Gun-Rights Activists Take Aim at Cops With Misleading Video  |
Wed Jan. 23, 2013 5:01 AM GMT        Advertise on  While Smith
comes across in the video as a largely harmless victim of an
overzealous cop, the legal case Florida Carry is currently
pressing involves a bona fide felon, highlighting what's at
stake in the proceeding. Anthony Mackey was hanging around
outside a Miami apartment building in 2010 when a police officer
drove by and noticed the handle of a gun sticking out of his
pocket. The officer confronted Mackey and, after a pat-down,
found the gun. He arrested Mackey, who was convicted of
illegally carrying a concealed weapon; because he had a prior
record, he was also convicted of possession of a gun by a felon.
Mackey is appealing that conviction, arguing that because
carrying a concealed weapon is legal in Florida, the cop who
stopped him performed an illegal search. Mackey didn't have a
concealed weapon permit, but he and his supporters argue that
the police officer should never have stopped h