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Crime

NJ Dad Who Posted Facebook Photo of Son Holding a Rifle Won’t Face Charges

Mar. 20, 2013 10:30pm Jason Howerton

(TheBlaze/AP) — No charges will be filed against a man who posted online a photo of his young son holding what appeared to be a military-style rifle, police said Wednesday. TheBlaze broke the story of the controversy on Tuesday.

In a moment of heightened sensitivity around guns and gun control, the brief saga had the makings of a debate starter between people who oppose guns and those who say authorities are overzealous about even legal weapons.

Police in Carneys Point, a town of 8,000 some 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia, gave their version Wednesday, days after the boy’s father, Shawn Moore, brought attention to the issue, saying that state child welfare workers and police in SWAT gear showed up at his home because of the online photos.

No Charges Against NJ Dad Shawn Moore Who Posted Facebook Photo of His Son Holding Rifle

This undated photo provided by Shawn Moore shows his son Josh, 10, holding a rifle his father gave him for his 11th birthday, at their home in Carneys Point, N.J. Credit: AP

Moore first posted a comment about the incident on a gun rights website and within days was appearing with his son, Josh, on a Fox News talk show and elsewhere. Moore said that the weapon was a .22-caliber rifle made to look like an assault rifle and that it was a gift for Josh’s upcoming 11th birthday.

In a statement, Carney Point Police Chief Robert DiGregorio and Mayor Richard Gatanis said officers went to the family’s home at about 8:15 p.m. Friday after getting anonymous tips that a boy there might have access to weapons and ammunition.

“In light of some of the recent school shootings across our nation, the Carneys Point Police Department takes these types of calls seriously,” they said, adding that they were obligated to go there with state Department of Children and Family caseworkers who requested assistance.

Moore had said the authorities requested to see his weapons, but with his lawyer on a speakerphone he denied them access because they did not have a search warrant.

The Carneys Point officials said the officers — in night uniforms and body armor but not SWAT gear — did not attempt an unlawful search.

The officials said that they respect citizens’ rights to own weapons and that several officers knew the elder Moore from a shooting club.

Moore’s lawyer, Evan Nappen, said the problem is the idea that the government could respond to people talking about or with photos of weapons on social media.

“This is a shame because of the impact it has on a really good dad and his son,” Nappen said. “No one was in danger.”

He said the state Department of Children and Families was aggressive and intimidating and could have avoided the situation by calling first.

A department spokesman did not return calls Wednesday, but said Tuesday –without commenting on the specific case — that the department routinely checks on tips it receives.

The department has been under years of court-monitoring and has been criticized in several cases where children who died or were in peril were not checked on.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (66)

betterpart
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 4:45am
No reason why the guy should face any charges to begin with. Lowly Libs should be charged for being non-productive, meth-saturated squatters. Now there’s a ‘charge’ many of us could live with.

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- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:19am
  I JUST read the exact same story on the Huffington Post. No, I mean from start to finish, both outlets ran the same story!
  
  What’s incredible about that fact is that one branch of Beck’s empire ran a great chat on the Carney’s Point incident yesterday. The editor of the news end of theblaze.com was moderating the discussion with one of theblaze.com’s contributors. Lots of fun facts came out in the chat:
  
  1. Mr. Shawn Moore is a “NRA-certified gun range master.” Not exactly the type of man who would not pass the rules of gun safety to his son. That point is evident in the manner in which the son is posing with his trigger finger laid alongside the trigger cage. Most kids without training would have had their finger ON the trigger.
  
  2. Mr. Moore’s attorney, Evan Nappen, happens to have written two books on the Second Amendment rights of US citizens. The fact that Moore had his attorney on the speaker phone using the law to control the seize situation, may not have happened to anyone else without the legal expertise.
  
  3. The Moore 11 year old posing in the photo, Josh, happens to have attended and passed the NJ DNR’s Hunter Safety class and has his certification in his wallet.
  
  4. The representative from the Department of Children and Families refused to show her ID and finally marched off the property, no doubt to go home to seek comfort from her “partner.” She did not know the law and was simply trying to bowl-over the Moore’s and gain entry t
  
  Report this comment
- naughtycal
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 10:44am
  It’s the state officals that need to face charges abuse of power,unconstitutional abused of civil rights,waste of tax dollars,and illegal allocation of law enforce member and assets. as well endangerment.
  What if this father who did nothing wrong decided to defend his Constitutional rights by arming himself as a counter show of force to the armed officers attempting to violate his rights. and take his children.
  This man could have been shot or killed for defending himself and his family against unwarranted and unconstitutional actions of authoritarian bearucrats.
  Where are the civil attornies, where are the conservative or libertarian attornies.
  This man was threatened by the state for exercising his rights and raising his children to understand the important sof self defense and firearm safety.
  
