Q: Can police enter my home, search, and remove legal weapons and ammo without permission in TN?
I was woken by officers beating on my door. I was told that, due to me matching description of someone who called a crisis line with suicidal ideation, I would be taken to er for evaluation. I refused and told them I was alright and had no thoughts of suicide. I went to close my door and officer put his foot in doorway and door bumped him. He told me I would go to jail for felony assault on officer or to er for eval. I then stepped outside to call neighbor to come sit with kids and 4 officers jumped me, cuffed me, and transported me to er. After I was removed from the scene, officers took my keys from my neighbor and entered my locked home, searched, and took all my weapons and ammunition. There was no warrant. There were no arrests made or charges file. I am wondering if this is legal in the state of TN. I was able to get most of my things back after being released from the hospital.
A: Are you sure no charges have been filed, including mental commitment? If not, and you are in general a law abiding citizen that pays taxes, you might have Federal Civil Rights Case. Was there an actual call on you, or does it seem a mistake? It is a Government Tort Liability Action with no jury and caps on any monetary award. It does not appear to be a large amount of damages, especially if you have already recovered your firearms. But this could be a case where law enforcement has no defense, but the infringement is not catastrophic.
A: I have tried more than a few of these cases, but they must be near perfect and are not worth large amounts of money. However they are almost always successful. You will need an out of County attorney. Call me...
A: Tennessee does not have a "red flag" law. From your limited facts, it appears as though the officers illegally searched your home and seized your belongings.
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