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An anonymous tipper gave this Facebook photo to law enforcement, who came to the house of Shawn Moore demanding to catalog his guns. (Shawn Moore Facebook Photo)

Cops try to force illegal search over a Facebook gun photo

BY Jillian Raftery  on March 20, 2013 @ 2:06 pm (Updated: 4:03 pm - 3/20/13 )

Shawn Moore had no idea that a Facebook photo of his happy son could bring the police to his doorstep.

The gun in the photo, a .22 caliber rifle, was a birthday present to his 11-year-old son, Josh. Both father and son are state licensed hunters who enjoy the sport together, and Josh is an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor, Range Safety Instructor, and a State Certified Firearms Hunting Instructor.

"There's absolutely nothing illegal with this picture," said Dori.

But one concerned citizen saw the photo and alerted the New Jersey Department of Child Services, who then went to the Moore family's home with two police officers.

"They wanted to go through the house and make sure that guns were not available to kids," said Shawn in an interview with Fox News. "And once they went through the house they wanted to get into my safe and they wanted to run all the serial numbers on my firearms and make sure they were all registered to me. And catalog them."

But Shawn stood his ground. He called his attorney, who told him that he didn't have to let the police in without a warrant. In New Jersey, registering firearms is not a requirement; it's voluntary.

But The Department of Child Services of New Jersey wouldn't let it go, and they threatened to take Shawn's children away if he didn't go along with the search.

"They were asking me if I had anything to hide - if I didn't, why wouldn't I open the safe?" said Shawn. "After about an hour of arguing with me, they packed up their stuff and left."

Dori says the whole thing was unconstitutional.

"They never came back because they didn't have any reason," said Dori. "They had no probable cause other than a proud father and a happy son putting a picture up on Facebook."

Shawn's son, on the other hand, couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"I've been shooting guns since I was five," said Josh. "I was really happy about getting the gun. Then when they showed up, that was seriously getting me really mad."

Jillian Raftery, Social Media Captain
Jillian Raftery is a social media captain for the Dori Monson Show. She loves the neighborly vibe of the Pacific Northwest and spends as much time as possible outdoors.
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Comments (25)


  • Add A Comment

  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    This young American, one of our future leaders
    March 21, 2013 6:15 am
    is learning FIRST HAND just how terrified this Obama regime is about the next generations of Americans having a Constitutionally guaranteed right to own a firearm.

    Parrots, your Dear Leader and his regime are the best thing to have happened to Americans and our US Constitution.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • froggy wrote...
    The govt. was out of line on this.
    March 21, 2013 7:47 am
    The photo gave no probable cause for anything. You can't even tell if the rifle is a real firearm or a toy from this photo. The gang bangers are now painting their real guns to look like toy guns so they don't get shot right off the bat by the police. You can't differentiate the toys from the real. In any case, this photos shows nothing but a young male holding what looks like a weapon. There is nothing criminal or threatening about it. The officials who investigated it over-reacted.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    A picture is worth a thousand words.
    March 23, 2013 5:25 pm
    Lets start with, gun held at port arms. Muzzel pointed in a safe direction and finger off the trigger. Hmmm, proper safe gun handling technique. Boy wearing happy smile, eyes crinkled in delight. If I had a son I could only hope he would be that happy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    This photo will be on the front page
    March 24, 2013 7:12 am
    after the school tragedy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }