Uh... yeah...
Cowboy up, Barney!
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.
Is it up to you to enforce the drunk and disorderly laws in your town?
I doubt you would have even made a move if you didn't bring your weapon with you.
After having stuck around reading more of this post than I intended (and many of your responses) I have a question.
Do you in any way feel that you were wrong in your actions now that you have read multiple opinions that you were?
BTW, open carry is legal in VA.
I pulled and fired a gun more than once at people, but one
time it cost me. I didn't hit the person, thank God! I was
arrested on the side of I-90 in Washington State.Stupid,
stupid,stupid!!! I have never carried again.That was 25 years
a go.I carried a Dan Wesson 357 and thought I was Dirty Harry.
Then you should have called the cops, Deputy.
Oh, that's right, they would have laughed your ass off the phone.
That's like arresting people for smoking - in a cigar bar!
DE has open carry as well.
Disorderly conduct. Circling the table with it prominently in view, especially in the context of a conflict, is more serious than disorderly conduct, I think.
Probably the only reason you didn't go to jail that night is because you victims were worried about driving home with alcohol on their breath after giving their statements to the cops that would have arrested you. If someone sober had been among the group, you might be out 1 kidney after the first time you ignored their instructions to "STAY DOWN!" until the police arrive.
I'd love to hear you explain to the cops, and later, the judge just what, exactly, was your purpose in circling the table twice before you gave them your super-polite little 'Billy Jack' speech.
I tell ya, CJ, you chose the Way of the Little Asshole. I know we can look at the technicalities of the laws in this state or that, but, bottom line, you came into a place that was the way it was before you got there, and you used your gun to bend it to your preferences. "Once shot a man, just fer snorin'!"
I think it's pretty obvious that, if the shoe was on the other foot and some young guy came up to your table and asked you and your buddies to "please try to keep it down so the rest of us can enjoy our meals in peace," you'd stand up with your gun on your hip, circle him twice, and say something like, "This isn't a library, we have a right to talk any way we want, we were already here when you came in, if you don't like it, leave!"
"....cusory reading doesn't see any violation,..."
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
the above paragraph has got Joe deadnuts.....I'm sure that any lawyer present will agree.
"....cusory reading doesn't see any violation,..."
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
the above paragraph has got Joe deadnuts.....I'm sure that any lawyer present will agree,<<
Sorry, I was talking about that raucous behavior of the table that would probably tip the waitress more than ten time CJ, and was forced by CJ to reduce her tip by the noise request.
DK
So think about it, was your desire for a quiet breakfast worth a trip to the ER to have your jaw wired shut or a trip to jail for shooting someone in a restaurant.... or both?
And we call liberals "usefull idiots".... sheesh.
A person intends to rob a bank... everyone in line is packing, Guess the robbery doesn't happen, now does it. Not the least of which, nobody in the line was an "aggressor".
Get over it.
Me either. Do you still agree with what you did? Or if you could relive that episode would you handle it differently?
Please let us know if this works as well in movie theatres.
A lot of states do. Wisconsin, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Alaska are ones that I am pretty sure of, right off. Many people have been intimidated by the anti-gun propaganda from carrying openly, so in many states where it is perfectly legal, you don't see many people carrying.
To obtain an up to date and accurate list of open carry states, the easiest place to go is www.packing.org.
I didn't take the time to check every state out, might make an interesting post by itself, though.
P.S. I carry openly a lot, more than concealed, and I carry almost all the time.
I think that CJ's judgment might have been a little off, but I wasn't there, and I don't know enough of the facts to be critical here.
All is well that ends well, and this post has been a good educational experience for many.
We keep handing out badges to the Thought Police, we will surely end up regretting the day we were born.
I know, but I saw a chance to point it out so I did :)
Despite what I've read from others, it appears you were polite during the "discussion". The fact you had a smoke wagon hanging from your hip was incidental and it's clear you didn't threaten anyone. There's nothing wrong asking for consideration from others in a public place.
Kentucky is an open carry state too. But try doing that in Louisville--you'll be harassed by every copper in the joint.
You might be right if CJ had stayed at his table and hollared over and said "hey, couldn't y'all please keep it down over there?"
But that's not the case.
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