Generations, generations.

I grew up in a small town in the Southern Tier of New York State during the sixties and seventies. 

In our modest six member household we had about a dozen long guns in the house.  We all loved out of door activities such as fishing, hunting and camping.  It was a rite of passage that my two brothers, my sister and I became of age and took the state mandated hunter safety training course at fourteen years old.

With each of us it was the same procedure.  Upon successful completion of the course my father would take that child to Dicks or Philadelphia Sales to get our hunting license AND buy us our first shotgun, used of course.

I remember the other long guns in the house as a 30-06 rifle, several .22s  ( one long and one short) rifles, a .225 (?) rifle, 410 shotgun and probably a few others that I have forgotten about.

The firearms and ammunition was stored away but not locked up.  My whole family had unfettered access to all the guns and all the ammo on a 24/7 basis.

We shot a lot of rabbits, squirrels, grouse, pheasants and deer.

We never thought to use the guns for any other purpose other than hunting or target shooting or the emergency of self defense.  Our household was typical of the homes in our neighborhood in regards to firearms.

Fast forward to today in New Jersey.  A picture of a youth that was lawfully possessing his rifle is shown on social media.  Due to a flawed reporting system, overzealous child protective personnel and police rush to the residence to investigate the matter under the guise of child endangerment.  They brow beat the father of the child to gain entrance to the home and insisted on seeing the firearms that were locked in the safe.

The confused and concerned father contacts his attorney via phone and the attorney advises him that unless the authorities have a warrant they must leave the premises upon his request.  He requests, they leave.  

At the time of this writing it is not know if any charges are being contemplated by the authorities.

I suggest that the agents of the state, in New Jersey, that were involved in this incident, go to a refresher course at an in-service training session on topics that include the rights of citizens in regards to the Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

Generations, generations.