Posted on 06/18/2008 10:21:41 AM PDT by neverdem
WEST VALLEY CITY - With his Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic holstered on his right hip, Travis Deveraux addressed the mayor and City Council on Tuesday.
Deveraux says he has been harassed by West Valley City police for carrying that gun and treated like a criminal.
"A criminal does not want [police] attention, and they will not openly carry a gun," Deveraux said.
With 10 other gun-toting civilians - who came from as far as Bountiful, Santaquin and Lehi - to support him, Deveraux told the council that their police department has consistently overreacted to his gun carrying. And in one occasion last year, he said, the police officers violated his civil rights.
Deveraux said he was walking around his neighborhood to exercise last December, when he was stopped by a Granite School District officer and "informed that if I touched my gun, I would be killed." The officer called West Valley City Police Department, Deveraux said, three squad cars arrived, and he was detained and his gun taken from him - then, after a few minutes, he was released.
Those were violations of his federal and state constitutional rights, said the Swede who became an American citizen this January.
And they are civil rights abuses that he has only encountered in West Valley City, Deveraux said.
"I don't blame them for being a little bit extra careful," he said, noting that the crime rate is high in Utah's second largest city, "but there's a line they crossed between being a little bit careful and a little bit too careful."
Assistant Police Chief Craig Black said he hadn't been aware of the incident involving Deveraux until hearing about it at the City Council meeting. He said there would be a review of the case by the professional standards board to determined what happened.
Matt Murray, of North Salt Lake, said he has never been bothered by any police officers for openly carrying his gun. Kevin Jensen, of Santaquin, said he has had a few police encounters that were "very professional . . . they just want to make sure you're not a nutcase." But Lehi resident Jeramiah McDonald said he has had problems similar to Deveraux's.
McDonald said that because he is only 19, he can't apply for a concealed-weapons permit and his only option is to openly carry his guns.
Because he felt police officers violated his civil rights, McDonald filed a lawsuit.
Deveraux said he doesn't want to sue anyone, or get an officer fired or fined. He wants West Valley City officers to be trained, or receive more training on gun rights.
Mayor Dennis Nordfelt encouraged Deveraux to file a complaint with the professional standards review board, which oversees any resident problems with the police department.
Black said his officers are trained on gun laws.
mariav@sltrib.com
Agreed brother - Some LEOs need to understand the difference between a RIGHT and a privilege.
If they don’t, then turn in the badge and the gun and find another line of work. These are CITIZENS here that you are harrassing, Free Men, who are committing NO crime. They are exercising their RIGHT as Free Men to defend their lives, their families, and their way of life. They are an INSTANT DETERRENT to those malefactors in society that “just can’t seem to get along”.
I will support LEOs right up until the moment they disrespect my Constitutional RIGHT. Then, “Officer Friendly”, you are on your OWN.
You LEOs would do well to work with CITIZENS who will be there to help YOU should you need it. An American Citizen who carries a gun is NO THREAT TO YOU.
Back when you were still PEACE OFFICERS, people thought differently of you. Now, you’re “!!!LAW ENFORCEMENT!!!!!” officers.
Words MEAN things, boys. You’d do well to learn the difference.
Money talks and BS walks !...........file a law suit against the individual LEO NOT HIS or HER DEPARTMENT. When word gets out that Bob had too pay 100k for his lack of knowledge of the law and excessive force etc etc .......then hopefully Tom, Dick and Harold will get a clue and tell their departments leadership and risk managers too pack sand !
Having carried all my life I have never been harassed when I present my carry credentials. Worst I have been told is don’t play with my gun during the traffic stop.........When I reminded the LEO of this is my weapon this is my gun this is for shootin and this is for fun she was less than amused and said fine don;t pull either or I was going too jail.
I brought that on myself due my wise-ass remark ........:o)
Certainly you can, but it will get you killed, and the many "freepers" will applaud because you "deserved" it.
And that is a huge problem.
These open carry stories are interesting, but I’ll stick with CCW, thanks.
I want to start out any nasty social encounter with a bad guy as a total shock and surprise to him.
Nope.
His naturalization papers make him an American.
Been that way for a long time.
Concealed carry is like keeping a lawyer on retainer; prudent. Open carry is like keeping a lawyer on retainer and telling everybody you meet that you do; it’s your right, it may be a good idea, but people will see it as a threat.
Also, open carry’s not really possible in the northern half of the country except in summer, and then only in good weather. As soon as the parka or raincoat goes on, open carry goes away.
Or they could become judges.
A university isn’t a primary school. Which is where the gentleman was stopped. Now if he wasn’t on school grounds then the school officer had no reason to stop him and was beyond his juridiction. That’s what I’d be most interested in knowing.
cite the statute that makes k-12 schools off limits. I am unaware of one and it appears BCI isn’t aware of one either. The only law I’m aware of is the federal law and I’m not sure how enforceable that is since the Court decision against it several years ago.
I am indeed talking about the federal law. I do not support restricting guns so don’t try making out like I do. I am pointing out that it is possible that this was the reason for the stop. Because as I said, I have many times walked around and even entered business’ with a handgun on my hip with no problem in Utah. Now on the same note... Had he been with a concealed weapon, it would have been perfectly legal under Utah law. So as I said in my earlier post, it’s instruction on policy for the police that needs addressed and NOT this man’s carrying a gun.
Lazarus, I’m sorry if you feel that I was trying to imply that you are anti-gun, that was not my intent. The purpose of my post was to find out if you knew of any restrictions in Utah law that I was unaware of. As far as I have been able to ascertain, Utah law is silent on the issue.
On the federal law I am unsure of its current status, I know that parts of it were challenged and the courts found that Congress had no standing to pass such a law. I thought that the law was for all intents and purposes a dead letter. Do you know of any recent successful prosecutions under that statute that would indicate otherwise?
On rereading the article it would indeed appear that the Granite School District was out of line. “Deveraux said he was walking around his neighborhood to exercise last December, when he was stopped by a Granite School District officer “ and “The officer called West Valley City Police Department, Deveraux said, three squad cars arrived, and he was detained and his gun taken from him - then, after a few minutes, he was released. “ The fact that he was released so quickly would seem to indicate that he was not violating any laws. Unfortunately the author of this article failed to give us basic information which would allow us to make a more informed judgment.
No harm, no foul. I too am sorry I misunderstood your request. Lately there have been more than few fanatical posters on FR that put many of us on the defensive. I often worry about this great site turning into another DailyKOS.
I too am ignorant of precise laws in Utah and elsewhere concerning what citizens can do in regards to gun ownership. This is very bad. I miss the days when it was much more clear cut and you often found Dems and Republicans side by side at shooting matches. They’ve legislated the snot out of gun laws to the point where you’re never sure you can clean your weapon without being sent to a re-education center. Seems to me SCOTUS has the chance to clear this up once and for all. Lets hope they don’t drop the ball.
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