Facebook Photo Raid May Trigger Lawsuit, Gov Ignores 2nd Amendment Rights?
A Facebook photo raid may trigger a lawsuit.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Facebook photo raid was triggered when proud New Jersey dad Shawn Moore posted a photo of his son holding a .22 rifle on Facebook the young man had passed a state firearms safety test. An anonymous phone tip caused the Department of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) to raid the home with two social service workers and four police officers.
What made the Facebook photo raid so bad was that the Moore family was allegedly threatened with having their children taken away. Shawn Moore is a holder of three different types of firearms certifications. The New Jersey man is also a certified NRA range safety instructor and a New Jersey state certified firearms hunting instructor.
Moore said he called his lawyer Evan Nappen, who specializes in Second Amendment cases, to talk with the DYFS during the Facebook photo raid:
“They said they wanted to see into my safe and see if my guns were registered. 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.”
State child welfare spokeswoman Kristine Brown said that all reports of child abuse are followed up by case workers, and police officers accompany them only when safety is an issue:
“It’s the caseworker’s call. 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.”
The attorney Evan Nappen told Fox News that police have not returned, with a warrant or otherwise, but the family is still considering legal action. Shawn Moore explains why he feels the Facebook photo raid is worth suing over:
“I don’t like what happened. 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.”
What do you think about the Facebook photo raid?
[Image by Shawn Moore]
Gov’t personnel NEED TO LEARN THE LAW!If you haven’t heard about this yet, there was just an update and… fb.me/2o13OOIH9
— B.R.Kennedy (@BKArms) March 20, 2013
Think it couldn’t happen? It just did #guncontrol out of control: Shawn Moore and the Hoplophobes nationalreview.com/corner/343467/… via @#
— Anne Leary (@backyardconserv) March 20, 2013
Tags : 2nd amendment, Facebook, Facebook photo DYFS, Facebook Photo Raid, facebook photo raid lawsuit, Gun Control, shawn moore, son holding a .22 rifle
Posted: March 20, 2013
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Mar 20, 2013
What do I think about the 'Facebook photo raid'? I think it's a very misleading title. The police didn't scour Facebook looking for photos of guns so they could target the owners. No, that's not what happened.
What happened was: someone called them. Someone who isn't a police officer saw the picture, and called the police officer. Why? I don't know, but I'm willing to bet they said something about child endangerment and guns. That's why the police were there. Stop with the sensationalist crap and instead report on the real issue. With a headline like this, you're scaring people into thinking the police are browsing Facebook looking for targets. If you don't want this to happen to you, then it's really simple: Don't post pictures of your life, or don't befriend people who'll report you to the police.
Mar 20, 2013
It's not about the guns, It's all about CONTROL!~~.
Mar 20, 2013
It's a "catch 22" ( no pun intended) and a doubled edge sword: NO days, when actions are NOT taken by Social Services or Law enforcement agencies, people are quick to criticize the departments for failing to investigate. And when you get sue happy citizens ready to sue, it makes such agencies that much harder to get TO INVESTIGATE cases needing investigations. I think this certainly could have been handled differently, no doubt about it, it was wrong. However, I think the father and other citizens should be thankful things were in fact taken seriously. Law suit? not sure. A good investigation into the departments of their handling certainly could use a good tweaking and some dept individuals should be dealt with accordingly for sure.
Mar 20, 2013
I didn't see any bruises on the boy, he had a smile on his face and seemed well feed. My father got his first shot gun at 5 years old. It was to be used under adult supervision with proper gun saftey. The Second Amendment is our "Right". It's in the constitution and it's going no where! They owe that father an appology and they need to find out who made the false claim and take them in for lying!
Mar 20, 2013
What a misleading title. How did the governor have anything to do with this? That being said, that Dyfs worker should be fired at the very least. They had no right to enter someones home and ask to search their firearms based on the evidence. The proper follow up in my opinion would have been to ask the reporting party for a copy of the photo in question, not go off the handle and start violating citizens civil rights.
Mar 20, 2013
F that man. Its a free damn country. If you feel thats the way you should have to live your life as a lawfull citizen (hiding your life in fear of the feds) then you need some seriouse help.
Mar 20, 2013
Just because you CAN put pictures up on Facebook doesn't mean you SHOULD. ANYONE can see them, even if they are private, they are exposed to friends of friends or to whoever else is allowed to see tagged pictures. If you don't want some busybody talking about you and your life, then don't put yourself out there. It is YOUR decision.
Mar 20, 2013
Jacob Potter's response can be put down to youth and inexperience. The boy's father is a certified range-safety and firearms hunting instructor, so there as obviously no "child endangerment" here! The whole mess boils down to nanny-state interference by anti-gun knuckleheads who don't bother to check their information before their knee-jerk liberal reactions set in. I hope Shawn Moore sues the people responsible for this travesty-it might teach them a lesson in respecting other peoples' privacy, not to mention violating their First Amendment right to free expression.
Mar 21, 2013
Good point, Brian! The last time I checked this was still a free country, where the people's right to self-expression was protected by the Constitution, whether or not that expression is "politically correct". Abuses of authority must be punished, or our freedom doesn't mean a thing. In this case, no crime was committed by the persons being investigated, and even the commission of a crime doesn't clear the way for a warrantless search of private premises. If this goes unchallenged, the government in NJ will attempt more such abuses in pursuit of their anti-gun bias.
