Dan Bilzerian has quite the Instagram presence. Though, viewer discretion is advised/NSFW.
(Editor’s note: This article was a submission from freelance writer Mike Doran)
Professional poker player, Second Amendment champion and social media megastar Dan Bilzerian found he was missing several guns after a September break-in, The Washington Times reports.
The culprits, however, were not the criminals who invaded his residence, but the Los Angeles Police Department.
For two months after the break-in the police continued to hold the nine firearms they seized without a warrant. Their reason for keeping Bilzerian’s firearms: to keep them safe.
Mr. Bilzerian was out of town the morning of Sept. 5, and the burglars, who had disabled the outside security cameras and broken a window to gain entry, tried to open the steel reinforced door to the closet where Bilzerian kept his arsenal. A security alarm was activated and they were able to escape before the police arrived. The intruders failed to gain access to the room.
Once in the house, the police asked Mr. Bilzerian’s assistant and security guard for access to the room. Their request was denied, but that didn’t stop them.
“They broke into our closet and took them after we were burglarized,” said Jeremy Guymon, Mr. Bilzerian’s assistant. “It’s not like we were doing anything wrong.”
The officers confiscated a total of nine firearms, eight pistols and one rifle, claiming to secure them in case the burglars returned. But they left behind a large number of valuable shotguns and high powered carbine rifles.
“The officers told my assistant that they took the handguns because they didn’t want the suspects to come back and get them on a second break-in even though they were unsuccessful at opening the steel reinforced door the first time,” Mr. Bilzerian said.
“Essentially they were ‘trying to protect my property and people’s safety.’ This is hard to grasp, when they left my $21,000 FN SCAR17 with thermal optic and shotguns unsecured in that same room,” he continued.
After a two-month battle to have the firearms returned, Mr. Bilzerian was finally able to pick them up. But there was something missing from them.
“All of my ammunition and the magazines were gone,” Mr. Bilzerian said. “And they couldn’t explain what happened to the magazines, but that ammo couldn’t be released with a firearm and that I’d have to schedule a separate three-hour visit for the ammo. If they are gonna take the guns and make me wait for three hours at the police station, they should at the very least return what came with them.”
California gun law expert Attorney Joseph A. Silvoso III, at the law firm Michel & Associates, says this type of situation is all too common in the Golden State.
“We’ve unfortunately seen law enforcement from different agencies from time to time do that,” he said. “They just say ‘it’s just not safe to hand you back the guns and the ammunition together’ or drum up some other reason not to return the ammunition or magazines.”
Mr. Bilzerian, a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, said his experience with the LAPD has only furthered his dislike of what he calls the “aggressive and unconstitutional anti-gun stance California has taken with its law-abiding citizens.”
When the Washington Times contacted the Los Angeles police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman, she said Wednesday that the department was unable to immediately comment on either the allegations made by Mr. Bilzerian or the LAPD’s protocol for securing stored guns at the scene of a break-in.
Welcome to Kalifornia.
You got to be kidding me. These libtards doing a news story on a guy who likes guns. A lot of Americans like guns. Though not everybody shows them off especially in the land of fruits and nuts. It would seem he has them secure from criminals but not all criminals which are what California cops are. If they are not giving bogus tickets to anyone with out of state plates they are robbing houses using their badge to break open safes that a regular criminal couldn’t crack. These California cops no one should have respect for as they do their tyrants bidding and in doing so violate the oath they took to defend the Constitution. I’ll show them some respect when they march into Sacramento, drag Brown and his henchmen from office, and put them in chains. THEY HAVE TURNED MY HOME STATE INTO A FILTHY CESSPOOL I WOULD ONLY STEP INTO TO INVADE
you live there and the people keep voting these NAZI-Types in office……………… My advice MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who would have ever believed this would happen in America. It’s sad that the police can STEAL your property hold it and then destroy it. I thought that federal law trumped state law and if that is the case then how can CA ban magazines over ten rounds?
Seems like a double standard.
Something stinks about this whole thing. If the man posted pictures of his gun vault, I’m sorry, but he is an idiot. What smells fishy to me is thieves break in and cant open the gun room. They run. Suddenly there are cops there who want to get into the room, are refused entrance then break in themselves, in the “name of the law.” Then they only “confiscate” hand guns” and ammo? They leave all those beautiful shotguns and tactical style weapons? What is wrong with this picture. Looks to me like a few police officers ssaw the website, saw some hand guns, some of them collectors, and decided on a very fishy tactical raid. That is just this ex-military persons point of view. God Bless America. Stand tall, stand proud, stand strong.
