I guess the were all white kids. Don't try
that in the city, they will tell you to F'off
if they speak english and shoot you in the parking
lot.
Are you from Montana? Strange, the kids
were just having some fun.
Should have joined them...
Posted on 08/21/2005 6:02:36 AM PDT by CholeraJoe
"Never, ever leave home without it." No, not your American Express card, your sidearm.
This morning, I woke up about 4:15 and was hungry, so I decided to drive to the local 24-hour beanery. The only other customers were a table of 10, intoxicated 20-somethings making alot of noise.
There were 7 muscular young men and three loud-mouthed young women. After listening to their raucous laughter for 10 minutes, I politely asked the waitress to ask them to hold down the noise. All I wanted to do was eat my breakfast in relative peace.
Her request for quiet lasted about 45 seconds, then the noise and laughter resumed. At that point, I decided to do something.
Bear in mind that I am not an imposing figure. I'm 5'9", mid 50's, and slim. I walked over to the table, and walked completely around it twice. I said, "I'd like y'all to hold down the noise for a while, please." One of the young men started to give me trash-talk but within seconds was elbowed by the guy next to him, who whispered something in his ear. Then everyone at the table said, "Yes, sir, or OK."
What made the difference? Open carry. I was wearing a 9mm semi-auto on my right hip. I never touched it and I made no threats, but it was nevertheless visible.
Well it's clear then. Discrimination against loud people.
Not at all. But does the fact that he was armed allow him to enforce public decorum when he probably wouldn't have done so if he was unarmed? I would have gotten my BLT to go.
Wrong analogy. A police officer has legal authority to enforce the "peace". Individual officers may step over the line at times, but that is a judgement call. I would think if a uniformed police officer would have entered the diner the group would have quited down on its own.
Drunk and disorderly in public is legal? Let's party, Dude!
It just goes to show, you never know what kind of riff-raff you'll run into in a diner at 4:30 in the morning. With the vastness of cyberspace, I imagine there must be a forum somewhere where 10 young adults have posted a vanity about their close encounter with an armed, bald-headed grump who disrupted their breakfast.
Thankfully, they had the commonsense not to aggravate or confront this weird loner.
Somebody could've gotten hurt.
And I bet you didn't notice, the waitress probably switched you to decaff...
I've been off caffeine for years.
Drunk and disorderly in public is legal? Let's party, Dude!
Is raucous laughter the same as Drunk and disorderly ?
Is this tale growing? I hope you tipped the waitress well.
You need to watch more Mythbusters on TV. They showed it is not as easy as Hollywood portrays to start a gasoline fire. Fireing a weapon in gasoline will not make it ignite. (They actually found dropping a lit cigarette did not do it, and they even had a hard time with a match).
I am afraid a gasoline moat is not going to do much but make you sick.
I agree 100%....
I guess the were all white kids. Don't try
that in the city, they will tell you to F'off
if they speak english and shoot you in the parking
lot.
Are you from Montana? Strange, the kids
were just having some fun.
Should have joined them...
After reading the comments from punks and non punks...I think the only resolution to the noise problem at 4:30 am in a truck stop was "take out". Why deliberately ask for trouble when the intended result would probably be a certain lockup if things went wrong!!
If he had just asked without making two laps around the table then I would not call it "enforcing public decorum".
Raucous laughter punctuated with four letter words and racial slurs is pretty disorderly.
Obviously they weren't quite the thugs you paint them as. Had you pulled that stunt in Oak Cliff (Dallas neighborhood) you'd have been shown enough hardware to liberate a small Central American country for the 3rd time this year. Which is in itself rather moot as you'd have been arrested long before that as open carry is illegal in Texas.
I'm crabby in the morning too but you were wrong. You should have gotten a to go box.
Okay,say they jazzed up your approach (after a hungry attorney contacted them). You circled their table twice with a menacing look, you were cocky when you ask them to pipe down, maybe with some good body language references...
If you used your weapon on them, and the waitress confirmed you circled their table twice, their story will screw you. Especially, if it over noise alone.
Hey, don't trust me on this, ask a defense attorney in your state for the gory details. They'll know.
Bottom line in most states, if it is not felony, use a weapon and you will be screwed.
You confronted a party of ten openly carrying. Over noise. They could articulate a reason for subduing you, possibly using lethal force in the process.
They might get off. You probably would not. When you decided to carry, you took on life and death responsibilities. You may want to consult an attorney with experiece on this issue in you state before you choose to do something like this again.
Also, if you are sued, this whole exchange on FR will be fair game. Choose your online words carefully. FR is a public forum. Welcome to the real world.
DK
BTW, all of my ordinance is silenced, as I cannot stand noise at 4:30 AM, either.
Excellent points.
"Have you ever heard of "Drunk and Disorderly," or its cousin "Prejudicial to good order and discipline?""
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
As an officer, you're not doing a d&*n thing without a complaint from the property owner in a restaurant where the clientele are all sitting and eating.
Your post also includes the mens rea for assault.
WHo are you, and what have you done with the real Mr. Green?
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