LEOs Against Open Carry
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 6 months ago
I am a retired police officer. I’m also a gun owner, but I am weary of the “guns-solve-everything” mentality. I’m tired of the proliferation of open carry proposals that increase the visibility of firearms in public places — particularly in schools, colleges and universities. I am not convinced more firearms on campus will deter or stop active shooters.
Frankly, people who openly carry sometimes make me nervous. Some of them seem smug, over confident, even demonstrative — wanting people to notice they are indeed carrying a loaded weapon. It is a political statement, a warning and a boast. I watch them strutting into stores, sitting in restaurants and walking down the street fairly oblivious to the burden of carrying a firearm in full view.
Except for him. You see, he isn’t tired of LEOs carrying guns, just you. And by God, make sure that no one sees that you’re carrying. He is a LEO, just like you, only better. Only he can be seen carrying a gun.
As for the part about making a political statement, I’ve never done any such thing (not that it would necessarily be a bad thing to make a statement), and only open carry when it’s hot and I sweat my weapon when I carry IWB. Here in North Carolina – a traditional open carry state – I’ve never had a problem with LEOs giving me a hassle about open carry. And blood doesn’t run in the streets around here, and women and children don’t run down the road screaming.
But apparently it’s even worse in Connecticut.
In an effort to cover up their unconstitutional actions, Connecticut State Police made up charges against a young open carry activist last year.
The state eventually dismissed all charges when they heard Michael Picard’s recording of cops plotting to trump up charges against him to “cover our ass.”
Now Picard is suing Connecticut State Police with the help of the ACLU for trumping up fabricated charges against him as well as violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.
The September 2015 incident was all caught on video after State Troopers John Barone, Patrick Torneo, and John Jacobi illegally seized Picard’s camera and inadvertently left it on, all while their illegal actions were plotted. The video can be seen at the bottom of the page.
“Let’s give him something. We can hit him with creating a public disturbance. We gotta cover our ass,” Barone was recorded as saying.
Picard was in West Hartford protesting a DUI checkpoint by holding a big sign that alerted drivers. After an hour of protesting, police approached Picard and knocked the camera out of his hand, noting that Picard didn’t have a First Amendment right to record the trooper.
It was then that the troopers illegally search Picard and discovered he was open carrying a gun, which is legal in Connecticut. The troopers confiscated the camera along with the gun to run a permit check, only to find out that Picard’s gun permit is valid, all while violating the young man’s Fourth Amendment right to protection against illegal search and seizure.
“Oh crap we gotta punch a number on this guy,” a trooper can be heard saying.
“What we say is that multiple motorists stopped to complain about a guy waving a gun around, but none of them wanted to stop and make a statement.”
But then one of the troopers noticed that Picard’s camera was still on.
“Oh shit!! I think the camera is on, it says it is still recording.”
There you go. It’s that pesky constitution thing again. If LEOs just didn’t have to mess around with things like law and rights everyone would be safer.
Connecticut. Oh yea, that’s the home of communist and traitor Barbara Bellis. I’m kind of getting bad vibes about that place.
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On October 11, 2016 at 7:01 am, Duke Norfolk said:
Yeah, the arrogance and elitism that comes off this guy is palpable. And his perceptions about the open carriers, while possibly being correct in a few cases, are more likely simple confirmation bias or even projection.
It’s a damned shame, and dispiriting, to see this kind of crap coming out of solid “red” states l like Oklahoma.
On October 11, 2016 at 9:56 am, Fred said:
@dn saw you at #Gab and thanks for posting links to these high quality discussions by Herschel. I have posted several myself.
@ProGunFred
On October 11, 2016 at 1:43 pm, Duke Norfolk said:
Thanks, I’ll look you up and follow.
On October 11, 2016 at 8:37 am, Haywood Jablome said:
Just checked again…nope…nothing in the Constitution about sissy boy not be nervous, but my right to bear arms is right there at ‘number two”. Go home and quilt you weenie.
On October 11, 2016 at 9:09 am, Frank_in_Spokane said:
Is the ACLU still one-foot-in, one-foot-out regarding the rights enumerated under the Second Amendment?
On October 11, 2016 at 1:43 pm, Archer said:
Not that I’ve heard. One foot in? That’s better than I thought. Historically, they’re two-feet-in on Amendments #3-9 and doubly so on #1, but two-feet-firmly-out on #2.
You notice they are not including the troopers’ unlawful seizure of his lawful-and-permitted firearm in the lawsuit. Only his camera. This in spite of fabricating charges of waving the pistol around, and including that fabricated claim in their ticket, which (ironically) never mentions his camera or recording activities.
Here’s another question: Why only sue under the First and Fourth Amendments? Why not also press charges for violation of 18 U.S.C. 241 (Conspiracy against rights) and 242 (Deprivation of rights under color of law)?
On October 11, 2016 at 1:38 pm, Pat Hines said:
I received a diatribe from a cop about my concealed weapon, we don’t have open carry in South Carolina, yet, though we fired one of the main road blocks to that with the failure of Larry Martin to keep his seat.
The cop went into his thinking that all I was doing was “want-a-be” cop things, which is not why I carry at all. If I’d wanted to be a cop I would have stopped my education over eight years earlier than I did. Unfortunately, for someone, this same cop engaged in a high speed chase, which his supervisor canceled and ordered him to return to his town limits. The cop refused, stopped the other vehicle, and proceeded to give a hard beat down which hospitalized the driver. The cop was fired, don’t know where he went. He was not a South Carolina native, so probably back north where he was from.
It’s still lawful to resist a cop in South Carolina if he’s breaking the law, but few do it. You have to take them before they can get their hand on that PIC radio.
On October 11, 2016 at 2:07 pm, Herschel Smith said:
That cop was getting in the way of your moral duty of self defense. I assumed you told him that it wasn’t his job to defend you, rather, it was your job, so says the Scriptures?
Got this cop’s name?
On October 11, 2016 at 4:46 pm, Pat Hines said:
I could get his name, but I don’t have it now. I only know, through a connected friend, his disposition after his violent assault episode. I’ll get it.
On October 14, 2016 at 12:56 pm, Johnny said:
Here’s my 2 cents on open carry. In my opinion, you need to be condition red all the time when open carrying. I’d be constantly judging people, wondering if someone would come up behind me and try to take it from my holster, or some crazy “Moms demand action” type would decide I needed swatting. It’s been known to happen. Both types would be very stupid, indeed, but from some things I’ve seen lately, a lot of Americans seem to have become dumber, lately. Then, there’s the smart ones. A smart one would figure, where there’s one, there’s more. Follow an OC home, a little simple recon, wait til the place is empty, in and out, maybe with my guns that I don’t carry. Same reason I don’t post one of those stupid “I don’t Dial 911” or “Never mind the Dog, beware of Owner” signs on my fence.
On February 4, 2017 at 3:11 pm, Rogue cops cost us money said:
There you go. It’s that pesky constitution thing again. If LEOs just
didn’t have to mess around with things like law and rights everyone
would be safer. ……Well at lease this asshole is retired.