Online at 
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=154-10162003

SAF Says Anti-Gun Missouri Police Chief Should Shelve Confiscation Plan

10/16/03 4:07:00 PM

To: State Desk

Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012;
Web: http://www.saf.org

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Second Amendment Foundation
(SAF) today said Hazelwood, Mo., Police Chief Carl Wolf should set his
personal anti-gun politics aside and shelve an order to have his officers
seize firearms from motorists they encounter in routine traffic stops, when
the state's concealed carry law takes effect.

SAF obtained a copy of Chief Wolf's memorandum to his officers, ordering
them to check any firearm they find in any vehicle they stop, to determine
whether it is lost or stolen, and finally, "Officers shall then seize the
firearm, package as evidence, and forward the firearm...to the St. Louis
County Firearms Lab, to determine if the firearm has been used in the
commission of a crime."

"This is an outrage, and it violates Fourth and Fifth Amendment provisions
regarding illegal search and seizure, and due process," stated SAF Founder
Alan Gottlieb. "Chief Wolf's vehement anti-gun attitudes and his
long-standing opposition to concealed carry for Missouri residents are well
known. By issuing this order, Wolf is clearly allowing his personal biases
to influence how he runs his department.

"Seizure of a firearm for no other reason than blind suspicion to find out
whether it's been used in a crime amounts to a legal fishing expedition,
and tramples all over such long-standing legal principles as 'innocent
until proven guilty' and 'probable cause'," Gottlieb added. "Chief Wolf is
a vocal opponent of concealed carry in Missouri, and he even allowed
himself to be quoted in a 1999 Handgun Control news release.

. . .

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