To hear them tell it, the five police agencies who apprehended 39-year-old Oregonian David Pyles early on the morning of March 8 thwarted another
lone wolf mass murderer. The police "were able to successfully
take a potentially volatile male subject into protective custody
for a mental evaluation," announced a press
release put out by the Medford, Oregon, police department. The
subject had recently been placed on administrative leave from his
job, was "very disgruntled," and had recently purchased several
firearms. "Local Law Enforcement agencies were extremely concerned
that the subject was planning retaliation against his employers,"
the release said. Fortunately, Pyles "voluntarily" turned himself
over to police custody, and the legally purchased firearms "were
seized for safekeeping."

This voluntary exchange involved two SWAT teams, police officers from Medford and nearby Roseburg, sheriff's deputies from Jackson and Douglas counties, and the Oregon State Police. Oregon State
Police Sgt. Jeff Proulx explained to South Oregon's Mail
Tribune why the operation was such a success: "Instead of
being reactive, we took a proactive approach."

There's just one problem: David Pyles hadn't committed any crime, nor was he suspected of having committed one. The police never obtained a warrant for either search or arrest. They never
consulted with a judge or mental health professional before sending
out the military-style tactical teams to take Pyle in.

"They woke me up with a phone call at about 5:50 in the morning," Pyles told me in a phone interview Friday. "I looked out the window and saw the SWAT team pointing their guns at my house.
The officer on the phone told me to turn myself in. I told them I
would, on three conditions: I would not be handcuffed. I would not
be taken off my property. And I would not be forced to get a mental
health evaluation. He agreed. The second I stepped outside, they
jumped me. Then they handcuffed me, took me off my property, and
took me to get a mental health evaluation."

By noon the same day, Pyles had already been released from the Rogue Valley Medical Center with a clean bill of mental health. Four days later the Medford Police Department
returned Pyle’s guns, despite telling him earlier in the
week—falsely—that he'd need to undergo a second background check
before he could get them back. On Friday the Medford Police
Department put out a second press
release, this time announcing that the agency had returned the
"disgruntled" worker's guns, and "now considers this matter
closed.

That seems unlikely. Pyles' case has spurred outrage in the gun rights community. Kevin Starrett of the Oregon Firearms Federation has been advising Pyles, and helped get his guns back. Oregon-based
syndicated conservative talk radio host Lars Larson has taken up
the story. And Pyles is now attorney shopping for a possible civil
rights lawsuit.

At root behind this case and others like it is our naïve, hopeful, and sometimes even dangerous belief that every horrible shooting spree or lone-wolf act of terrorism can be prevented. We
seem unable to accept the idea that bad people will occasionally do
bad things. Every new mass shooting spurs an urge to assign blame
beyond the shooter: What political ideology inspired him? Who
missed the “warning signs,” and why wasn't he apprehended ahead of
time? Gun retailers are scrutinized and vilified, even when they've
complied with the law. In ensuing days and weeks, politicians mull
new laws, often both ineffective and constricting on our
liberty.

There's nothing wrong with looking for signs that someone is about to snap, and if he's putting up multiple red flags, we'd certainly want law enforcement to investigate, possibly to chat
with the person and his friends and family. And obviously if
someone has made specific threats, a criminal investigation should
follow. But that's a far cry from what happened to Pyles.

Pyles' problems began last June after a series of grievances with his employer, the Oregon Department of Transportation. "This was always a professional thing for me," he says. "It was never
personal. We were handling the grievances through the process
stipulated in the union contract." Pyles declined to discuss the
nature of the complaints, citing stipulations in his contract.

On March 4, Pyles was placed on administrative leave, which required him to work from home. On March 5, 6, and 7, after getting his income tax refund, he made three purchases of five firearms.
Pyles describes himself as a gun enthusiast, who had already owned
several weapons. All three new purchases required an Oregon
background check, which would have prohibited the transactions had
Pyles ever been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving
violence, or been committed by the state to a mental health
institution. Pyles says he has no criminal record, and says he
never threatened anyone in his office. (A specific threat of
violence would have likely brought a criminal charge.) The Oregon
State Police, the Medford Police Department, and the Oregon
Department of Transportation did not respond to requests for
comment.

"In my opinion, the apprehension of David Pyles was a violation of Oregon's kidnapping laws," says James Leuenberger, a criminal defense attorney who is also advising Pyles. "He definitely
deserves to be compensated for what they did to him, but even if he
wins a civil rights suit, that will just result in the officers'
employers paying for their mistakes." That of course means the
final tab will be paid by Oregon's taxpayers, not the offending
cops. "I want these law enforcement officials held personally
responsible," Leuenberger says. "I want them criminally
charged."

It's hard to see that happening. Joseph Bloom, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Science University and a specialist in civil commitment law, says the police who apprehended and detained Pyles
were likely acting under the cover of Oregon law. Bloom says the
police are permitted to make a determination on their own to take
someone in for a mental health evaluation—there's no requirement
that they first consult with a judge or mental health professional.
Bloom believes this is a wise policy. "It's important to remember
that this is a civil process," he says. "There's no arrest, these
people aren't being taking to jail. It's not a criminal
action."

So SWAT teams, guns, and handcuffs...but not a criminal action? And what if Pyles had refused to "voluntarily" surrender to the police? "Well, yes," Bloom says. "I guess then it would become a
criminal matter."

If what happened to Pyles is legal, in Oregon or elsewhere, we need to take a second look at the civil commitment power. Even setting aside the SWAT team overkill in Medford, there's something
awfully discomfiting about granting government authorities the
power to yank someone from their home and drag them in for a mental
health evaluation based on a series of actions that were perfectly
legal, especially with no prior oversight from a judge, or guidance
from a psychiatrist. 

"The idea that Pyles turned himself in voluntarily is ridiculous," says Starrett, the gun rights activist. "There's nothing voluntary about waking up to a SWAT team outside your home,
then having a police negotiator call and suggest you surrender.
They had no arrest warrant. But Pyles only had one option. If he
didn't come out on his own, they were going to come in to get
him."

Even if the apprehension of Pyles was legal, the seizure of his guns wasn't. Because civil commitment laws aren't criminal in nature, they don't carry authorization for the police to search a
private residence. According to Pyles, he closed the door behind
him as he left his home. Because the police didn't have a search
warrant, they had no right to even enter Pyles' home, much less
seize guns inside that he bought and possessed legally.

For a potential mass murderer, Pyles is remarkably placid and big-picture about what happened to him. "I've been looking for a new job for months," he says. "But given the economy, I'm pretty
lucky to be getting a paycheck, even given all of this. For me,
this is about civil rights. This seems like something the NRA and
the ACLU can agree on. South Oregon is big gun country. If
something like this can happen here, where just about everyone owns
a gun, it can happen anywhere."