  Report this comment
ranneyr
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 4:39am
i went to my huntr saftey course when i was 11, hunting and shooting long before that. Owned my first 22 when i was 10. Waht is the use if a person cant access their gun and ammo with permission rom their father. I had total control of my (guns) 16 years

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spikebu
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 3:39am
My first thought when I saw the picture was, 22. I’m not in law enforcement. I don’t handle guns every day of my life. I’m just a Mom who likes to shoot. I knew that was a 22. Mostly because I know kids graduate from BB to 22 sometime between 10 and 14, depending on the kid. I believe it’s called common sense. Also because it looked too cheesy for any soldier to carry into battle. I think the enemy would laugh.

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Maxim Crux
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:55am
What about charges against those who broke the law. We are a nation of laws and not of men after all.

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- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:34am
  I don’t know if any laws were broken. The cops and the representative from the Department of Children and Families were attempting to enter the Moore home illegally.
  
  The ‘posse” was stopped in its tracks by the family attorney, Evan Napper, who happens to have written at least two books on Second Amendment rights.
  
  Too bad that the theblaze.com didn’t pull from its own resources and run a great story instead of a rehash from the AP, better know as the Administration Press.
  
  I think that this ****-up is one the boss should dig into. You reading me, Glenn?
  
  Report this comment
- TheAlamoLives
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 9:40pm
  Somebody told somebody and they said something about seeing something they read on Facebook. Immediately think kid/ammo/violation. OK, send CPS without ID and four cops in vests at night! A phone call would have been justified, nothing more. An unsubstantiated, anonymous tip is just that and no more. Think about if a person posted (on Facebook) that they ran a red light? Would the cops show up for that too and then want to search the car?
  
  CPS will probably show up at the kid’s school when his parents aren’t there and bully him into saying something that can be used against his Dad. You say no? It’s NEW JERSEY ! Why let anything go when you can morph it into a felony. Moore family, beware of your govt.
  
  Report this comment
spikebu
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:53am
I’m waiting for someone to commit “armed” robbery with a picture of a gun, any gun. “I’ve got a picture of a gun, and I’m willing to use it!” Like that. These people are beyond absurd.

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TeaLeavesBookDotCom
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:47am
Cute kid. Guns make every kid cuter though..

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Slowman101
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:19am
Just nother iberal magotfrom DCFS ryig tomake themslves look useful. Maybe they should go play i traffic. Heavy traffic.

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COFemale
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:57am
I think he should slap a Libel suit against child services for making threatening and illegal actions. Certainly coercion could be argued. He is now in their eyesight and they will surely find something to harass him with.

They had no right to enter the home and demand to see the firearms. They overstepped their bounds. Lesson to everyone, if any law enforcement or some other gov’t agency request entry into your home unless you have a warrant you are staying outside.It does not matter if you did nothing wrong. Remember these child services agency are littered with LIBERAL PROGRESSIVES. Don’t taint your home.

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- Ahcma
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 4:34am
  Don’t forget that the person from Child Services REFUSED to give her name when asked. If someone from the government refuses to give their name for doing their job, I will refuse them anything they ask.
  
  Report this comment
- Maji
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 10:45am
  Remember!
  In America cops can legally lie to get
  what they want on the job!
  
  Report this comment
Doug in Seattle
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:51am
The family’s fourth amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure were clearly violated. The only thing that prevented actual seizure of the firearms was the fact that the safe was locked when the SWAT team arrived.

I certainly hope the family takes the NJ gov’t to court for denying their constitutional (i.e.civil) rights.

