FMDAC CODE OF ETHICS
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I WILL always check federal, state, county and local laws before searching. It is my responsibility to “ know the law “
I WILL respect private property and will not enter private property without the owner’s permission. Where possible, such permission will be in writing.
I WILL take care to refill all holes and try not to leave any damage.
I WILL remove and dispose of any and all trash and litter that i find.
I WILL appreciate and protect our inheritance of natural resources, wildlife and private property.
I WILL as an ambassador for the hobby, use thoughtfulness, consideration and courtesy at all times.
I WILL work to help bring unity to our hobby by working with any organization of any geographic area that may have problems that will limit their ability to peacefully pursue the hobby.
I WILL leave gates as found.
I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only.
I WILL report to the proper authorities any individuals who enter and or remove artifacts from federal parks or state preserves.
Brandon, if you're interpretting that 1st point of that code-of-ethics version to mean that we need to go ask at every city hall we come to, that's a mis-interpretation of that part of the code. That's only saying it's our responsibility to "know the law". And that can be looked up for ones-self. It is not to be construed as go ask "Can I?". All laws are available, somewhere, for public viewing. You can look it up for yourself. If you see nothing there that says "no metal detecting", then presto, it's not prohibited. If you're really gung-ho on talking to a live person at a desk somewhere, here's an alternative: ask them this instead: "Hi. Where can I find the publically available listing of all the city muni. charter, codes, rules, etc....?" They will direct you to that. Ie.: tell you where it is on-line. Or perhaps in a binder somewhere at city hall for public to view, etc... You can look it up for yourself. Because otherwise, by asking live persons "can I detect?", you risk them morphing silly things about disturbing earthworms, or "collecting and harvesting", or "underground sewer lines you might break", blah blah blah (when in fact, perhaps they'd have never have cared or thought twice about it). The mere fact someone is standing there asking "can I?" simply implies that something is inherently wrong or evil about your hobby, that it needed their sanction and approval (lest why else would you ask, if it weren't inherently wrong or in need of sanction?). This is not subconsciously lost on the person you are asking, and they will seek to find a reason to tell you "no" (when in fact, perhaps they'd have never have looked twice at you, if they were just driving down the street).
As for your booting by the cops, we all feel your pain! I hate to say it Brandon, but in this hobby, you have to have a tough skin. What we do is admittedly a magnet for lookie-lous and busy-bodies. Everyone is curious about the "man with the geiger counter", right? And so, it's a little like nose-picking: Sometimes you have to be a little discreet. But yeah, there will be times you get an authority out there with their panties in a wad. No, I do not interpret that as an indication that the "solution" to that is to go ask "can I?" (heck, the cops even said you could do it!). And also notice that in your case, the cops even said they were *only* there because someone had called. RIGHT? (and they didn't even see anything wrong with it). HOWEVER, sure, they must "satisify" miss lookie-lou. So in my opinion, their asking you to leave, to me, would simply be to come back later, when miss-lookie-lou is gone. For example: One time I was detecting in a park, and the cops came to question me. They said they'd gotten a call about a "man with a weapon". Doh! (true story!). I use a bayonnete to dig with. As the cops told me that, I distinctly remembered that about 10 minutes earlier, a person had been walking through the park, and stopped and given me a snide look. Then they walked on. I deduced it was probably them just causing trouble, to give me grief. The cops said I couldn't have that in the park. And actually, they began to even question what I was doing to begin with, but luckily, it didn't go that direction
Anyhow, using that as an example, it's obviously to be treated as an "isolated incident", and just let that one park "have a rest" for a month or so.
If I thought every time someone said "boo" meant a place was therefore "off-limits", I'd have been out of sites to hunt years ago! Heck, I even had a lady on the beach say my metal detector bothered her dog once! (I think she thought it emitted some type of frequencies only dogs heard or something
). I wish the red carpets were rolled out for us, but until they are, sometimes you just gotta have a thick skin, and avoid busy-bodies. It's gotten to where I hunt parks at only the most vacant of times (early mornings before 8am, or after 6pm, or .... even in the dark).
