How would any of you of handled this?

[BlasterBob]

When a police dispatcher receives a "man with a gun" call, I'd guess the caller normally does NOT indicate if the gun guy appeared to be a nut case/wacko or if the gun appeared to be a handgun, rifle, shotgun or a machine gun or even a bazooka. I believe most of the liberal public doesn't give a shit what type it is, just that it's a damn gun, capable of doing some serious harm and some guy is out on the street with it. I believe the cops really have to check out what's going on. If they did NOT investigate, and the carrier shot someone soon after the call, there would be more than a few complaints ("well, I called the cops and they did nothing about my citizen complaint/warning").
For the cops, it's hell if they do and hell if they don't. I believe they'd rather go with the safest method and just routinely check the guy out. Also, just because he (the open carry guy) cites some laws indicating that open carry is legal in that area, that does NOT mean that he is certainly a law abiding citizen. You can bet that a lot of guys who are currently incarcerated are very familiar with many many laws and can easily cite them but that doesn't suddenly make them "good guys".
A cop/friend of mine told me many years ago that a cop frequently may have to make some quick/split second decisions that may take the courts months or even years to unravel and figure out.

[TFOGGER]

I'm also curious if police are supposed to respond or not. It seems to me like they are, since the police show up when some a-hole calls 911 because a fast food restaurant doesn't have the food item that they want (has happened more than once in the news).

I have a different question for police on the board. How do you respond to a "man running with a gun?" I was running and slightly open carrying the other day and a couple of police cars drove by and I covered my gun up before they passed me. I don't think I'd like to be contacted in that situation though, mostly because of where I live and how frequently the police show up. I was clearly jogging, but since I wasn't wearing spandex, a race number, and it was at 11:00 pm at night, I have to wonder how the police would have responded.

They'd have treated you like a King....
































Rodney King.

[O2HeN2]

I have heard (and will try and confirm) that how El Paso County 911 treats MWAG calls is to ask the caller what the man is doing (which is reasonable in any case). If it sounds suspicious, they roll, if not they ask a few follow-up questions along the lines of "Is the gun holstered?" "Is he just going about his business?" and if they can reasonably determine that it's just an OC carrier, they explain to the caller that what the person is doing is perfectly legal -- and don't roll.

O2

[T-Giv]

Yeah you would get the royal treatment alright, especially in Westminster!

[Chad4000]

interesting thread... I actually kinda like seeing these videos..

never had any weird experiences myself..

[TFOGGER]

My thoughts: The gentleman that made the video obviously went out to "make a point", and tried to provoke the officer into doing something improper. Open carry is obviously legal at that location, otherwise the stop would have gone quite differently. That being said, IMO he did nothing to improve the relationship between OC proponents and the police with his adversarial attitude. I get the whole open carry thing, even though I choose not to do so, but being rude and adversarial with a police officer that is merely trying to have a conversation with you is not accomplishing anything except possibly souring that officer's opinion of OCers in general.

[10mm-man]

My thoughts: The gentleman that made the video obviously went out to "make a point", and tried to provoke the officer into doing something improper. Open carry is obviously legal at that location, otherwise the stop would have gone quite differently. That being said, IMO he did nothing to improve the relationship between OC proponents and the police with his adversarial attitude. I get the whole open carry thing, even though I choose not to do so, but being rude and adversarial with a police officer that is merely trying to have a conversation with you is not accomplishing anything except possibly souring that officer's opinion of OCers in general.

Agreed on the;" he did nothing to improve the relationship between OC proponents " but if I am not mistaken, the law he quoted said that the police couldn't do that. Therefore; illegal stop, illegal search and seizure! I thought I read somewhere that the Supreme Court" ruled citizens could defend themselves "to the point of death" against "illegal search and seizure"...

In that case he did good as " and OC proponent" and as others have said "it was a good day for all involved....... Wish more would stand up for their rights instead of being cowards and letting others step on them...

[TFOGGER]

Jus' sayin', it's possible to "stand up for your rights" without being a dick.

[cstone]

Jus' sayin', it's possible to "stand up for your rights" without being a dick.

I'm sure that George III thought that George Washington was a dick.

[Sharpienads]

I'm sure that George III thought that George Washington was a dick.

Yeah, I remember reading that in the history books:

Mr. George Washington hath been quite a dick these last few months...

King George III's diary entry, July 4, 1776