A Facebook photo raid has a family up in arms. On March 20, the Christian Science Monitor reported that 11-year-old Josh Moore posed with a .22-caliber copy of a military-style assault rifle on his birthday and the photo wound up on Facebook. Child welfare case workers and police officers showed up at the family's New Jersey home days later, leading the family to believe that someone provided authorities with an anonymous tip.
"I don't like what happened. You're not even safe in your own house. If they can just show up at any time and make you open safes and go through your house, that's not freedom; it's like tyranny," said Josh's dad, Shawn.
The Facebook photo that caused a raid of the Moore's home can be seen all over the internet. Josh is wearing a camouflage coat and eye glasses while proudly holding the (fake) gun. Josh's dad explained that he gave his son the gift "to use on hunting trips." Naturally someone seeing that photo might become concerned, and in today's society, one can never just "assume" that this is normal activity. Nonetheless, the Moore's felt as though their privacy was violated.
"They said they wanted to see into my safe and see if my guns were registered. I said no; in New Jersey, your guns don't have to be registered with the state; it's voluntary. I knew once I opened that safe, there was no going back," Shawn Moore explained.
The Facebook photo that caused the raid can be seen here.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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