I find this notion, that they can swab your doorknob to test for narcotics or gun powder residue in order to justify a search warrant, to be very disturbing.
What's to prevent the police from canvassing a whole neighborhood, wiping every doorknob with a separate cloth to be labeled with the address, then getting a warrant for all those houses that produced positive results for either drugs or gun powder?
The doorknobs are, of course, on the outside of the house. If some stranger touches my doorknob while knocking to try to sell magazine subscriptions, and that stranger had touched illegal drugs earlier in the day, does that give justification to the police to search my house? I'd be hopping mad if that happened. I don't do drugs, but I also don't do totalitarian societies.
And guess what! My door knobs just might have gun powder residue on them. I own and shoot guns for fun and sport -- legally. I'm proud to be a 2nd Amendment supporter and activist. If the police swab my doorknob and find gun powder residue, they can lick the swab for all I care. That doesn't make me a criminal.
Somehow, this falls into the same category in my mind as no-knock warrants. This puts unacceptable power into the hands of the state.
What's to prevent the police from canvassing a whole neighborhood, wiping every doorknob with a separate cloth to be labeled with the address, then getting a warrant for all those houses that produced positive results for either drugs or gun powder?
The doorknobs are, of course, on the outside of the house. If some stranger touches my doorknob while knocking to try to sell magazine subscriptions, and that stranger had touched illegal drugs earlier in the day, does that give justification to the police to search my house? I'd be hopping mad if that happened. I don't do drugs, but I also don't do totalitarian societies.
And guess what! My door knobs just might have gun powder residue on them. I own and shoot guns for fun and sport -- legally. I'm proud to be a 2nd Amendment supporter and activist. If the police swab my doorknob and find gun powder residue, they can lick the swab for all I care. That doesn't make me a criminal.
Somehow, this falls into the same category in my mind as no-knock warrants. This puts unacceptable power into the hands of the state.