Once in a while. Starting to see more folks in these parts (VA), doing the same. State law makes it easy (not specifically prohibited), and mandatory (if you carry at all) in establishments that serve alcohol for on premise consumption.
I carry a smith and wesson .40 cal handgun.
GCO member John Lynch sent his own letter to the Clayton County Chief of Police. While we do not have a pdf of the letter, the text is reproduced here with his permission.
Jeffrey E. TurnerGood letter, John! We will let you know what response the department sends, if any.
Chief of Police
Clayton County Police Department
7911 N. McDonough Street
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
Dear Chief Turner,
I am writing to make a formal complaint regarding an illegal stop and ID check without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of a crime. In sum, one of your officers violated my Fourth Amendment rights by forcibly detaining me without any reasonable basis for suspecting me of engaging in unlawful conduct.
On May 19, 2008, at the QT gas station on Mt. Zion, in Morrow at 11:45 am, I stopped to get gasoline for my car. As has been my daily habit for the last two decades, I was legally carrying a pistol openly in a belt holster.
Officer Carter pulled up in car number 912 as I was pumping gasoline into my car. As I went in to pay for my gasoline, I had to pass his driver door. I recall that his window was closed. After I waited in line and paid for my gasoline, I turned to leave. Officer Carter was approaching the front door on the outside just as I approached from the inside. As I exited, Officer Carter stepped in front of me, stopped me, and demanded to see my "permit."
I inquired into the reason why he was stopping me, as I did not wish to be detained. Officer Carter replied in a gruff manner, "You have that gun on your hip" and pointed toward my hip. Since I did not at this point feel free to leave, I showed my Georgia Firearms License to Officer Carter as he demanded, and he then growled, "Next time I call you, don't keep walking past me." I did not know what he was talking about, but I did not reply to him because I did not wish to voluntarily interact with him in any manner, except to get his name to complain about him stopping me with no reasonable suspicion of a crime.
I requested a business card, and he yelled, "No!" Then he started to walk away, but not before I read his nametag. I also obtained the number off of his car.
A female police officer, whose name I do not know, witnessed the tail end of this interaction.
I have two major complaints. First, the mere presence of an openly carried, holstered firearm is not, by itself, reasonable suspicion of a crime sufficient to forcibly detain me. The United States Supreme Court in Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000) clearly rejected the idea that there is a "firearms exception" to the Fourth Amendment. Officer Carter had no objective facts to support a reasonable belief that I was committing or about to commit a crime. Therefore, he had no justification to forcibly stop me against my will.
Second, Officer Carter went out of his way to be rude, and, as a Chief, you should not tolerate such behavior from your officers toward law abiding, peaceable citizens who are transacting business in the county.
I expect to be advised of what actions you will take to address this situation, and it is my hope that this will not happen to me again within Clayton County. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
John Lynch
I did when I lived in Az