Connecticut Peace Officers Association

The Connecticut Peace Officers Association is a fictitious organization created as part of a hoax meant to alter debate over a highly strict 2013 Connecticut gun law. The hoax was launched on 3/6/2014 when a person operating under the name "Jim V" sent an email to a number of blogs claiming that 250 Connecticut police officers refused to enforce the controversial law. The story contained in the email read as follows:
Connecticut Gun Confiscation Law Will Not Be Enforced, Police Say
By Tyson F Jackson

Gun rights advocates have been up in arms (pun intended) over a new gun control law recently passed in Connecticut. The law, which is hugely controversial, requires that certain weapons be registered with the state. Gun owners who fail to comply with the registration must either get the guns out of the state, surrender their weapons, or face confiscation with a felony arrest. Opponents of the bill seem to have found support from an unlikely place.
Torrey Grimes, a retired twenty-five year police veteran, is the chairman of the Connecticut Peace Officers Association. He penned an open letter opposed to the legislation on behalf of his organization. The letter's defiant tone threatens that Connecticut police will not, "be party to the oppression of the people of the state by enforcing an unconstitutional law." Because Grimes is retired, he will have minimal repercussions for his stance on the bill.
"I believe in the Second Ammendment," Grimes said in a phone interview. "I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and that comes before my duty to enforce an unconstitutional state law." Apparently Connecticut law enforcement agrees, as the letter already has over 250 signatures from police refusing to enforce the law.
Not everyone is happy to hear about the letter, however. One Hartford resident, a gun control advocate who asked to remain anonymous, had this to say, "I am outraged that the police would suggest that they do not have to enforce the law. Our elected officials have created legislation, and it is the cops' job to enforce it!"
There is no doubt that the situation is unique. It is not often that those charged to enforce the law refuse to do so, and the case raises a myriad of ethical and legal questions. John Porshboll, a lawyer who specializes in representing cops in disciplinary trouble with their departments, seemed supportive of the officers. "In every profession employees have the right to refuse to act against their personal beliefs. Law enforcement is no different. When these officers refuse to enforce this law, it is because they genuinely believe it to be in conflict with their oath. These guys are idealists, nearly every cop I know is."
What will happen moving forward remains unclear. Enforcement of the law would likely require sending law enforcement to the homes of known violators, but if the police refuse then state lawmakers may be forced to rethink the bill.
The story was later published to ezinearticles.com
The story was picked up by the popular blog Of Arms and the Law when David Hardy posted the following:
Some Connecticut police refusing to enforce AW law
Tyler Jackson has emailed me an interesting story, soon to appear online (I'll link to it once it does)-- the gist is that the head of the Connecticut Peace Officers' Assn has released an open letter stating that the police will not "be party to the oppression of the people of the state by enforcing an unconstitutional law." So far 250 LEOs have cosigned the letter.
The CT law required the registration of AWs, with a deadline for doing so, and it appears that the vast majority of AW owners have simply refused. So now the State faces massive resistance, and some portion, perhaps a large portion, of police refusing to enforce.
A series of updates followed as the hoax was revealed.
The story was picked up by The Examiner, whose story was copied and spread across dozens of blogs.
Several websites listed the story as a probable hoax. This theory was confirmed on 3/11/2014 when a story from guns.com was published revealing Jim V as the original author of the false story.

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