somerandomguy
New member
This summer I was open carrying my M&P 9c at the Auto Bell car wash here in North Charlotte. Lots of cops get their cruisers washed at this one. A police officer was two cars behind me and after I paid I stopped outside the door to have a smoke before heading in. I finished my smoke and opened the door to go in just as he was walking up after paying. He's right behind me as I open the door and he, out of nowhere.... asks me how i like my M&P. A gun talk broke out right then and there! Truly nerve racking.
In all seriousness though. We talked for a bit, he bragged about his wife carrying a full size .40(Glock 22) and asked me if I had my CCW permit yet, if i lived around here, if i carried a lot. I told him I was originally from another state and had my concealed permit from there but had lived right down the road for a couple of years and carried everywhere i went. He told me "Good, you need to carry around here." He obviously used the interpersonal tact he was taught to make sure I wasn't a crazy person but those questions were just normal gun talk between two people. After I told him that I carried everywhere he said, "Good, it's a good idea to carry here". It helped that NC State Troopers and Charlotte/Mecklenburg officers carry M&P's also. Conversation starter.
I did run across one youngish police officer who was unnerved by me(I was dressed normal/nice) in a gas station. He was around my age(28), probably a bit older, who kept himself bladed towards me and kept eyeing me even when I was just picking out some gum and going to a different register to pay for it.
As for Charlotte, I have never been hassled by anyone really and I open carry quite a bit. The one time I was hassled was by a security guard in Harris Teeter who told me I couldn't carry. His quote was, "That's like someone just walking around with a gun in Wal-mart or in public." My response was, "Yes, yes that is legal and you can." I knew Harris Teeter's policy(including the brief ban for a couple of weeks and quick reversal). A manager was called over by the self checkout guy(who was cool with everything) and she was pretty annoyed with being bothered and dismissed it as fine by store policy and ran off. Side story to that is that the unarmed security guard was pretty annoyed with me and wouldn't make eye contact with me after that. It was actually kind of funny.
I did have one guy being weird who looked like an off-duty/undercover officer. A woman had just moved from New York asked me if it was legal to carry a gun and we had a great conversation about the laws at the checkout lane. I had noticed an unmarked, "official" looking car parked at the of the corner drug store when I walked in and noticed the guy after the conversation just kind of standing there at the entrance/checkout paying attention and acting odd.
Anyway, carry away in Charlotte. Shopped and done my daily business plenty of times and have never had a problem with any officer.
In all seriousness though. We talked for a bit, he bragged about his wife carrying a full size .40(Glock 22) and asked me if I had my CCW permit yet, if i lived around here, if i carried a lot. I told him I was originally from another state and had my concealed permit from there but had lived right down the road for a couple of years and carried everywhere i went. He told me "Good, you need to carry around here." He obviously used the interpersonal tact he was taught to make sure I wasn't a crazy person but those questions were just normal gun talk between two people. After I told him that I carried everywhere he said, "Good, it's a good idea to carry here". It helped that NC State Troopers and Charlotte/Mecklenburg officers carry M&P's also. Conversation starter.
I did run across one youngish police officer who was unnerved by me(I was dressed normal/nice) in a gas station. He was around my age(28), probably a bit older, who kept himself bladed towards me and kept eyeing me even when I was just picking out some gum and going to a different register to pay for it.
As for Charlotte, I have never been hassled by anyone really and I open carry quite a bit. The one time I was hassled was by a security guard in Harris Teeter who told me I couldn't carry. His quote was, "That's like someone just walking around with a gun in Wal-mart or in public." My response was, "Yes, yes that is legal and you can." I knew Harris Teeter's policy(including the brief ban for a couple of weeks and quick reversal). A manager was called over by the self checkout guy(who was cool with everything) and she was pretty annoyed with being bothered and dismissed it as fine by store policy and ran off. Side story to that is that the unarmed security guard was pretty annoyed with me and wouldn't make eye contact with me after that. It was actually kind of funny.
I did have one guy being weird who looked like an off-duty/undercover officer. A woman had just moved from New York asked me if it was legal to carry a gun and we had a great conversation about the laws at the checkout lane. I had noticed an unmarked, "official" looking car parked at the of the corner drug store when I walked in and noticed the guy after the conversation just kind of standing there at the entrance/checkout paying attention and acting odd.
Anyway, carry away in Charlotte. Shopped and done my daily business plenty of times and have never had a problem with any officer.
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