Hi from Bellingham

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although i don't oc yet, i'm still getting used to the idea of cc'ing. figured i'd join here and read up and whatnot.... some day i'll trade the 5.11 parka, or sholder holster for a hip, but not quite yet.

currently pack a small 38 special in the jacket (man, those are cool), and sometimes a 45 in the shoulder holster (still too big for me and all the time).

although if you do have/get one of those jackets, do not forget to take the nylon holster out of the jacket when crossing the border... comming back really late with the fiancee from a meatloaf concert (don't laugh) in vancouver, we we're 'randomly chosen' to have our car searched, i left the jacket in the car. and all hell broke loose with them finding the holster (took them 10 minutes to get it out of the jacket... i wonder why i left it in it). came in telling me to put my hands on the counter.

so i i start walking to the counter and ask "what's going on?"

"hands on the counter! hands on the counter!" louder and louder then he 'helped' me,not quite pushing, but being forcefull...

right here is where i heard the 'click' of his partners holster... never want to hear that directed at me again.patted me down (got kinda personal, he knows which one is bigger).

then i explain i have no gun, i'm crossing the border after all... i have a CWP it's in my wallet... apparantly I "should've told them i had a HOLSTER" attatched to my jacket...

so, crossing the border declare all firearms and firearms related stuff... next time shoulder holster no gun. (just kidding!).

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uncoolperson wrote:

although i don't oc yet, i'm still getting used to the idea of cc'ing. figured i'd join here and read up and whatnot.... some day i'll trade the 5.11 parka, or sholder holster for a hip, but not quite yet.

currently pack a small 38 special in the jacket (man, those are cool), and sometimes a 45 in the shoulder holster (still too big for me and all the time).

although if you do have/get one of those jackets, do not forget to take the nylon holster out of the jacket when crossing the border... comming back really late with the fiancee from a meatloaf concert (don't laugh) in vancouver, we we're 'randomly chosen' to have our car searched, i left the jacket in the car. and all hell broke loose with them finding the holster (took them 10 minutes to get it out of the jacket... i wonder why i left it in it). came in telling me to put my hands on the counter.

so i i start walking to the counter and ask "what's going on?"

"hands on the counter! hands on the counter!" louder and louder then he 'helped' me,not quite pushing, but being forcefull...

right here is where i heard the 'click' of his partners holster... never want to hear that directed at me again.patted me down (got kinda personal, he knows which one is bigger).

then i explain i have no gun, i'm crossing the border after all... i have a CWP it's in my wallet... apparantly I "should've told them i had a HOLSTER" attatched to my jacket...

so, crossing the border declare all firearms and firearms related stuff... next time shoulder holster no gun. (just kidding!).

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Welcome to the group! Boy, what a story. Just another reason you couldn't pay me to go to Canada any more

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Welcome! Nice to see fellow carries,OC'in or not, come aboard! Feel free to ask questions and enjoy!

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Hi,

I had dinner in Bellingham on Saturday. It was great and I was OC as usual. Noone mentioned anything and the evening was awesome. The restaurant was Giuseppe's on Cornwall downtown. (BTW awesome food!)

Walking downtown seemed to not attract any attention. I'll be back soon for some great food.

Have fun in Bellingham and welcome!.

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G27 wrote:

Welcome! Nice to see fellow carries,OC'in or not, come aboard! Feel free to ask questions and enjoy!

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thanks, came here for the same reasons lots of you have.... "over there" never looked all that hospitable

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Gray2Hairs wrote:

Hi,

I had dinner in Bellingham on Saturday. It was great and I was OC as usual. Noone mentioned anything and the evening was awesome. The restaurant was Giuseppe's on Cornwall downtown. (BTW awesome food!)

Walking downtown seemed to not attract any attention. I'll be back soon for some great food.

Have fun in Bellingham and welcome!.

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let me know, I'll buy you a beer (guns in the car ofcourse).

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Sup man, good to see more people from Bellingham. I work there and stay there a lot of the time. I OC basically all the time. It's a pretty OC friendly place, although I haven't been doing it that long. A lot of people notice I'm carrying, but nobody has had a negative reaction so far, aside from the usual double-take. Haha I had a guy come up to me last night and ask "IS THAT A TASER???!". Some people can't imagine in their wildest dreams that it's legal to walk around with a gun in plain view, but Bellingham is pretty chill, as far as people minding their own business.

Hope you decide to try OC one day. Its not nearly as weird as you might think, because there's nothing 'wrong' about it.

Greetings,

I know this is an old thread, but it was one of the few that actually was about Bellingham that I could find.

New to the forum and the carrying world (was previously living in an on campus dorm, but then moved to an off campus dorm and spoke to the Campus PD and the Bellingham PD and found out that gun ownership in my building was ok) so here I am.

Finally got my Galco VHS212 "Miami Classic" holster and started OC'ing the past few days. I started CC with my CPL to the store with lots of people (dip the toe in the water I guess).

