posted 03-20-2013 09:15 AM                  

By Todd Starnes

New Jersey police and Dept. of Children and Families officials raided the home of a firearms instructor and demanded to see his guns after he posted a Facebook photo of his 11-year-old son holding a rifle.

“Someone called family services about the photo,” said Evan Nappen, an attorney representing Shawn Moore. “It led to an incredible, heavy-handed raid on his house. They wanted to see his gun safe, his guns and search his house. They even threatened to take his kids.”

Moore was not arrested or charged.

A Dept. of Children and Families spokesperson told Fox News they could not confirm or deny an investigation or raid had taken place due to government regulations.

“The department has a child abuse hotline for the state of New Jersey and anybody can make a call to that hotline,” spokesperson Kristen Brown said. “We are required to follow up on every single allegation that comes into the central registry.”

Moore, of Carneys Point, is a certified firearms instructor for the National Rifle Association, an NRA range safety officer and a New Jersey hunter education instructor.

He recently posted a photograph of his son wearing camouflage and holding his new .22 rifle. The child has a New Jersey hunting license and recently passed the state’s hunter safety course.

“If you look at the picture, his finger isn’t even on the trigger – which is proper,” Nappen told Fox News. “If half of Hollywood could follow that rule we’d be thankful.”

Brown said their role is not to go out and search Facebook for photos of children holding weapons.

“In general our role is to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect,” she said.

The family’s trouble started Saturday night when Moore received an urgent text message from his wife. The Carneys Point Police Dept. and the New Jersey Dept. of Children and Families had raided their home.

Moore immediately called Nappen and rushed home to find officers demanding to check his guns and his gun safe.

Instead, he handed the cell phone to one of the officers – so they could speak with Nappen.

“If you have a warrant, you’re coming in,” Nappen told the officers. “If you don’t, then you’re not. That’s what privacy is all about.”

With his attorney on speaker phone, Moore instructed the officers to leave his home.

“I was told I was being unreasonable and that I was acting suspicious because I wouldn’t open my safe,” Moore wrote on the Delaware Open Carry website. “They told me they were going to get a search warrant. I told them to go ahead.”

Moore took this photo of police outside his home.

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

“In many cases we may follow up on something and we don’t find any problems and the case is closed,” she said.

But the person who reported the false allegations of abuse cannot be held liable, she noted.

“You can’t be prosecuted for making an allegation of child abuse –even if it’s false,” she said.

Nappen said what happened to the Moore family should serve as a warning to gun owners across the nation.

“To make someone go through this because he posted a picture of his son with a .22 rifle on his Facebook page is pretty outrageous,” he said. “Does that mean that anyone who posts a picture like that has to consent to a home inspection and a gun inspection? I don’t think so.”

Nappen said they are considering taking legal action against the state for the late night raid.

This is the picture that was posted on facebook

posted 03-20-2013 11:06 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by beachcat:
Not FB's fault. Reports of child abuse have to be investigated.

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Typical Roger .... Where is the "report of child abuse" in this photo BC?! Huh?!?

If there were no social media sites and hype, then this action would not have occurred. Or will you take up an argument on that point too ... silly question, right?

posted 03-27-2013 04:35 PM                  

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is asking the attorney general to probe the state's visit to the home of a man who uploaded a photo on Facebook of his 10-year-old son holding a military-style rifle.

The state child welfare agency and local police went to the Carneys Point home of Shawn Moore on March 14 following what police say were anonymous calls expressing concern about the safety of a child.

Moore has said he believes he was investigated because of the photo he posted online of his son holding the gun he got for his 11th birthday. The weapon was a .22-caliber rifle made to look like an assault rifle.

Moore said that state child welfare workers and police in SWAT gear showed up at his home, the caseworkers were aggressive and the visit was uncalled for.

No charges were filed against Moore.

Christie says reports on the inquiry raise "troubling questions."

In a letter Friday, the governor asked Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa to determine "whether all applicable laws were appropriately followed, and to take any remedial, investigative or other actions that may be required."

"The public reports of this matter raise troubling questions concerning the facts and circumstances surrounding the investigation, the manner in which the investigation was conducted, and the procedures followed by law enforcement and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency," the governor wrote. The Christie administration provided a copy of the letter Wednesday.

The state welfare agency, citing confidentiality requirements, has not commented on its visit to the Moore home. Agency officials said only that caseworkers may request police to accompany them on visits if they have reason to be concerned about their personal safety.

Moore's attorney, Evan Nappen, said Wednesday he believes the public outcry over the case led to the quick decision by the Christie administration to investigate. He said he did not request the probe.

"We welcome the investigation so that something like this hopefully doesn't happen again," Nappen said. "There's this really great reason why there's no charges and the case is closed, and that's because my client didn't do anything wrong."

Moore first posted a comment about the incident on a gun rights website and within days was appearing with his son, Josh, on a Fox News talk show and elsewhere.

In a statement, Carney Point Police Chief Robert DiGregorio and Mayor Richard Gatanis said officers went to the family's home after getting anonymous tips that a boy there might have access to weapons and ammunition.

"In light of some of the recent school shootings across our nation, the Carneys Point Police Department takes these types of calls seriously," they said, adding that they were obligated to go there with state Department of Children and Family caseworkers who requested assistance.

Moore had said the authorities requested to see his weapons, but with his lawyer on a speakerphone he denied them access because they did not have a search warrant.

The Carneys Point officials said the officers -- in night uniforms and body armor but not SWAT gear -- did not attempt an unlawful search.

The officials said that they respect citizens' rights to own weapons and that several officers knew the elder Moore from a shooting club.

Nappen said the problem is the idea that the government could respond to people talking about or with photos of weapons on social media.

"This is a shame because of the impact it has on a really good dad and his son," Nappen said. "No one was in danger."

He said the state Department of Children and Families was aggressive and intimidating and could have avoided the situation by calling first.

A department spokesman --without commenting on the specific case -- said that the department routinely checks on tips it receives.

The department has been under years of court-monitoring and has been criticized in several cases where children who died or were in peril were not checked on.

In a moment of heightened sensitivity around guns and gun control, the brief saga had the makings of a debate starter between people who oppose guns and those who say authorities are overzealous about even legal weapons.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/27/gov-christie-asks-attorney-general-to-investigate-state-response-in-boy-with/#ixzz2OmJdP5cG