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.
You know, I recently sat through a bar fight in a hilton - still had no need to "show".
Just stayed out of the way.
Demanding? No.
Ask? Maybe.
Kids, in my opinion, are a special case. I don't ever ask mothers to quiet their kids on planes or in resaurants.
If the kids are running around and out of control, touching, grabing, headbutting me in the crotch, etc then I'll say something.
Otherwise, I remind myself that there is a God and this is what I get for being a bad kid.
We'll really know what God thinks of this if I have ever have daughters.
I'm "what if-ing" this to pieces in my head based on my two experiences. I'm a little hung up on playing duck duck goose around the table.
In one instance I politely asked some very loud kids to just hold it down so my Wife and I could talk. The were still loud, just not as loud.
In another case, when it was apparent that I was about to get my ass kicked I left.
At least not farther than two feet away. LOL!
I thought the sarcasm of my post #151 was so obvious, I didn't need to post a tag! Good grief!
So last night I took my wife out, we had a few drinks and I am sure the conversation we were having in Perkins at 2:00 in the morning was not real quiet. But then, most of the other customers were feeling pretty happy as well. Would you have taken the whole lot of us out so you could have some quiet? My 5 kids would have been awful dissapointed if we had not come home because I told you to sit down or leave and you had felt the need to act.
Where do you live that your firearm has kept you out of trouble? Have you stopped to examine if your assumption is a logical fallacy? I have NEVER carried a firearm in public- and so far my non-firearm has kept me out of trouble. Do you also credit your gun with the fact that the sun has risen every day since you started wearing it?
I believe that deputies in my state actually make the decision as to want constitutes disorderly conduct.....
Here is the Texas Penal Code on Disorderly Conduct
§ 38.13. HINDERING PROCEEDINGS BY DISORDERLY[0] CONDUCT[0]. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally hinders an official proceeding by noise or violent or tumultuous behavior or disturbance. (b) A person commits an offense if he recklessly hinders an official proceeding by noise or violent or tumultuous behavior or disturbance and continues after explicit official request to desist. (c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
No it is not.
You have a serious need to talk to a lawyer and find out what self defense is. What you did, made you the aggressor, not the young adults. A case could be made that you were threatening, and they felt fear for their life. And remember, you said there were ten of them, if you killed one, that would leave nine words against your one word. Good luck at your trial.
We thought they were good for laughs. I for one would not voluntarily carry all that extra weight if I didn’t have to – and having to clear three weapons every time I entered a building?
You are a dangerous man, CJ
Just carrying on the irony, old pal.
I mean, packing irony.
§ 42.01. DISORDERLY[0] CONDUCT[0]. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly: (1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace; (2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace; (3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and unreasonable odor in a public place; (4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in an obviously offensive manner; (5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local Government Code, or in or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy; (6) fights with another in a public place; (7) discharges a firearm in a public place other than a public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local Government Code; (8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm; (9) discharges a firearm on or across a public road; (10) exposes his anus or genitals in a public place and is reckless about whether another may be present who will be offended or alarmed by his act; or (11) for a lewd or unlawful purpose: (A) enters on the property of another and looks into a dwelling on the property through any window or other opening in the dwelling; (B) while on the premises of a hotel or comparable establishment, looks into a guest room not the person's own through a window or other opening in the room; or (C) while on the premises of a public place, looks into an area such as a restroom or shower stall or changing or dressing room that is designed to provide privacy to a person using the area. (b) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(4) that the actor had significant provocation for his abusive or threatening conduct[0]. (c) For purposes of this section: (1) an act is deemed to occur in a public place or near a private residence if it produces its offensive or proscribed consequences in the public place or near a private residence; and (2) a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the noise exceeds a decibel level of 85 after the person making the noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer that the noise is a public nuisance. (d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor unless committed under Subsection (a)(7) or (a)(8), in which event it is a Class B misdemeanor. (e) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under Subsection (a)(7) or (9) that the person who discharged the firearm had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to the person or to another by a dangerous wild animal as defined by Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code.
I simply asked them to keep the noise to a reasonable level."
I don't believe you would have did it if you hadn't been armed.
"I made no threats, nor touched my weapon."
""but it was nevertheless visible.""
That was a threat.
It would not surprise me if they thought you were a nut trying to provoke them so you would have an excuse to kill someone.Are you? Were you?
OH, whew!
What about all of the lunch counters in the south that refused to serve blacks in the 60's? They were forced to integrate at gunpoint. Any establishment open to the public must accept any law-abiding customer. I was a law-abiding customer.
The "No shirt, no shoes, no service" might well be as illegal as "No blacks."
Seems like he was looking for trouble at that time of the morning.
Sound advice.
There is a time to turn the other cheek AND a time to stand opposed.
Well Doh! Yes, the time and place can dictate behaviour. It was 4:30 am, a time most are not up. This group evidently had been up all night. They were feeling good, and as those that drink a little too much will do, they were loud. The place was empty until CJ should up. If I was writing rules of behaviour, it would allow the group that was there first to continue as they were, it is up to the new guy to decide if he wants to stay or go.
It has been a very long time since I was young enough to pull an all nighter, but I can remember being loud and annoying, and if I could I would apologize to all those I may have offended, but I do excuse such behavior as being young and foolish and full of life. I tend to give young people the benefit of doubt when it comes to this type of behavior, since society will soon beat it out of them as they mature.
To summarize...
It is okay for a person with a firearm to impose his will on others, even though they are acting in a legal manner.
By displaying the weapon, which you give credit for "changing the behavior of the rowdies," (my words) there was an implicit threat. You can lawyer that statement all you want, but your words indicate an intent to threaten.
You do not have a right to a quiet breakfast. There was no threat of injury to you or anyone else.
I support the right to carry. I do not support the right to threaten in any way those whose behavior you do not like. Your original post indicates that was your intent.
This act showed extremely poor judgment for a number of reasons. The idea that you think you can "out-lawyer" your actions by saying you never touched your weapon, only displayed it, does not change that fact.
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