Posted on 01/11/2010 9:00:29 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER
So I was out at lunch with classmates from a pistol instructor course this afternoon. As usual, I open carried my Glock 23. I ordered a sausage parm sandwich and was filling up my 20 oz soda from the fountain when the guy in the next booth turned and asked if I was from around here. Yes, I answered. Did he know me from somewhere? No. This was getting creepy. I didn’t answer him. Who ARE you?” Then: “Who ARE you?” Has a complete stranger ever asked you such an open-ended and personal question? It was a first for me. I had no idea what information he wanted and wasn’t about to give him my name or biography. “I don’t understand the question,” I told him. He didn’t like this answer.
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18USC242
If memory serves me correct, Bucks County’s sheriff is a virulent anti-gun jerk, and uses any excuse to confiscate lawfully carried firearms and to revoke CC permits, the law be damned.
RKBA abuse ping.
Yep, familiar with the POS from Bucks.
I hope the NRA will investigate and help this guy with his legal defense. We are losing more and more of our freedoms everyday because we aren’t standing together to fight this stuff in a non-violent constitutional manner.
The common citizen is an easier mark than the common criminal.
I don’t know of one case like this the NRA has helped in their legal defense. Doesn’t mean they haven’t but I know of none.
Regardless if whether it’s illegal, assaulting a law enforcement officer would have been a severe temptation in this case.
OR it’ll start out that way, then the LEO will shoot the hubby, followed by a press conference where the PD PR guy will explain the complete propriety of the officer’s actions, despite their tragic outcome.
You can sometimes beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride. The cop may have been an ass but he did initially back down and Mr. Opencarry had to push things rather than walking away. Opencarry now has an arrest record that he will be explaining for the rest of his life and I think he’s happy about it. He can now prove that he’s a legitimate second amendment crusader who has suffered greatly at the hands of government thugs. From his own account of the incident, I conclude that he is guilty of being whiny.
I’m sure it happened, but also sure the poor oppressed RKBA-exerciser left out some very pertinent information. He readily admits “I have a bad attitude,” and I expect that he displayed this in ways that went substantially beyond what he shares with us here, and may well have given the officer at least some plausible reason for asking for his ID. It’s pretty telling that the pistol course instructor, who was comfortable with (and maybe actively encouraging) heading off to a restaurant with open-carrying students, didn’t have a problem with the off-duty officer’s actions. Also that the off-duty officer had dropped the matter entirely and just let poor oppressed RKBA-exerciser go eat his lunch in peace, when poor oppressed RKBA-exerciser decided he just had to re-open and escalate the encounter.
I’m all in favor of people open-carrying and helping get the general public comfortable with the idea of ordinary citizens carrying guns as they go about their daily lives. But when people act like jerks while open-carrying, they do the RKBA movement a lot more harm than good.
Years ago I was working the drawer in the hardware store and a guy came in wearing Levis and a cowboy shirt. Right in front of the counter he started to turn toward me, raising his shirt tail. I saw the bottom end of a holster and I drew on him. His eyes got big as saucers and another employee hollered "don't shoot, he's a deputy". He had his badge on his belt by the holster but I sure as Hell couldn't see it right away. He actually apologized and admitted he did something stupid. He asked me how I got the old S&W out from under my shirt so fast and I told him "lots of practice.
We ended up on good terms. I know I'd have gone to jail in a lot of places. He is lucky I didn't panic and shoot, I know people who would have, some of them cops.
Cops take an oath to the Constitution, if they don't mean it they need to find another line of work.
Exactly. If you want to promote public support for RKBA by open carrying in public places, you’ll have a lot more impact if your behavior is utterly above reproach, especially when some other people’s behavior isn’t. Sounds to me like he had an opportunity to convince a bunch a random restaurant customers that people who open-carry are nice, normal, stable folks, who are sometimes subjected to unreasonable questioning by police officers, and instead managed to accomplish just the opposite.
HUH?!?!?! A customer came into your store, you happened to catch a glimpse of his concealed, holstered gun, and you drew your gun on him???? Wow! I'd a lot rather run into the off-duty police officer described in this blog post, than run into you! I routinely carry concealed in Pennsylvania, and I'd press charges against anyone who drew a gun on me just because they caught a glimpse of my gun.
He is lucky I didn't panic and shoot
So are you. You'd be spending many years in prison if you had, as well you should be.
I think memory serves you wrong.
Since the early 1980s I go up to the sheriff's office in Doylestown every five years to renew my concealed carry permit and it's always a cordial breeze. In fact, one time I was chatting with a deputy up there and I mentioned that Philadelphia doesn't necessarily recognize CC permits and he told me to sue the city if they ever harassed me.
I recommend to everybody in Pennsylvania: Go get your CC permits today! All you need is proof of county residency (call the sheriff and inquire about what satisfies proof of residency) and about $24. (I believe they also ask for three "references", so have the names and addresses of three friends handy.) You do not need to state any "reason" for wanting the permit (other than self defense) and you don't need to take any courses or have a hunting license or anything else. There are NO requirements other than to be 21+ and not a convicted criminal. You don't even need to own a gun.
I urge everybody in Pennsylvania to go get your CC permit today. You can fill out the form and be in and out of the sheriff's office in 20 - 30 minutes (at least, that's how it is in Bucks County), with your cc permit in your wallet. No waiting. It really is a breeze.
There is no point in your packing if you're going to stand there and say, "you go first". You'd be safer unarmed!
Sometimes it takes cases like this for the states Supreme Court to remind it’s police officers of what the statutory law is.
Personally, I would not open carry. To me it’s not worth the hassle. Someone is always calling about a man with a gun and hanging up. Then you got to go see what’s going on, observe the carrier to see if they doing anything may warrant a contact.
Off work, I want to be as inconspicuous as possible. Some argue for deterrance, I like the element of surprise.
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