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- spirited
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:57am
  Amen
  
  Report this comment
- objectivetruth
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 8:48am
  Yeah there is something about capta that makes them think they are gods.They don’t have to comply with the fourth or fifth admendment.Why do you think they call police for the escort.They know for a fact that what they do is patently illegal.Its why some of them have been shot.By the way police aren’t allowed to refuse either.The workers are covered by immunity.They can’t be sued or prosecuted.They allow anonomous tips.These could be coming from a terror cell, a rapist, pedophilia ring ,psycopath ,deranged lunatic, anti gun nut ,enviromental wacko ,stalker exc.The cops and cps will protect them ,not the parents or children.They many ,if not all the time ,refuse to back investigate the calls.They won’t trace them.Instead of doing their real job ,going after the criminal that is harming and stalking the family. they protect the gd freaks.We have the law called capta to thank for this, signed in 1973-74 ,after a meeting with the country of Jordan.Sound familiar.It is ,the egyptians aligned with hitler in ww2.In fact most of the mid east did,Its simply taken several decades to get their plan in place.Don’t you like knowing we are a puppet government of the mid east/sarc.
  
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Hatcher
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:08am
It’s time to disarm our civil governments. People have the right to bear arms, governments do not. We need to treat them like bunch of Barney Fifes and keep a sharp eye on them and limit their powers. Enough is enough already…Keep your Oath to our Constitution!

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- spirited
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:56am
  Facebook discretion
  
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- LouisianaPatriot
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 1:24am
  Hatcher, that is an excellent point. We The People have the right to bear arms, not the government.
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck Stein
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:01pm
  Nice thought — any idea how to move forward on that?
  
  Report this comment
pma_guy
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:48pm
Great lookin kid Mr. Moore. Can’t wait till he graduates to the next caliber. Hope you sue the state and stuff the genie back into the bottle.

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Smokepole
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:27pm
I want to see the names of the state welfare workers and police officers names right here. Just as big and bold as Moore and his son’s.
All involved in this barfola need to be sent packing. Absolute and complete abuse of power and resources.
Moore needs to get his very wise attorney and sue the pants off the state of NJ, Carney’s Point and every individual that showed up at his home!

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Skip63
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:08pm
Lawyer up brother.

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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:19pm
  yup, sue the crap out of the Child services beach for making terroristic threats. Sue the PD for standing by while she did it.
  
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high school drop out
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:03pm
When it comes to child protective workers the law means nothing!…These types were probably marginalized as children or young adults,So now in positions of power they tend to fancy themselves as “Crusaders against all evil doers”! But unlike real “Heros” these little dictators when are proven wrong run and hide behind their offices never admitting fault!…The truly sad part is Morons like the worker in this story rarely lose their jobs and commit acts like this time and again…An amazing amount of wrong has been perpetrated against man under the guise of “Saving the Children”

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19.5
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:00pm
The cops should be protecting the citizen from this “social worker” who was making threats, not the other way around.. I heard she even threatened to take their kid. Isnt that kidnapping? Are liberals just going to start taking our kids now? Psycho’s

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- DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:15pm
  The family was threatened with arrest for not cooperating with the investigation of a govt agency just looking out for the young man’s health & welfare. They were threatened a lot apparently by a power mad CPS worker who clearly had an anti-gun agenda. They cooperated by allowing the CPS & police to inspect their home which is more than I would have allowed. It was when they demanded the safe be opened & the contents cataloged that the cooperation stopped. Read between the lines- this guy recognized his firearms were all about to be seized!!! By some power mad CPS moron who won’t take a crack baby away from its mother but will make every effort to take a child from a home with guns in it. Legal guns! She’ll leave kids in all the drug gang member homes but not in the home of a hunter. Something is really really wrong here & we have to find a common voice to speak out to stop it.
  No more nice guy people! What if this happened to you? Do you the resources of a lawyer on speed dial or would this bullies with their threats have gotten away with seizing all your firearms & making you out to be the bad guy when you did nothing wrong? Come on! We have to start speaking up.
  BTW CIA I hope you got all that into your database to keep forever.
  
  Report this comment
DesdemonasCrew
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:53pm
Nudge. Nudge. Shark Bump. Get ready, there is a lot more to come.

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MistyMountainGranny
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:47pm
Won’t face charges??! He should be sueing the pants off the Child Welfare Dept that showed up at his door. They said “We have to investigate all tips”. Well maybe they should have done a little investigating before they showed up to the door.

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- MrButcher
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:54pm
  Yes!
  
  We need to start pushing back with lawsuits.
  
  The Gestapo will back off if you push back.
  
  There was nothing wrong with this picture.
  