To the former Californians here who managed to get out before things get a lot worse, congratulations. But, it’s unfair for any conservative and patriot to wish to see the entire state of California just slip beneath the waves of the Pacific and be forgotten. I can tell you that there are millions of us true conservatives and defenders of the 2nd Amendment still living here and holding down the fort to the best of our ability. It has been said for years, ‘so goes California, so goes the Country’. It would be in your best interest to support us rather than abandon us.
I feel sorry for the conservative holdouts in California and pray that you will get some personal control of the apparent discrepancies in loss of liberties that we in the remainder of the US still enjoy. I do not believe in the adage that “so goes California, so goes the Country,” because California has for a long time been the bastion of the liberal loonies and the rest of the country will not follow suit. The LAST state I would follow would be California! I support your stand but if you continue to elect the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters among others, you probably should step to this side of the fault line.
Friends, Countrymen, listen up, The midnight ride of Paul Revere is feared by your goverment, feared that agin it is going to happen and it will if you fine patriots havent lost the love of freedom, and the goverment knows it will, but if your right to bear arms is challanged and the goverment has all you arms looked up to keep them safe for you, all you will be able to do is bring a knife to a gun fight!
Goose
Gentlemen, the police depts in California need to have a shit load of training when it comes to firearms laws. Unfortunately for most policemen they have a limited amount of knowledge or experience with guns or the gun Law’s…. I was a deputy sheriff for thirty years and was a watch commander on many occasions when field deputies brought people in for gun charges. After reviewing the probable cause for arrest…I had many people released because the arrest did not meet the elements of the crime. If those individuals had no felonious conviction s or crimes preventing them from possessing guns their firearm was returned right then and there…. I can’t understand why they would just confiscate just those few guns and go onto a secured vault without a search warrant….. Some thing stinks about this case….if those LAPD officer s did take the illegally same on them and the supervisor who allow ed it….God Bless America…. Law abiding citizens need to wake up and fight for the 2 nd amendment.
Why worry about Burglars when Obama will redistribute your wealth and take your guns. These two idiotic liberal commentators are just another example of the liberal stupidity that has gripped our nation. Neither of them have ever read the constitution and if they ever did they could not comprehend it. But I bet they believe in planned parenthood butchering babies for profit and are ok with that. Mind boggling or maybe some one like Obama burgled their common sense and morals typical liberal scum !
t this guy all his weapons are registered This person not just some guy or girl has put himself in someone’s cross hairs namely the police and the he does the most noninteeligent thing in the world, he keeps his aresenol at home. This makes no since to me, if the cops are at your door it’s too late. Why did his security and help let the cops in, close the damn fucking door call the home owner tell him what happened and never ,never under any circumstance let anyone in the house. So the alarm went off when the cops show up tell them it went off for no reaso, whatever is the excuse is better than this occurring to you or me. Now they took what maybe three thousand in guns, I’m looking at this guys wall and they left all tha, let them asses keep those you can get more but no, not the guy he will spend thousands for something so cheap that can be replaced, get your head out your ass, get your guns out of your fucking house and stop trying to get the rest of us in a turmoil because you don’t have sympathy at all. I have an aresenol
Myself but the cops including the criminals will never find them EVER!!!!!!!!!! I don’t live in a expensive home and my guns aren’t registered either so stop cryin like a little girl and stop the TROLLING!!!!!!
What would you expect coming from a state with a governor named, Moonbeam?
This is stupid, plain stupid. Anyone with any desire to protect their Constitutional rights should leave LA now before it is illegal to be a legal citizen!!! LA Prefers the non contributing leach criminal and illegal immigrant!!!!! I refuse to spend one dollar in LA.
Californica———-let the goddam Syrians have it for all I care. But first, fence off the whole fuckin west coast.
I always pray that California breaks off at the fault line and slides effortlessly to the bottom of the Pacific bung hole…
What’s the point of the video of the two libtards trashing Dan for having guns and women. The real issue is illegal confiscation. TMZ wannabes. That idiot chick can’t even say burglarized. Trolls.
I went thru the same crap with the St. Louis PD back in ’92, finally managed to get my guns back WITHOUT MY AMMO after a year and several trips to the 5th prcnt to straighten out the paperwork they FUBAR’d.