Few of my experiences today:
Had to take a trip down to the Island Optical place in Anacortes OC'd while I got my eyes checked. Been going to the same doc for 14 years now and he was just as fine and dandy as I ever remember him (never even mentioned it). The girl who did the preliminary exam asked why I carried and I gave her the line from this site "A Right Unexercised is a Right Lost" she smiled and said that her husband just applied for his CPL but it was taking weeks to get back to him about it (mine took less than 24 hours from finger printing to signature by the Chief in Bellingham)

Then I went and had dinner with my family and my father was uncomfortable so he made me leave it in the car when we went to eat at the Casino down by the Twin Bridges.

Came back up to Bellingham and had to do some business at Gundies Auto Recyclers - OC'd with no problem (of course the counter is pretty high so they may not have seen it, or just didn't care)

Went to the ARCO station just off exit 250 to fill up had to go in twice, once to pay and once to get change - no OC problems there.

That's about it for today and today was my first OC day. I'm going to print some of the Gun Rights pamphlets that I found linked here to carry with me just in case. My father suggested that I print out the related RCW's in their entirety to carry with me just to be safe.

-Wolfebane

Gray2Hairs said:

Hi,

I had dinner in Bellingham on Saturday. It was great and I was OC as usual. Noone mentioned anything and the evening was awesome. The restaurant was Giuseppe's on Cornwall downtown. (BTW awesome food!)

Walking downtown seemed to not attract any attention. I'll be back soon for some great food.

Have fun in Bellingham and welcome!.

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Is this the same Giuseppe's as the one in Tacoma...Joe Stortini owns the one down here...I'd be curious to know if he owns this one too....he was a long time on the Pierce Cty Council years ago....do you know if this is store policy or you just went unnoticed?

Oh, and welcome to the new guys,....I'm pretty new to this myself. It is a little wierd at first, but you settle down pretty fast when you realize that most people don't even notice and the ones that do are mostly curious....one of the tips that I took up here (although I am a greybeard), is to dress business casual instead of my rapper clothes....I think that helps peoples first impressions when they see the weapon, or at least confuses their thinking to the sterotype that has been so ingrained. I also started out going to places that I have normally done business at for years, so I am a familiar face.

We need another Bham meet.

NavyLT said:

Especially since I chickened out of the last one because of the no guns signs on the door!

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Yea we were all a little surprised at that....lol.

Welcome to Wolfbane

I've not had any issues with OC in B'ham or Whatcom County so I think you'll find that you can go about you're daily business while OC'ing pretty easily.

If you don't already know, the County range (Plantation) is a great place to shoot as is the gravel pit out on the North Fork of the Nooksack. Also above Glacier and up off the Canyon Creek road.

Have fun and maybe run into each other. I still haven't seen a "unicorn".

ARADCOM said:

I've not had any issues with OC in B'ham or Whatcom County so I think you'll find that you can go about you're daily business while OC'ing pretty easily.

If you don't already know, the County range (Plantation) is a great place to shoot as is the gravel pit out on the North Fork of the Nooksack. Also above Glacier and up off the Canyon Creek road.

Have fun and maybe run into each other. I still haven't seen a "unicorn".

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Impromptu Coffee? I OC everywhere I go here got 'em pretty much trained now....LOL.
I got an 'oh its you' and the officer walked away after a MWAG call.

Grande Mocha w/Whipped Cream at about 140 degrees!

sudden valley gunner said:

Impromptu Coffee? I OC everywhere I go here got 'em pretty much trained now....LOL.
I got an 'oh its you' and the officer walked away after a MWAG call.

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Sure, my schedule is pretty open so let me know when and where. We'll probably meet this Sunday anyway so we can talk then.

Welcome! If you want to know more about OC come to our big OC BB_Q this sunday.(See Willow Lake Thread stickied at the top http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?76494-Willow-lake-meet...8-15 )Some folks are coming from Bellingham .Last years was pretty big.We have prizes and the grand prize is a new Ruger LCP.I already got calls from TV that said they are going to report on it.They covered our first one.It will be a good time and a wealth of information.I know SVG is coming ..

Welcome fellow 'Hamster!

Leaving tomorrow to go to Spokane til the 17th (and missing my first Willow Lake meet :cuss, but would love to meet up after that with the rest of the Whatcom crew. Maybe go on a hike to Heliotrope on the 21st or 22nd before Sudden valley gunner takes off?

Heliotope...yes....
I'm pretty open too working tomorrow, Friday is good if ya wanna get coffee.

skiingislife725 said:

Welcome fellow 'Hamster!

Leaving tomorrow to go to Spokane til the 17th (and missing my first Willow Lake meet :cuss, but would love to meet up after that with the rest of the Whatcom crew. Maybe go on a hike to Heliotrope on the 21st or 22nd before Sudden valley gunner takes off?

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I'd like to do a hike with some of the you locals but I'm leaving the 22nd on a 5 day backpack so that weekends out for me.

SVG, Coffee Friday works for me. Time and place?

Hello and welcome! It's always nice to find out about other local folks. I'd be down for the hike too.

sudden valley gunner said:

Heliotope...yes....
I'm pretty open too working tomorrow, Friday is good if ya wanna get coffee.

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As of right now I'm pretty open, will probably ride the bike tomorrow so anywhere is good with me too. Is 1:00 Bakerview good? Anyone else wanna meet up too?