  Report this comment
- sligresda
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:04pm
  as my neighbor is a division of family services investigator i can tell you that yes they DO have to send an investigator to check out every single hotline. what they DONT have to do is call the friggin swat team.
  
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- objectivetruth
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 8:54am
  @slig
  What you seem to fail to reconize is that the hotlines are illegal.They violate the fourth and fifth provisions of the constitution.They allow every terrorist criminal and nut with an agenda into your life via a phone.if your neighbor really wanted to help kids she would be pushing hard to do away with those hotlines that are harming maming and destroying the american family under the guise of protection.
  
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sparkyrules
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:47pm
What was HER name?The woman from Child Services?And where did she get that power from?

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spirited
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:47pm
Dad don’t let this die down.

Fortunately they knew their rights

~>The lies for control-grabbing have to cease.

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progressiveslayer
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:46pm
The brown shirts are getting pretty brazen harassing a law abiding citizen with their illegal tactics and the only people violating the law was the brown shirts.

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- objectivetruth
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 8:59am
  Forgive me if this sounds flippitant but what the hell else is new.They have been doing this for decades.its just now getting attention.The same attention it should have gotten years ago.These endangerments to mankind need to be stopped in their tracks before they can destroy another family.They are the true monsters.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:44pm
One more blatant case of intimidation and conditioning of the public against anyone who has firearms.

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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:50pm
  That’s exactly what the state is doing,they’re conditioning people’s minds to believe guns are so dangerous that even the hint that someone might have one will require the state to violate your constitutional rights. Welcome to new Amerika,brought to you by a POS Marxist regime and a century of voter apathy.
  
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- missdagnytaggart
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:56pm
  Exactly! It’s no accident that we’re hearing all these stories about kids being suspended for pop tart guns and hello kitty bubble guns! They’re being indoctrinated to fear the thought of guns so much, that when they grow up they won’t raise such a fuss when big brother confiscates them.
  
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RANGER1965
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:40pm
I get this itchy sensation that Child Services are working behind the scenes gathering evidence interviewing gun haters etc. They won’t take this embarrassment laying down.

If I were the elder Moore, I think I would move my kids to relatives out of state, at least until I was sure that CPA isn’t about to do a snatch and grab. Once they have your kid it’s your job to prove them wrong….which with the courts, can take months to years.

This isn’t an innocent mistake, and the people you are dealing with DO NOT have the best interest of the children at heart.

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- neverending
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:49pm
  Couldn’t agree with you more
  
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- subic
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:51pm
  Of course he won’t face charges. He did nothing wrong!
  
  Once CPS gets anyone’s kids, they start them on all sorts of mind altering drugs to keep them subdued while in their custody. These people are evil.
  
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teapartyconservatism
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:38pm
Enforce the Constitution!

If usurper Obama replaces just one conservative Supreme Court justice with a third liberal activist, the new majority will misconstrue the 2nd Amendment to abolish the right to bear arms!

Obama is not an eligible “natural born citizen” born in the nation to citizen parents (plural), pursuant to Article 2, Section 1: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible … .” Based on the advice of John Jay, the Founders used the terms “citizen” and “natural born citizen” distinctly, to exclude citizens harboring foreign allegiance from eligibility, proving the terms are not equal, otherwise they had no need to exempt any citizen from being a “natural born citizen.”

“Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expresly that the Command in chief of the american army shall not be given to, nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”
– John Jay, 1st Supreme Court Chief Justice, to George Washington, Constitutional Convention, July 25, 1787.

Too bad Beck’s TheBlaze isn’t a “birther”/constitutional enforcement site http://youtu.be/NoIoObO1kVc willing to tell the truth about Obama’s ineligibility http://youtu.be/esiZZ-1R7e8 and proven fraud http://youtu.be/alVzyfptF80

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- subic
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:05pm
  I agree TEAPARTYCONSERV, Obama IS an illegal POTUS and usurping powers. He needs to fall & fall hard.
  
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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on March 20, 2013 at 11:24pm
  Subic-
  He isn’t usurping powers, the Republicans like John McCain are giving them to him.
  
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cessna152
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:37pm
Charges for what? Taking a picture of his son under his supervision holding his gun properly. The headline should read ” cops and NJ government working facing charges go wreck less abuse of power”.

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cal_105
Posted on March 20, 2013 at 10:36pm
Does anyone know what law he violated, or is that important?

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- maggiepie
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:31am
  He didn’t violate any laws.
  
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