Mar 21, 2013
As a proud firearms owner and supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I will continue to exercise my right to post ANY PICTURE I please, as long as it is in good taste. Of course I currently reside in Montana, where there is a notable shortage of gun-hating busybodies….
Mar 21, 2013
Mr. Moore I will gladly donate to your legal fund!
Mar 21, 2013
You're right, Alf. But if someone on your friends list decides that a picture of your child with a firearm is inappropriate, you can't be upset that they call someone out of concern. People are on edge because of last year's catastrophes, and some people believe that a firearm doesn't belong in the hands of a child. Plus, there are busybodies that may not even be on your friends list that can see your picture if a friend likes a photo. It will show up on their feed. So some random stranger can see an "inappropriate" picture, and you are SOL.
Mar 21, 2013
…And How is that child abuse……confusing…..(Once again "Big Brotha" is making a mountain out of molehill).
Mar 21, 2013
I can't believe what I'm reading here…."Don't post a picture of your child with a gun"….."You shouldn't draw attention to yourself"…..It wasn't "child endangerment" for that child or everyone I knew as a kid to learn to safely handle a firearm…There can't be a more bizare reaction to a picture of a young man holding a gun…Smiling…Someplace on facebook I'm sure it says "earning his safety certificate today"….Notice his finger NOT on the trigger by the way….I'm sick to death of the PC crap…Hundreds of thousands of kids went hunting every chance they got, carried shotguns or light rifles in gun racks in the rear window of their pickup truck…I just don't recall a single friend of mine or anyone for that matter shooting anyone with a gun….for those of you not paying attention yet, ITS NOT THE GUN…Its what is done with it…this young man is being trained to safely use a gun for hunting or sporting purposes…Now shut the hell up and mind your own business…..
Mar 21, 2013
Christ, what happened to my fellow liberals? We see a gun and suddenly we're not going to defend the Constitution? I'm as left as they make 'em, but unless you've got solid probable cause/evidence that someone is abusing a kid the government has no right to barge in and see what they can find.
A picture of a kid holding a gun is hardly anywhere near that standard.
Mar 21, 2013
Hey let's not throw all liberals into one pile.
There are a lot of nanny-state conservatives (want to censor TV or video games or music, religious interference with the law, etc) and there are a lot of pro-gun liberals.
Mar 21, 2013
I'm all good for gun control, but seriously look at this photo. The kid is holding the gun responsibly. He's not aiming it at anything (THE #1 RULE! Don't AIM at anything you don't intend to kill!), and his finger is off the trigger. I seem to remember a certain representative screaming for gun control that had a similar rifle that had the thing pointing into the audience with her finger ON the trigger. Granted, it might not have been loaded, but who knows this?
If this kid had been pointing it at his brother / sister / mother / neighbor / pet / etc in this picture, or taking a POV picture pointing it at the neighbor's house or at oncoming traffic, ok, call those guys in and raid away. But this picture does NONE of that. Nobody is in jeopardy, no safety violations are being committed. What the hell is the problem?
My point is that this raid was out of line. Completely. Again, I AM for gun control, but not to the point of infringing on the rights of responsible gun owning people. THIS just crosses the line.
Mar 21, 2013
Shawna Marie I think the problem with this is people have varying degrees of what they feel is inappropriate. I saw nothing wrong with the photo in this article. I'm a former Master-at-Arms for the Navy, and the kid in the photograph is doing everything the way he's supposed to when handling a firearm. Of course, lesson learned, he's going to have to screen people to see if they will be offended by his children holding firearms now, and change his security settings to where only his close friends can view these (and it is possible to block people from seeing these now. If they really want to see it, THEY have to bend over backwards to get on to your page to do so, so it wouldn't be anyone's fault but their own).
I understand that people are on edge about last year's catastrophes, and I'm one that would like to see gun control happen, but there is such a thing as an extreme knee-jerk reaction towards responsible owners and practitioners of the trade.
Mar 21, 2013
what if he wasn't an NRA certified instructor? Or, what if he wasn't a NJ Hunting instructor? What if he was a regular guy that likes to practice at the range and go hunting a few times a year? That gets me more worried. What if the kid wasn't so cute? What if the kid had long hair and was cross-eyed?
Mar 21, 2013
This crap has got to stop. They will probably try to reach a settlement that's confidential, but the perception that they did the right thing will remain. And another tear falls from Lady Liberty.
Mar 21, 2013
I haven't read anywhere that is was someone specifically looking for a picture to criminalized. I think someone was genuinely concerned. I know a lot of people who would find it alarming for a child to handle a firearm. Accidents DO happen, so if someone saw it, who was on his friends list, and they were afraid, then they have every right to call someone. it sucks that DFS has the authority to just storm your house, threatening to take their children if you don't cooperate, but if they didn't have that authority, then the children who actually ARE in danger would never get the help they need. If he sues, I doubt he will get anything.
Mar 21, 2013
Big Brother is watching you. George Orwell was a few decades off, but his book nailed it.