John Caile | January 24, 2014 | 88 Comments inShare A recent incident involving a Florida gun owner traveling through Maryland with his family was a sobering experience for them and a stark warning to the rest of us. Ironically, small business owner John Filippidis did not even have his handgun with him on the trip. According to an editorial in the Tampa Tribune (January, 14, 2014): “The Filippidises, on New Year’s Eve eve, were Southbound on Interstate 95, just barely out of the Fort McHenry Tunnel into Maryland, blissfully unarmed and minding their own business when they noticed they were being bird-dogged by an unmarked patrol car. It flanked them a while, then pulled ahead of them, then fell in behind them.” Eventually, the officer pulled their Ford Expedition SUV over. Following the “license and registration, please” routine, he went back to his cruiser. After about ten minutes, he returned. The officer immediately ordered Mr. Filippidis out of his vehicle, and demanded that he hook his thumbs behind his back and spread his feet. Then, in what Mr. Filippidis described as a harsh and accusatory tone, the officer barked, “You own a gun. Where is it?” John Filippidis replied, “At home in my safe.” The officer then warned him, “Don’t move,” went around to the passenger side window and, in an equally harsh manner, said to Kally Filippidis, “Your husband owns a gun,” and again demanded, “Where is it?” Unfortunately, instead of simply echoing her husband’s statement, and feeling understandably intimidated, she made things worse: “I don’t know.” Retelling it later [Kally] says, “And that’s all I should have said.” Instead, attempting to be helpful, she added, “Maybe in the glove [box]. Maybe in the console. I’m scared of it. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. I might shoot right through my foot.” The cop reacted (overreacted?) as follows: “The officer came back to John [and said], ‘You’re a liar. You’re lying to me. Your family says you have it. Where is the gun? Tell me where it is and we can resolve this right now.’” What happened next should disturb any lawful permit holder: “Kally’s failure to corroborate John’s account, the officer would tell them later, was the probable cause that allowed him to summon backup—three marked cars joined the lineup along the I-95 shoulder—and empty the Expedition of riders, luggage, Christmas gifts, laundry bags; to pat down Kally and the children; to explore the engine compartment and probe inside door panels; and to separate and isolate the Filippidises in the back seats of the patrol cars.” After 90 minutes, the Filippidis family was finally allowed to go on their way, with a “warning”—about what is unclear. Mr. Filippidis did eventually receive an apology from Maryland law enforcement authorities, although “sorry ‘bout that” is scant compensation for needlessly terrorizing a man and his family. But according to a respected gun-rights law professor I know, the harsh reality is that Kally’s nervous babbling (which also contradicted her husband) was “just enough to let some anti-gun judge find a basis for [justifying] the search.” (How DID they know he owned guns, anyway?) I always teach my carry permit students how to behave during traffic stops. As the Filippidis family’s experience shows, this is especially important when traveling, where out-of-state license plates inevitably attract the attention of police. But it also illustrates why we should make sure that our spouses, or any other regular passengers in our vehicles, know exactly how to behave during a stop.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:14:39 +0000
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