in NY, if you have a concealed weapon permit, it MEANS concealed... you can be arrested for open carry
Posted on 08/04/2012 6:49:23 PM PDT by marktwain
DENVER -- What was supposed to be a regular night at the movies ended up being anything but for James Mapes on Sunday.
The Northglenn man was arrested in the middle of a movie at the Cinebarre Theater in Thornton after someone called police to report that a man had gone into the theater with a gun.
Mapes told 7NEWS that he’s worn his sidearm into the same theater several times.
“Never had a problem,” he said.
That changed on Sunday.
“The movie stopped and the lights came on,” Mapes said. “Someone said, ‘I just got a call from my friend who said there’s someone in the theater with a gun.’”
Mapes said he stood up told fellow patrons that he had a concealed carry permit.
He said he started to walk out and noticed all the police.
Mapes said, “I put my hands out and said, ‘I’m coming out, don’t shoot. I have a concealed carry permit. My gun is holstered.’”
He said police took his gun, handcuffed him and placed him under arrest.
“I’m kind of indignant about it,” he said. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Mapes said he wears his sidearm for safety reasons.
“A theater is no different than a grocery store or a gas station,” he said. “If a criminal is going to attack, you need to be able to defend yourself.”
Mapes attorney, Robert Wareham, said there should never have been an arrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
The city should apologize quickly before it costs them money.
What happened a couple weeks ago is all the more reason to carry.
and now he has an arrest to try to explain to anyone and everyone he tries to do business with.
I hope it costs them money.
Then they should apologize.
This guy should sue the cops involved and the DA until they’re dead broke and starving. Have them stripped of their indemnity for willful violations of Civil Rights under false color of authority.
I totally empathize with the guy except on one point: context is king in matters like this.
Let’s see: Denver, Theater, Gun, Recent Incidents; what are the odds people would act differently this time than they did all the other times he carried in a theater.
Notwithstanding that this guy is the type of fellow who would have prevented a lot of what happened last month; that is bound to be lost on the 1) liberal bleeding-heart who reported him, and 2) the theater official who called the 3) cops who took the report.
If it’s me, in that context, I either 1) stay away from the movies, or 2) don’t pack openly. Context.
I wonder what the charge in Colorado is if an off duty officer goes berserk and shoots 70 shots into an occupied jail cell.
And if he should do this, can he still accept thank you cards from out of state?
Ironic that he was at the movies, openly carrying, the night of the shootings.
Just not at the right theater.
He could have stopped the killings.
I meant those comments to be related to the mass murderer that was arrested and still resides in a jail cell in Colorado.
I did not mean it to apply to the individual in this article.
It was my take from the headline that the mass murderer was making noises.
This guy should never have been arrested, and the police do owe him an apology.
Carry on...
Conceal, Carry: Problem solved.
I agree; I included that factor in my post. Tough issue. Technically, he was in the right; but practically, he walked into a buzzsaw he should have anticipated.
He broke no law. There is no other context. This is simple Hoplophobia by libtards and jackboot cops.
City must have too much money.
Translation: Depending on the "mood" we're in, we'll get together with the City Attorney's Office to decide whether to screw this guy out of his civil rights, or let him go.
If a 5-year-old kindergartner had just been killed in a school zone by a teen driving a monster-truck with loud pipes, and I have a monster truck with loud pipes, I’m not going to drive it through THAT school zone just because I can. I will avoid it out of respect for the context, and simple common sense. I hate unnecessary hassles. Just me. That’s how I would act.
“If a 5-year-old kindergartner had just been killed in a school zone by a teen driving a monster-truck with loud pipes, and I have a monster truck with loud pipes, I’m not going to drive it through THAT school zone just because I can. I will avoid it out of respect for the context, and simple common sense. I hate unnecessary hassles. Just me. That’s how I would act.”
Marktwain replies:
I might find your argument convincing if he was carrying a shotgun, and an AR 15, two pistols, and full body armor with a helmet and gas mask.
But he was not.
A better analogy would be that he ordinarily drives through that school zone in an F150, and he chose to continue to do so, within all legal limitations. Then the police decided to stop him and throw him in jail because they did not think that people should drive trucks.
Like a sheep.
Hey, there's been a few fatal car accidents in Arizona......so for context sake, quit driving for the next six months.
Also, since someone has used "fighting words," which are not protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment, you should probably stop talking for awhile too.
I mean, this is the natural progression of what you are talking about; one person act irresponsibly in the exercise of rights, so everyone should "use common sense" and forgo theirs.
He sounds like a guy who has his head on straight.
Probably prepared for anything, including what happened. Not a good guy for the police to needlessly piss off. From the little we’ve learned of him, he might be a formidable opponent they just ‘woke up’.
I am very grateful for people like him. They are the pioneers taking the arrows.
I wish hm good fortune.
in NY, if you have a concealed weapon permit, it MEANS concealed... you can be arrested for open carry
Colorado is an open carry state.
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