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No Firearm Exception to the 4th Amendment


No firearm exception exists to the Fourth Amendment. Possession of a handgun is not automatically illegal in Indiana. A report that a person is carrying a handgun is, without more, insufficient to establish the person was or was about to be engaged in criminal activity to justify an investigatory stop by the police.

In Pinner v. State, a law enforcement officer seized the defendant after a cab driver reported a passenger dropped a handgun while exiting his cab before entering a movie theater. Police went to the theater, located the defendant who matched the description of the passenger, and ordered him to stand and to keep his hands high thereby seizing him. Since possession of a handgun is not per se illegal in Indiana, no reasonable suspicion existed for an investigatory stop based on the cab driver’s tip. Officers had no reason to suspect the defendant did not have a valid license to carry a gun. His nervousness was not indicative of criminal activity because that would be common for most people.

With over 33 years of handling thousands of criminal cases, Steven Knecht is familiar with the possible defenses to drug offenses and other criminal charges. Few other attorney can match his trial experience and knowledge of criminal law and he can use that experience and knowledge to benefit you. If you find yourself having been arrested, you should immediately hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer that you can trust such as Steven Knecht to help you fight the State because you have a lot at stake on the outcome.

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