh look here's our video camera now we can put this on YouTube. Right......

No provocation here, no sir.

Good post @SDGundamX.

The women in this video thinks she "understands the law." She doesn't.

The prevalent negative attitude on videosift and the internet in general towards police officers is a bad worn out meme. Grow up. Some police are good, some are bad, but the majority are just people who are doing a difficult job dealing with the worst of people.

I'm guessing that prevalent attitude is pretty strongly aligned with age. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, the cops were my hereditary enemies. As I got more experience under my belt (and grew to know a dozen or so), I found my views of them moderating substantially. In the vast majority of cases, you get back better than you give them.
Treat them with respect, and most are more than happy to do the same.
Treat them like shit (like this idiot did), and usually you'll -still- be treated with courtesy.
Try to prevent them from doing their job and treat them like shit, and be prepared to visit the station.

I'll agree that this video looks like it falls more in the 'Trolling cops for fun and notoriety' category. If they had just shown them the airsoft guns it would have turned into a complete non-event. Sometimes these videos do highlight bad and even outright criminal behavior by some police officers and people have every right to get angry about that. Those aren't 'memes' or cute cat videos, those are people holding their officials responsible for their actions.

So where's the obvious plain view illegal activity going on? Selling guns is perfectly legal.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'cops, garage, sale, guns, private' to 'cops, garage, sale, guns, private, garage sale, police' - edited by lucky760

Look at the situation agnostic of what you know of as the law.
People in modern society have been so well-trained to look at things objectively from the perspective of The Law vs. The Individual.
Wouldn't you be offended if some "authority" came to your home and decided to inspect what you were doing?
I completely understand both sides. I know the police were doing what they have been programmed to, and the civilians were reacting the way our anti-authoritarian subculture has told them too, but there is a middle ground.
Between the two parties I believe the police acted most appropriately because they showed doubt and restraint (regardless of it being out of ignorance or self-restraint). In the end the situation could have been resolved best by openness and honesty on both parts, but that's the one element that our current state has beaten into submission.

If this is California (SJ = San Jose?) then it is illegal to sell firearms except through a licensed dealer (who I believe holds onto the guns for 10 days as per state law and perhaps also checks to ensure the weapons are not stolen and that the recipient is not a felon or otherwise prohibited by law from owning a firearm).

See this link..

Um…… Where? Because where I'm from that'll land you in jail.

As for the video, it needs a fail tag. This "cop watch" woman has no idea what the hell she's talking about aside from blah blah blah. She lives in an apartment complex . . . so she has no authority to tell the officers to leave. Complexes are quasi-public in as much as although I didn't invite you, someone else can. And then you cannot un-invite me unless I try to enter your unit.

Uhhh, "doing a difficult job dealing with the worst of people?"...That 'class' of people grows in number everyday, the state makes this happen by design. They create the worst of people with a boot to their necks and threats of incarceration, plea-downs through fear of state reprisals are more and more commonplace.

The woman was wrong, she should have known the laws and conducted herself wisely in the situation, but she was a fool instead. Dumb ass.

The animosity towards enforcement of Statist laws which protect that fraternity and understandably, they know that they are wrong hence the jackboot tactics, unreasonable fines and penalties, etc. People need to become over-educated in procedure and statue and call police to task at every possible chance.

Get your toe caught in the meat-grinder of the system and you may never recover, if you don't keep yer shit solid.

There are always good cops and bad cops but again, in the here and now of police in America, every cop is a felon or will become one at some point in their career in law enforcement, unless they are stellar cops. The very few remain uncorrupted in the profession.

No mercy or quarter for bullshit laws as well, the system is flawed and the enforcers complicit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_California_Street_shooting

A pair of Tech 9's and a .45, and one unstable fuck-tard, and the entire state adopts laws soon repealed, because they were emotionally-charged, retarded-at-face-value, bullshit and reactionary.

Sanity prevails and will continue to until all hope is lost, all fucking morons take heed.