Guns confiscated without warrant? That's what cops wanted to do, Millstone Twp. dad says

Kevin Davis | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Lacey students learn gun safety Gun-rights advocates sponsored a firearms training and safety program for Lacey students after controversy over a photo of students posing with guns.

MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP - What apparently started out as a thoughtful discussion about security at Millstone Middle School ended up with the State Police attempting to confiscate guns from a parent, who happens to be an Army veteran.

A discussion between two students at the school was overheard by a classmate, who then told his parents, setting off a chain of events that eventually involved state troopers, according to a report.

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The State Police showed up about 10 p.m. June 14 and tried to confiscate firearms without a court order or warrant, parent Leonard Cottrell Jr. said, according to the report.

Cottrell said he was "not going to willingly give up my constitutional rights," and eventually the troopers agreed not to take the guns, if they were moved to another location while the investigation was underway.