I hope to see a jury award of a few million dollars against the city of Los Angeles. This has been going on for many years in the People’s Republik of Kommiefornia. Around 1980 I was arrested. In the back of my truck, inaccessible to the passenger compartment, there was a concealed revolver, as well as an unloaded revolver in the cab that was in plain sight as required by law at the time. When I went to court the Judge dismissed the charges because there were no witnesses to testify that I performed any illegal act. When trying to retrieve my property he claimed that the guns were already sent to be destroyed. I have always wondered which LACSD officer or court official has my S&W 4″ Model 29, which was worth $500 at the time of the theft, not to mention my Ruger Single Six Convertible, ammo, holster, etc. I was born in CA over 60 years ago and have lived here all my life. I’m heading to AZ.
Moved to Arizona from Cal in 1974 when they took the Fourth Amendment and were just getting started on the Second. When looking at Cal now I wonder why American troops haven’t invaded, jailed Brown and his fellow traitors, and taken it back. Anyway welcome to Arizona. Look me up when you get here. We’ll go shooting.
If you don’t sue the cops in federal court they will keep doing stuff like that to other people. Besides, you might eventually be compensated for the damage to your property and the inconvenience arising out of the incident.
There are reasons that state is lovingly called Commi-fornicateya. Why do you continue to live there Dan? Can’t you just move to Nevada?
Why don’t Californians remove the democrats that are taking their Rights and property. Vote in some God fearing, Constitutional following, Pro Gun men for a change. Restore your Rights and Better you State. ( and Never post your home and property on the internet) (All America needs to wake up and vote out all the anti’s. You can’t keep the same people in office and expect a positive change).
“Why don’t Californians remove the democrats that are taking their Rights and property. ”
Because there are too many illegals, dead people and idiots in L.A. and S.F. voting.
The only thing that matters is: WHO COUNTS THE VOTES.
How many votes for whatever is determined by the counters before the election.
Read the Gun Show Bandit if you’d like to learn just how UNCONSTITUTIONAL I was treated in Washington State by the President of the Washington Arms Collectors also happens to be prosecutor in /city of FIFE Washington, traffic camers capital of the state!
Russ, your not going to get any sympathy here either
Russ Newkirk, a CONVICTED FELON in possession of illegal weapons in WA state looks like he is feeling sorry for himself again…
California, the hopeless state! Run by democrats for years and look at the results.
The government is liable for damages and attorneys fees for seizures of private property without due process of law and without paying just compensation. 42 USC Section 1983. LAPD probably has a law firm on retainer to defend these actions 24-7 if this is their typical MO.
Yes, LAPD was enforcing the existing law which is both wrong and unconstitutional. But, as Notmeofficer suggested on 20NOV, why the heck would you post pictures of your gun collection in the first place? That’s like painting a target on your residence which is likely why the bad guys broke in in the first place.
Why doesn’t he move, what kind of an idiot would live in California and do what he does anyway. Just saying.
Please don’t turn your guns.. Magazines or other accessories in
We… California police who work for you don’t want them… We don’t want to know you have them … And those of us who are STREET coppers want you to be armed
This sucks and our bretheren lapd should be ashamed
Ah, Kalifornia. Even their left wing groupies on Saturday Night Live poke fun of the place on a regular basis.
can’t wait to see that entire state slide into the ocean taking all their sack of shit politicians with them..
People’s Democratic Republic of California. Run by Commissar Jerry “Stalin” Brown
Not surprising.
This seems to be the way of the liberal utopia.
You’d think they’d have more sense than messing with a guy with such a social media following.
The Long Beach PD is exactly the same. A room renter stole some ammo out of my bedroom, and inexplicably turned it over to the PD. When I found out, I jumped through hoops to get it back. PD claimed they were holding it for an ‘investigation’. Months went by.
Then, I was told the ammo had been destroyed.
What a bunch of thieving, lying bastards…
This is just the beginning unless we band together. We have to quit writing comments get off our butts and start having country wide rallies, not hundreds of people but hundreds of thousands.
Put the syrians in ca. See how they like it when they cant protect themselves.
Kalifornia politicians and Fukushima radiation will kill off most of the state in the next ten years. This is why I do not consume anything west of the Rockies. I refuse to eat any produce, meat, or even fish from the Pacific.
“…the Golden State”? More like the Gestapo State. Any state that allows Sanctuary City’s does not care one whit about the Constitution. The city, county and state level political offices are plagued with liberals that would rather rule in the favor of public opinion than actual law.
I’m a native Californian and left in 1995, even at that time I was seeing very heavy bureaucratic strong arming, excessive gang organization, graffiti everywhere, traffic up the wazoo and taxation as a way to bail out failed liberal economic policy.
