12 Guage Shotgun

[bobnkathleen hartman]

After reading Tom and Patty's post about drug running, I got to thinking about an experience we had several years (14) ago in central Utah. We were dry camping at a Forest Service unit, teaching the kids (3 under 12) about butterflies, snakes, birds, etc. The camper in the next spot north had a radio going pretty loud, but ok, it's Saturday night. About 9:00 PM we put the kids to bed in the TT, the wife and I had a glass of wine, then we also went to bed. Now, the wife has a hearing problem, and once she takes the aids out, she can't hear anything; and I am pretty good sleeper, so the radio did not bother us. About 1:00 AM there is a knock on the door, I open the blind and said, "Who is it" Sherriffs, please come out here. OK, got some clothes on, came out, and was told that about 2 hours earlier, I had been involved in an altercation with the camper to the north. No, I replied, we went to bed about 9:45 and haven't been anywhere. Come with us, we will go up there and you can talk to the gentleman. OK. we did, and the man says, that's him, I would regonize him anywhere except he did not have his glasses on. (bad mistake on his part, I thought). So I asked the sherriff what I had done. Seems I had walked up to the camp with a 12 gauge Mossburg Shotgun and told him to turn off the radio. He had "backed me down" to my trailer and I had gone inside. I denied it, so the sherriff said they were going to search my truck and trailer for the gun. Got the kids, two dogs, and wife up so they could get dressed, the sherriff strip searched (literally) the entire truck and trailer. Finally asked me where the gun was. I told him I did not even own a firearm, much less have one with me. He then asked who had come up to see us that night, I replied no one. Next: where is my other vehicle? "It better be in my garage at home", I replied. So he says he is going to watch our camp for the rest of the night, and I guess he did that, becasue in the morning, when my wife, who for some reason was real unhappy about the whole chain of events, said "We're going home!" the cop was still in his truck watching us. So we went home. Two days later, I called the Utah County Sherriffs office and spoke to the officer. He confirmed that I was not registered as a gun owner, that did not matter to him, since many people did not register guns, and "90% of the people who go camping have loaded firearms in the RV's" (Now there is a scary thought for you!) So I was still considered a likely suspect. The next day, he calls back, and says another camper had reported to the sherriff that he had gone up to a camper, armed with a shotgun, and told them to turn off the radio. He then left the campsite, and walked down past my trailer, my lab had barked, and then a light had come on (wife had gone to the bathroom). So now I was no longer a suspect. I then told the officer that he had made a major mistake in the course of the night, he did not listen when I told him I could not see without my glasses! I have extreme nearsightedness, and wear "coke bottle bottom" glasses. So it could not have been me. His response? "Well we assumed you were not telling the truth about the gun, why would we believe you about the glasses?"
My wife and I have promised never to go camping in Utah Valley, State of Utah, again.
P.S. I did talk to an attorney, and had not a leg to stand on of any type, so I let the matter drop.
We can laugh about it now, but we still don't camp, or spend any money, in Utah County!
Enjoy Life!

[bobnkathleen hartman]

After reading Tom and Patty's post about drug running, I got to thinking about an experience we had several years (14) ago in central Utah. We were dry camping at a Forest Service unit, teaching the kids (3 under 12) about butterflies, snakes, birds, etc. The camper in the next spot north had a radio going pretty loud, but ok, it's Saturday night. About 9:00 PM we put the kids to bed in the TT, the wife and I had a glass of wine, then we also went to bed. Now, the wife has a hearing problem, and once she takes the aids out, she can't hear anything; and I am pretty good sleeper, so the radio did not bother us. About 1:00 AM there is a knock on the door, I open the blind and said, "Who is it" Sherriffs, please come out here. OK, got some clothes on, came out, and was told that about 2 hours earlier, I had been involved in an altercation with the camper to the north. No, I replied, we went to bed about 9:45 and haven't been anywhere. Come with us, we will go up there and you can talk to the gentleman. OK. we did, and the man says, that's him, I would regonize him anywhere except he did not have his glasses on. (bad mistake on his part, I thought). So I asked the sherriff what I had done. Seems I had walked up to the camp with a 12 gauge Mossburg Shotgun and told him to turn off the radio. He had "backed me down" to my trailer and I had gone inside. I denied it, so the sherriff said they were going to search my truck and trailer for the gun. Got the kids, two dogs, and wife up so they could get dressed, the sherriff strip searched (literally) the entire truck and trailer. Finally asked me where the gun was. I told him I did not even own a firearm, much less have one with me. He then asked who had come up to see us that night, I replied no one. Next: where is my other vehicle? "It better be in my garage at home", I replied. So he says he is going to watch our camp for the rest of the night, and I guess he did that, becasue in the morning, when my wife, who for some reason was real unhappy about the whole chain of events, said "We're going home!" the cop was still in his truck watching us. So we went home. Two days later, I called the Utah County Sherriffs office and spoke to the officer. He confirmed that I was not registered as a gun owner, that did not matter to him, since many people did not register guns, and "90% of the people who go camping have loaded firearms in the RV's" (Now there is a scary thought for you!) So I was still considered a likely suspect. The next day, he calls back, and says another camper had reported to the sherriff that he had gone up to a camper, armed with a shotgun, and told them to turn off the radio. He then left the campsite, and walked down past my trailer, my lab had barked, and then a light had come on (wife had gone to the bathroom). So now I was no longer a suspect. I then told the officer that he had made a major mistake in the course of the night, he did not listen when I told him I could not see without my glasses! I have extreme nearsightedness, and wear "coke bottle bottom" glasses. So it could not have been me. His response? "Well we assumed you were not telling the truth about the gun, why would we believe you about the glasses?"
My wife and I have promised never to go camping in Utah Valley, State of Utah, again.
P.S. I did talk to an attorney, and had not a leg to stand on of any type, so I let the matter drop.
We can laugh about it now, but we still don't camp, or spend any money, in Utah County!
Enjoy Life!

[FatDog]

post on this website right before you take your RV out and Cordie will bake a cake with a little hack-saw blade in it for you.
just in case you DO go a little wild next time