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Man who carried gun in TN park sues, says ranger's treatment harsh

A Middle Tennessee man has sued a Nashville park ranger, alleging the officer was unfairly harsh when he saw the man carrying a large handgun in a park.

Leonard Embody says he was within his rights to carry an AK-47 handgun at Radnor Lake Park on Dec. 20. He has a permit to carry the weapon, according to the federal lawsuit.

Embody says that park manager Steve Ward pointed a shotgun at him and handcuffed him as Embody was walking through the park. In his lawsuit, Embody says he was detained by police for more than three hours in all, longer than police should have needed to determine whether he was committing a crime.

Last year, state legislators passed a law that made it legal for permit holders to carry guns in Tennessee parks.

Ward did not return a message left at the park Tuesday afternoon. Meg Lockhart, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environment and Conservation, would not comment directly on the lawsuit.

In a statement, the department said it was "dismayed that someone would carry a weapon into a state park seemingly with the intent of testing authorities and the boundaries of the new gun law, while alarming others who want to enjoy the park."

Embody, 37, who lives in Brentwood, could not be reached Tuesday. His attorney did not return a call for comment.

Before his encounter with Ward, Embody says in his lawsuit, a park ranger saw him with the gun, asked him about it and let him continue on his way. The lawsuit says Ward confiscated his gun after ordering him to the ground.

Metro police arrived a few minutes later and told Ward that Embody wasn't breaking the law, but he says in his suit Ward held him for an hour longer. He says he was given his gun and ammunition back and released after he protested an arrest citation officers tried to get him to sign.

Metro police said Embody was never arrested or cited.

In a statement, Lockhart said it would be illegal to carry an AK-47 rifle in the park, and that police were initially concerned that was what Embody was carrying.

She said he was allowed to go when the gun was determined to be technically a handgun. It had no stock and a barrel shorter than 11 inches.

Different Gun This Time

On Jan. 23, Belle Meade police responding to a phone call about a man carrying a gun in public found Embody walking down Belle Meade Boulevard with a black-powder pistol in his hand.

Belle Meade Police Chief Tim Eads said officers detained Embody for about 16 minutes and questioned him about the gun. He was released without citation or arrest.

"He called (carrying the gun) his right," Eads said.

Embody has filed a formal complaint with the department over that encounter.

Eads said the investigation into Embody's grievance is ongoing, but that he has found no evidence that police acted wrongly.

"There's a hundred million reasons why police would check a guy walking around with a gun in his hand," the chief said.

http://www.tennessean.com

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

By chopping the barrel and stock, you lose mosta what makes a rifle worth the trouble in the first place, stability, punch, accuracy and as they learned with the M60E3, less metal means more heat buildup and burnt out barrels very quickly, ugh.

Ain't about the ammo, it's about where ya put it.

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