With the multitude of issues facing CA it is unfathomable that the bureaucratic bozo’s would choose to dis arm a struggling, law abiding citizenry. But hey, this is the state that keeps re-electing Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer.
If the entire state broke off and slid under the waves it wouldn’t bother me in the least.
As a matter of fact, if Obama were to be impeached, Hillary indicted and NV with a new coastline it would be a trifecta victory of Good vs Evil.
Call them what they are…thieves….they took the goods home…plain and simple.
WTF was the point of the video as related to the confiscation of his weapons by the police??????
Who are these trolls that produce the articles?
This is Just another reason I’m so glad I finally managed to get out of California. The place is run by liars and thieves. They are especially thick in LA, San Francisco and Sacramento which, by virtue of their large population of zombies overwhelm the sensible people in other areas. I weep for my former home.
This is the most egregious abuse of power I have ever read about. Not only did the man have an armored gun room, but the thieves failed to gain access to it. So the police use that as an excuse to confiscate handguns, ammunition and magazines after they were denied access by the owner and apparently without a warrant. We should adopt the left’s tactic of moving into California where they dominate the political arena and overrun them with good conservative voters, and then replace that herd of liberal politicians who run the state now with solid right leaning, freedom loving and second amendment supporting candidates. This is how they took control of Colorado, and many formerly conservative states and why those states are now dens of liberal sad sacks who ban and want to micromanage the rights and freedoms of others. This is straight out of Cloward and Piven. The liberals are well on the way to oligarchy and we are apparently unable to stop them.
It is either that, or we cede more territory to them and get good people to leave Callifornia for more conservative territory.
The think that amazes me is the LAPD was denied access to a safe room by the owner, and their response is to break in and confiscate legally owned firearms. What next? Stalin??? I recommend to the rest of the Dan Bilzerians out there to get out of California as soon as you can – it will only get worse.
Notice how the Yo9ung Turks you tube post NEVER MENTIONS the fact that after the burglars failed to get into his steel reinforced closet, the LAPD did so and stole his guns. Isn’t that the BIGGER story here? Yes it is. The LAPD, as most urban police departments seem to be, contemptuous of the people’s right to own firearms. If one gun is used at a location to commit a crime (or potential crime) the police will probably seize every single firearm on the premises. Why? I have no friggin’ clue. There was an old guy who was involved in a SD shooting in his own home in the SF Bay Area, where the gun changed hands several times. The police took the gun and refused to return it–even after the perp had been convicted and gone to jail. It was “evidence” you see, and they had to keep it in the event of a reversal on appeal. Yeah, my tuchus. Institutional theft, I’d say. And then there is the LA case of a retired sheriff’s deputy and gun collector who was suspected of dealing guns illegally. The sheriff’s office wet up a sting and busted him when he allowed a purchaser of one of his firearms to hold it while they were enroute to an FFL for a transfer. He was (obviouls) found not guilty, but as a result of his arrest, his entire collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was seized–and despite repeated requests for their return, and “delays” while his requests were refused because he had to show proof of ownership of each and every gun (which is illegal) and assurances by the LA City attorney that the guns were going to be returned, that sad sack lied and ordered the weapons destroyed. (Since many where collectors items, I have to wonder how many actually made it to the smelter or were doled out to friends and family straight out of the evidence locker). Yes, a lawsuit has been filed. So this is not new, but a pattern and practice of the LASO and the LAPD.
If guns are outlawed only Dick Trumpka and union scum will have guns. That will never happen.
WTF Tony, just a bit off topic? The subject is confiscation of legally owned firearms by law enforcement, Not labor unions. Get with it or get off the site and go elsewhere to discuss that topic.
California sucks!
After being Born and raised in California and seeing what the Demo Craps have done, and the Anti- Gun Butt Heads I moved out, If I want my life controlled the way they do, I would move to Russia, at least I would know where I stand, also I have a new name for the Great Communist State of California, I now call it CaliFU$Kme, because every time you turn around they are there to SCREW YOU, for whatever they want.. If you want to know what life would be like in a Demo Crap run Society just take a look at the Corrupt, Communistic State of CaliFU%Kme, they are a perfect model of people control, and this story is a perfect example of how they are , and what they do, which by the way is Illegal, without due cause or a Warrant…
You couldn’t be more right.
Hey Dan, looks like it’s time to move to a FREE STATE. In the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia, you will never live free on the 2A. Your more than welcome to come to South Carolina. Good Luck