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Coming soon to a U.S. city near you
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it's already here, and has been for a while. Its just the enforcement is not general, yet.
And, what goes on, and is legal in a nation with laws different from ours is a different matter.
Look at what was linked. His house was raided and searched, apparently fairly politely. (holstered firearms only) they had a warrant under valid NZ law. There was no mention of restraint (other than the family was detained), no mention of their house and property being torn up, no prone'd out handcuffed homeowner, none of the smash and grab type tactics US SWAT teams have used. No illegal gun was found, no arrest was made, and police sort of apologized for having to have to do it.
Personally, I think if our police took that kind of approach people would feel better about it. Knock on the door in the middle of the day, not kick it in in the middle of the night goes a LONG way in public relations. So does not shooting anything that moves "for officer safety"....
Still, the main point is, they searched because he posted a picture of something, legal at the time, illegal now, and they thought he still had it.
It does lead me to wonder, don't they have complete registration in NZ??? If they do, shouldn't they have FIRST checked their records to see if he had sold the gun?? Lets say, for the sake of argument, because I don't know if they do or don't, but lets say that like many other places with British Commonweath heritage, they do have complete "cradle to grave" registration. This would be an example of a case where they had the tools needed to determine if he still owned the gun, but didn't bother to use them!
as far as what I meant by "its already here, and has been..." if you post a picture of yourself with an illegal item, or doing an illegal act, the police CAN come and get you. And, its legal. Pretty sure it would be "probable cause" for a search warrant.
And there have been cases, under specific laws where the picture alone is enough for not only an arrest, but a conviction, as well.
There was a case a few years back, a gal who was some kind of model, and was a prohibited person, who posted pictures of herself holding firearms. She got arrested and found guilty of violating her parole.
SO, it can happen, you CAN face legal consequences from posting a picture. Don't think otherwise. It is here, now. What differs from NZ is the details, and how our laws differ from theirs making enforcement different, at this time...