Had some Active Shooter training at work recently. We get to the end after the presentation and one of the managers mentions something about "We have had a few incidences in the past, a threat against someone and then another where someone had a weapon at one of our plants." This prompted the officer to say:
"One of the bigger questions I always get is, you know, open carry. What if someone walks up to your building right now while they are carrying their weapon like this. (indicates his OCed Glock) There's no law that prevents him from being like this. They don't need to be a concealed weapons holder. There's nothing in the law that prevents them from walking around just like this. Hopefully they don't have bullets like I do, but you never know. (last statement said with a bit of a chuckle) There are a lot of advocates out there purposefully and intentionally walking up to buildings like this. You have the unique option to say Off Our Property because it's your property, it's private property. So think about that... For those who are CPL holders, what do you do with your weapon while you are at work.... "
(launches into not sure what company policy is, but if you do have it in your car you want to have it locked up so it doesn't get stolen and end up in Chicago. Surprisingly, my work's policy is actually "you can have weapons in your car as long as you follow State and Local Laws." So, victory there I guess.)
(This is Q/A section now. A nervous older lady speaks up-)
NOL: This school thing. I never heard whatever happened to the one where the guy walked up to the school or across the street, and he had the guns, and...
Response: "Nothing. Nothing. You can't stop somebody. You can walk on school property like this [OC] as long as you are a valid CPL holder. (pauses a second before launching into a clearer explanation) As a CPL holder you can conceal your weapon. As an open carry you don't need a CPL unless you are going to a restricted area. So if you are walking on school grounds, you can't carry it concealed, but you can carry it like this as long as you have a CPL license. Now you know why I'm losing my hair and going grey, because I can't keep up with all the laws. I mean, it's just crazy. So the law says, you can't be in a bank, religious institution, or educational facility carrying a concealed weapon unless you are law enforcement. But the law also says you can carry like this as long as you do have a CPL, and I can't stop it. So you can figure that one out, thank your legislators for not doing what they are supposed to do. But it's very confusing for us too. We have to approach it very uniquely. Now the schools can do some different things. [Local Ordinance] that says if you are causing a disturbance to education facilities we can arrest you, so that's what we would use here, but it's very challenging, very difficult. But that's what the advocates are doing to bring their message about open carry so, we approach it lightly, we just talk to them. They don't have to ID themselves, they don't have to show us anything."
------------------------
I'm considering drafting an email to tactfully express my displeasure in the way he addressed this. Remember, we are in the context of an active shooter situation, and his comments juxtaposed with this topic does nothing but instill unneeded and unwarranted fear of open carry. People shooting up workplaces are NOT open carriers. I didn't appreciate the tone he took about "Advocates." He's talking about trespassing someone who's open carrying, and that's perfectly fine, but that also means that there is implied acknowledgement that that open carriers are in no way threats. I really wish this officer didn't treat "OC Advocates" with such apparent disdain.
(I'll forgive him the misspeak about banks being excluded from concealed carry. He's not really teaching a full class here, and he's just rattling off a few (not all) restricted places to get the point across.)
"One of the bigger questions I always get is, you know, open carry. What if someone walks up to your building right now while they are carrying their weapon like this. (indicates his OCed Glock) There's no law that prevents him from being like this. They don't need to be a concealed weapons holder. There's nothing in the law that prevents them from walking around just like this. Hopefully they don't have bullets like I do, but you never know. (last statement said with a bit of a chuckle) There are a lot of advocates out there purposefully and intentionally walking up to buildings like this. You have the unique option to say Off Our Property because it's your property, it's private property. So think about that... For those who are CPL holders, what do you do with your weapon while you are at work.... "
(launches into not sure what company policy is, but if you do have it in your car you want to have it locked up so it doesn't get stolen and end up in Chicago. Surprisingly, my work's policy is actually "you can have weapons in your car as long as you follow State and Local Laws." So, victory there I guess.)
(This is Q/A section now. A nervous older lady speaks up-)
NOL: This school thing. I never heard whatever happened to the one where the guy walked up to the school or across the street, and he had the guns, and...
Response: "Nothing. Nothing. You can't stop somebody. You can walk on school property like this [OC] as long as you are a valid CPL holder. (pauses a second before launching into a clearer explanation) As a CPL holder you can conceal your weapon. As an open carry you don't need a CPL unless you are going to a restricted area. So if you are walking on school grounds, you can't carry it concealed, but you can carry it like this as long as you have a CPL license. Now you know why I'm losing my hair and going grey, because I can't keep up with all the laws. I mean, it's just crazy. So the law says, you can't be in a bank, religious institution, or educational facility carrying a concealed weapon unless you are law enforcement. But the law also says you can carry like this as long as you do have a CPL, and I can't stop it. So you can figure that one out, thank your legislators for not doing what they are supposed to do. But it's very confusing for us too. We have to approach it very uniquely. Now the schools can do some different things. [Local Ordinance] that says if you are causing a disturbance to education facilities we can arrest you, so that's what we would use here, but it's very challenging, very difficult. But that's what the advocates are doing to bring their message about open carry so, we approach it lightly, we just talk to them. They don't have to ID themselves, they don't have to show us anything."
------------------------
I'm considering drafting an email to tactfully express my displeasure in the way he addressed this. Remember, we are in the context of an active shooter situation, and his comments juxtaposed with this topic does nothing but instill unneeded and unwarranted fear of open carry. People shooting up workplaces are NOT open carriers. I didn't appreciate the tone he took about "Advocates." He's talking about trespassing someone who's open carrying, and that's perfectly fine, but that also means that there is implied acknowledgement that that open carriers are in no way threats. I really wish this officer didn't treat "OC Advocates" with such apparent disdain.
(I'll forgive him the misspeak about banks being excluded from concealed carry. He's not really teaching a full class here, and he's just rattling off a few (not all) restricted places to get the point across.)
Last edited:
