Open Carry Trouble - New Mexico (settled out of court)

I’ve also had a few experiences with law enforcement that id like to share and I believe is useful. I’m from Albuquerque but I’ve been living in Virginia and North Carolina following work. I’m a big gun enthusiast and usually carry in my vehicle for personal protection. This incident was in September of 2010. It was in the small town of Fletcher, NC. Some friends and myself were going on a camping trip over the weekend and we were going to drive my truck up the mountain to where we would camp. I had six firearms with me because we were going to target shoot during that time. I had the rifles and shotguns in cases in the bed of the truck and my handgun was (UNLOADED)in a holster in the bed as well. I have a 1978 F250 single cab and its jacked up and has been restored. My point being it draws a lot of attention. There were five of us. Three in the front and two in the bed
(all of which were of age). I pulled onto the town road, after about 5 min I saw blue lights so I pulled off on a little off road to get off the main road. I stopped and the officer came up to the end of my truck and asked me to step out. I understand the first thing you are supposed to say if your carrying a gun is tell the cop about it. Which I should have done before I opened my door, my mistake. But I thought yelling out that there were guns in the vehicle with five people would agitate him so I figured id go back there and tell him at that point. Lesson learned!! My trucks interior is Rhino Lined so things slide around when I’m driving and it just so happened that when I opened my door an empty pistol mag fell out onto the street. He turned around and saw it so I went ahead and kicked it back onto the side of the road so it would not be run over. At this point he started to ask the two girls in the bed of the truck where the gun was. He was understandably nervous. so I went and put my hands up in the bed of the truck and told him they were in the bed. He then instructed everyone to get their hands in the air. he asked one of the girls where it was and she started to point to where it was. He then pulled his gun and pointed it in the direction of the two individuals in the back and called for backup. In about 45 seconds two more squad cars were at the scene and he then instructed everyone to get out of the vehicle. He trusted me because I had remained calm and respectful during this thing so he told me to climb up in the bed and get the gun. I picked it up with my pinkie by the trigger guard and handed it to him and told him who it was registered to seeing I am under the age of 21 and cannot purchase a handgun from a registered dealer. He told me that I wasn’t even supposed to have the handgun in my possession being that I was not 21 years of age. I told him that I wasn’t intending to create any problems but it was my understanding that I could have it as long as I was 18 or older. He said that I was wrong and that he would go back to his car and look up the law for me. At this time he had calmed down and the other police officers were talking to the rest of my friends. After about 10 min he called me over to his cruiser and pointed something out on the computer that had something to do with conceal carry. Even though it was out of direct reach and access of the girls in the back he said it was still considered concealed. He never mentioned anything about the “law” that said I wasn’t supposed to have the handgun. He was very nice to us after that. He gave me my handgun back and said he liked it very much and would have loved to keep it but he acknowledged that I was within my rights. He asked what the other guns were that were in the cases. He said he was just curious and that they were fine because they were in cases. Among others I mentioned the AR-15 and he didn’t even care. he just said “you’ve got a good collection and you seem to be a law abiding citizen and we like to see that in kids your age” he told me good luck and happy camping. He said he was very impressed with my knowledge of the law. I told him of my future goals in law enforcement and he said if I ever needed any advice to call him or if I ever had any problems with anyone else in NC with my guns to give him a call and he’d vouch for me. At first I thought this guy was going to be the typical bully cop and not listen to anything I had to say which id imagine would have been the case. But he said my polite attitude and respect for authority helped me out more than an arguementive attitude would have. A big thanks to Fletcher Police Dept. I sincerely believe that if I had been pulled over by the State Police I would have done some unlawful jail time. I was pulled over for my plate lights being out.
I understand there are officers that do not remember that they swore to serve and protect. But we cant forget that we have people out there that do care about our country and rights. We must support these cops because it seems as though its not a popular thing in law enforcement to really help people. Also if we expect to retain the right to bear arms we have to show ourselves responsible. It is a great privilege that not many other countries share anymore but this is why America is great. “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
Thomas Jefferson
It is so important that all Americans vote for your local Sheriff. It sounds like a little thing but most Americans do not realize that your Sheriff has more power in your county than the President. Our forefathers set it up this way as a check and balance so that governors, senators, politicians and even the president would never have so much power to rule your very existence.
Last month (November 2010) I had another incident, this time with the North Carolina State Police. I had been in a construction accident in which I almost lost my thumb. I had been to the doctor and he put 25 stitches in the thing. He told me that if it started to bleed again within 24 hours I should go straight to the ER. that was at 10 pm. the next morning I saw that it was bleeding through the bandage so I took the thing off and blood started to squirt everywhere because I had cut the artery. I jumped in my truck and put the emergency lights and took off. The speed limit was 35mps and I was going from 45 to 50mph. I passed an unmarked trooper going in the opposite direction, I saw him hit his breaks so I pulled over and waited for him. He pulled up and I held my hand up to where he could see the problem. He immediately got out of the car and came up. He asked me what the problem was so I unwrapped the bandage to where he could see it without letting blood go all over the place. he said that any injury did not condone going “64 in a 35”. I told him that I had already lost a lot of blood and I didn’t have time to argue but I told him I didn’t believe I was going 64. he then asked for my license and registration and went back to his car. he took about 10 min. by then my clothes were covered in blood. He proceeded to tell me that “ In the state of North Carolina we have something called an ambulance service”. he said I should use it next time. He handed me a ticket stating that I was going 65 in a 35 and said I had to show up In court December 6. Long story short I hired a lawyer and went to court. I didn’t get a court hearing and my lawyer said that my only choice was to go with 49 in a 35 and take a point on my record. This being my first traffic violation. The DA was very unreasonable. Looking back the reason they took care of my case in the back room during court recess was because they knew it would make them look bad in court. Especially with the pictures I took right after I unwrapped my hand when I got to the hospital after being pulled over. I was very disappointed in the $250 I spent on the lawyer. I went to the Fletcher police station and told the Police chief there what happened. He simply told me that some officers forget their pledge to protect and serve the people of the United States. He said that’s not how he would have wanted any of his men to handle things but there’s nothing we could do about it. Again I’m not degrading law enforcement as a whole or the State Police. Every agency has cops in it that are nothing more than high school bullies that graduated and found a way to make an occupation at seeing other people suffer. I hope and pray that when I make my way into the world and make steps to become law enforcement officer myself that I wont forget my duties to the people. The people is what makes this great country and I hope to God it can withstand the evils that wishes to prevail over all that which is good.
Again a big thanks to the Fletcher Police Dept, Hendersonville Sheriffs Dept, and all law enforcement agencies. We all do really appreciate your dedication to uphold the Constitution and serve your fellow man.

I apologize for the length of this, random thoughts, and also for the lack of good grammer.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.