A permit/CCP/CHL etc. is now apparently enough to stop a driver and search their whole car... more proof there is no middle ground any more. There can be no compromises.
Jackson: Gun owner unarmed, unwelcome in Maryland
Jackson: Gun owner unarmed, unwelcome in Maryland
So there the Filippidises were on New Years Eve eve, southbound on Interstate 95 John; wife Kally (his Gulf High sweetheart); the 17-year-old twins Nasia and Yianni; and 13-year-old Gina in their 2012 Ford Expedition just barely out of the Fort McHenry Tunnel into Maryland, blissfully unarmed and minding their own business when they noticed they were being bird-dogged by an unmarked patrol car. It flanked them a while, then pulled ahead of them, then fell in behind them.
Ten minutes hes behind us, John says. We werent speeding. In fact, lots of other cars were whizzing past.
You know you have a police car behind you, you dont speed, right? Kally adds.
Says John, We keep wondering, is he going to do something?
Finally the patrol cars emergency lights come on, and its almost a relief. Whatever was going on, theyd be able to get it over with now. The officer from the Transportation Authority Police, as it turns out, Marylands version of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority strolls up, does the license and registration bit, and returns to his car.
According to Kally and John (but not MTAP, which, pending investigation, could not comment), what happened next went like this:
Ten minutes later hes back, and he wants John out of the Expedition. Retreating to the space between the SUV and the unmarked car, the officer orders John to hook his thumbs behind his back and spread his feet. You own a gun, the officer says. Where is it?
At home in my safe, John answers.
Dont move, says the officer.
Now hes at the passengers window. Your husband owns a gun, he says. Where is it?
