Stories like this are why we do what we do!

Hey everyone - this story is a little long but I feel its best that way. This is the EPIC SAGA of Orange County Sheriff's Deputy J. Finley, a reserve SWAT officer, seizing my AR-15 and how I was helped getting it back.

At 16:40 on 11-3-09, I was driving my car down Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita. A black police interceptor nearly hit my right front corner while he was changing lanes, and then braked hard and got behind me at the left turn light. I immediately got off my cell phone at that point. The police interceptor turned on its flashing lights, and I pulled over on a side street. I was then contacted by Deputy J. Finley of OCSD's Rancho Santa Margarita Police Services. He's a reserve S.W.A.T. officer and was in a black unmarked car.

From the very beginning of the stop, at 16:45, Finley was rude, suspicious, and seemed to be almost angry with me. I'm 20 years old, and have long hair. He asked me if there was any "guns, drugs, knives" etc in the car, to which i flatly responded "There is nothing illegal in the car sir." He then claimed to smell marijuana (this was quite obviously a lie), and pointed out a sandwich bag (yes, a sandwich bag) on my floor. I showed him it was empty, and smelled like FOOD (imagine that!) but at this point he had made up his mind.

Finley ordered my passenger and I to step out of the vehicle. At this point due to the fact that I am on informal probation for a misdemeanor, backup came and a search of my car commenced. When Finley made his way to the trunk, I informed him that I had my rifle in a range bag, unloaded in the trunk. He removed my rifle, a Stag Arms lower with a flat top upper and 10/30 pmag magazine locked in with a BULLET BUTTON. It was like someone had just rained guns and drugs from the great impound locker in the sky. Finley continued to search the car, finding my incomplete AK-47 build, some bulk 7.62 ammunition, and other random junk. Every time he found another gun related item, he would hold it up and look at me like I had killed his sister, cat, and broken his bicycle. He continued hassling me about where I got the bullets and what was I doing with "all this stuff". He set the rifle down on the trunk of his car during the search, and left the muzzle pointed straight at me. Since childhood, I was trained to treat all guns as loaded, and being in that position put me into a state of extreme panic and anxiety. I was treated like a second class citizen at best, but more just plain like a criminal.

I attempted to explain to Deputy Finley the legal definition of fixed magazine, and how my bullet button only allowed the magazine to be removed with a tool, which met the DOJ's and law's standards. In hindsight I should have had a more snarky remark for him removing the magazine with something on his belt loop. Finley repeatedly yelled in my face, and at one point slammed his voice recorder violently on the trunk of his car, shouting that "EVERYTHING YOU SAY IS BEING ****ING RECORDED". He also claimed that legislation had been passed outlawing bullet buttons, and that he knew this because two of his cases were what made that happen. He then told me a bullet is not a tool, and that I was in possession of an assault weapon. I was given a receipt for my rifle, ammunition, and magazines, and charged with no crime. Finley also gave me false information about how I could contest the seizure, told me that I absolutely would never be getting back my rifle, and that I would be receiving a call within a week or so regarding criminal charges.

Immediately after the whole fiasco, I went to OC Armory and spoke with Mike Penhall, the owner. This is where I have gone for all my OLL needs, and with good reason. Mike was extremely helpful, and directed me to contact Bill Wiese and / or Gene Hoffman at the Calguns Foundation. Already having been a member of calguns.net forums since April of 2008, I pm'd Gene and Bill, who got back in contact with me within a few hours. Bill then had one of the foundation's lawyers, Jason Davis, give me a call that very evening. I was thoroughly impressed, within a couple hours of my initial contact I was already speaking to an attorney. Jason was really awesome, he was articulate and seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. I went from freaked out and upset, to confident and calm.

Other than answering questions here and there, I was relieved of the issue at that point. Jason was constantly in contact by both e-mail and phone. He spoke with Mike at OC Armory, made calls to various divisions of OCSD, and even talked to Deputy Finley. The conversation with Finley was humorous from what I heard of it, and I was really amazed at how Mr. Davis handled the matter. I can only imagine the amount of time spent on my case, getting the run around on an issue that never should have happened. I would have been totally lost, and probably would never have received my rifle back if it were not for the help I received.

I had to submit the Law Enforcement Gun Release (LEGR) application to the DOJ, which cost me $20 or so, and after several weeks I got a letter back verifying that I was not a prohibited person. This morning I went to the property room of the OCSD in Santa Ana and was reunited with my beautiful tool. Unfortunately, their policy is not to return ammunition with the rifle, and since it was 25 rounds, I decided that it was going to be too costly to take the time to come get it another time.

I do not know the details, but my understanding is that OCSD did not have a policy on OLLs / bullet buttons, and my rifle was supposedly the first one of its kind that they seized. I believe they have decided to use the AW Flowchart, and I think that because of my case, and the help I was so graciously given, people in Orange County with bullet buttons may just be a little better off now.

What I really was awed by was how CGF and Jason Davis handled the whole matter. I'm a paralegal and studying law, and lawyers do not come cheap, nor is their work easy. The fact that the foundation supported my case and provided me with counsel, without having ever met me was really great. It goes to show that the money people donate really does go to a good cause. Jason is an asset to our community both as an attorney, and a fellow gun owner, and CGF makes it possible for people like me to be aided by people like Jason when the gun grabbers attack.