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NJ Child Welfare Agency Overreacted To Facebook Photo

Soapweed

Well-known member
The ruddy-cheeked, camouflage-clad boy in the photo smiles out from behind a pair of glasses, proudly holding a gun his father gave him as a present for his upcoming 11th birthday.

The weapon in the photo, posted by his dad on Facebook, resembles a military-style assault rifle but, his father says, is actually just a .22-caliber copy. And that, the family believes, is why child welfare case workers and police officers visited the home in Carneys Point last Friday and asked to see his guns.

New Jersey's Department of Children and Families declined to comment specifically on the case but says it often follows up on tips. The family and an attorney say father Shawn Moore's Second Amendment rights to bear arms were threatened in a state that already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws and is considering strengthening them after December's schoolhouse massacre in Connecticut.

In this case, the family believes someone called New Jersey's anonymous child abuse hotline.

Shawn Moore said he gave his son Josh the gun as a present to use on hunting trips. The elder Moore was at a friend's house when his wife called, saying state child welfare investigators, along with four local police officers, were at the house, asking to inspect the family's guns.

Moore said he called his lawyer Evan Nappen, who specializes in Second Amendment cases, and had him on speakerphone as he arrived at his house in Carneys Point, just across the Delaware River from Wilmington, Del.

"They said they wanted to see into my safe and see if my guns were registered," Moore said. "I said no; in New Jersey, your guns don't have to be registered with the state; it's voluntary. I knew once I opened that safe, there was no going back."

With the lawyer listening in on the phone, Moore said he asked the investigators and police officers whether they had a warrant to search his home. When they said no, he asked them to leave. One of the child welfare officials would not identify herself when Moore asked for her name, he said.

The agents and the police officers left, and nothing has happened since, he said.

"I don't like what happened," he said. "You're not even safe in your own house. If they can just show up at any time and make you open safes and go through your house, that's not freedom; it's like tyranny."

State child welfare spokeswoman Kristine Brown said that when it receives a report of suspected abuse or neglect, it assigns a caseworker to follow up. She said law enforcement officers are asked to accompany caseworkers only if the caseworkers feel their safety could be compromised.

"It's the caseworker's call," she said. "It is important to note the way an investigation begins is through the child abuse hotline. Someone has to call to let us know there is a concern."

Carneys Point Police Chief Robert DiGregorio did not answer a call late Tuesday to his office.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/sean-moore-facebook-gun-photo_n_2910779.html?1363735536&icid=maing-grid7%7Cnetscape%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D286156
 

Mike

Well-known member
Nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing.

I'm just glad the guy kept a cool head. The leftists are waiting anxiously to nail anyone that blows his top at the authorities.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
:shock: Seems nothing is suprising any more. :x

Mr. FH heard today in the barber shop that you can't buy 22 shells around here
any longer. Hadn't heard of that yet. We'll have to check and see. :x
 

Whitewing

Well-known member
"I don't like what happened," he said. "You're not even safe in your own house. If they can just show up at any time and make you open safes and go through your house, that's not freedom; it's like tyranny."

Here he's a actually wrong. It's not like tyranny, it is tyranny and they came dangerously close to commiting it.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Sandhusker said:
I would think a lawsuit would be in order when there was no hint of abuse or lawbreaking.

True, but with the lawyers and resources the DHR has, and the victim having to pay legal fees out of his pocket, not likely at all. Suing a gov't agency is long drawn out affair.

Best he could hope for is an attorney that would take it on contingency and that's not likely.
 

Zilly

Well-known member
Amen that authorities took it seriously enough to investigate. They may have big-footed their home visit a bit, but look at it from their point of view: They thought they were dealing with a household that allowed children access to heavy-duty weaponry. They had no idea what they might encounter. They had a right to act in a manner that kept them safe.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_kathleen_obrien/2013/03/salem_county_dads_facebook_gun.html#incart_river

This is a blog post from a Star Ledger (far left leaning) reporter. I read it when Mrs. Obrien first published the blog on the net and there was some supposition of the child running through the neighborhood playing with the weapon. She wrote that because she thought the weapon was fake. All that preaching over what she thought was a fake weapon. Thankfully the commenters set her straight and are giving her the what for.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Any parent should be alarmed that a simple phone call from a stranger can prompt the cops and DYFS to show up at your door to question your parenting skills.

in this state that is all to common... had they gotten in the house,.. they would have taken the weapons and the child..

and the court battle would have dragged out until the child became just another foster kid lost in the system...

Thank GOD the guy had the smarts to call a lawyer first...
 
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