Jim,
I think that we agree much more than we disagree. I was primed to get a little hot under the collar because while grouse hunting last week, a friend of mine told me of a $100 ticket that he got from the Mich. Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR).
My friend was on a salmon fishing trip to northern Michigan. He stopped fishing to warm himself at a campfire. Before stepping up to the fire, he removed his bait from his hook so that he could put fresh bait on after warming himself. The DNR officer came up to him and started talking to him. The DNR officer asked where my friends rod was and my friend pointed to a nearby tree that the rod was leaning against. The DNR officer then issued a ticket for my friend for fishing without bait (ie. snagging). My friend was not even fishing when the officer walked up. The Michigan DNR has a strong reputation for this sort of activity on non local sportsmen. Especially during the salmon run where hooks accidentally get bent to illegal size on rocks and tree limbs.
In Michigan, we have a few county prosecutors who have deliberately abused our new concealed weapons permit law. It got so bad that gun people started complaining to their congress people and a rapid change was made to the law to stop that nonsense. This concerned a phrase that said that the individual must notify the police office immediately of a weapon in the car. The word 'immediately' enabled the officers and the prosecuting attorney too much leaway and some officers took advantage of it, especially on non local Michigan citizens.
Big Norm
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