NoVA (Northern Virginia) - OC reports

NoVA OC -- Fairfax County and Alexandria City

Ran some errands with Wifey today, visiting the Verizon Store, Home Goods, World Market, Walmart .... no one seemed to notice that my friend Sig was with us.

Then we stopped by the bank so I could get some paperwork notarized, and I was followed into the branch by an Alexandria City police LT. He got in line to do some transactions while I sat and waited for the Notary. He took notice of my sidekick, Sig, smiled and said, "Good morning, how's it going?" I acknowledged that life was good, hoped his day was going well. Got my business taken care of and was exiting at the same time as the LT, and it occurred to me to ask him if firearms were allowed in the Alexandria City Courthouse, my next stop. He said, "No, they aren't, but the Deputy will help you when you get there."

Entered the Courthouse, and the Deputy said to put everything in my pockets through the xray machine, including my belt. I turned my strong side toward him and said, what about this? He said, "Firearms are not allowed in the Courthouse," to which I replied "You have lockers, right?" He smiled and said "We sure do, come on through and secure your firearm in the locker." Done deal, no excitement or contention. Just the way it's supposed to be (other than the preference for not having to disarm at all).

Finished my business with the clerk, retrieved my friend Sig and was on my way.

JamesCanby said:

Entered the Courthouse, and the Deputy said to put everything in my pockets through the xray machine, including my belt. I turned my strong side toward him and said, what about this? He said, "Firearms are not allowed in the Courthouse," to which I replied "You have lockers, right?" He smiled and said "We sure do, come on through and secure your firearm in the locker." Done deal, no excitement or contention. Just the way it's supposed to be (other than the preference for not having to disarm at all).

Finished my business with the clerk, retrieved my friend Sig and was on my way.

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Stafford county courthouse only has 10-12 mailbox-size lockers, not for public use

ChristCrusader said:

Stafford county courthouse only has 10-12 mailbox-size lockers, not for public use

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I'll wait for others more knowledgeable to reply, but I thought it was part of state law that every "courthouse" had to provide secure lockers or some other capability for citizens to store their firearms when entering the building...

IIRC when I originally applied at the Fairfax County Courthouse (before I moved into Alexandria City), the security staff there had facilities that allowed a citizen to disarm securely while in the building ... but that was five years ago and my memory is getting somewhat sketchy...

If there is a state law about making lockers available it has escaped the notice of every legal beagel that comes here.

A courthouse that does not cuff and stuff you for bringing a firearm through the front door is as rare as a black swan. Most will let you go back to your car with phones, cameras, recorders, scissors, and small knives but firearms seem to get them really twitchy.

The presence of lockers for non-LEO is a wonderment, as every courthouse that I'm aware of allows LEO in uniform to keep their handgun. I've seen a few plainclothes LEO also with handguns - but they had their badge rather prominently displayed.

We've cited the one case where what is and is not a courthouse and discussed it till it's grown old and grey. Judges get to say what they want and will make the Sheriff replace bailiffs till they get what they want.

stay safe.

skidmark said:

If there is a state law about making lockers available it has escaped the notice of every legal beagel that comes here.

A courthouse that does not cuff and stuff you for bringing a firearm through the front door is as rare as a black swan. Most will let you go back to your car with phones, cameras, recorders, scissors, and small knives but firearms seem to get them really twitchy.

The presence of lockers for non-LEO is a wonderment, as every courthouse that I'm aware of allows LEO in uniform to keep their handgun. I've seen a few plainclothes LEO also with handguns - but they had their badge rather prominently displayed.

We've cited the one case where what is and is not a courthouse and discussed it till it's grown old and grey. Judges get to say what they want and will make the Sheriff replace bailiffs till they get what they want.

stay safe.

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Then I stand corrected. I can repeat, though, that this very liberal independent city, Alexandria, headed up by a MAIG-loving Mayor and a progressive/liberal nanny-state Council, accommodates citizens who carry a firearm into their building. Note that I'm not arguing that I was not within shouting distance of a real courtroom when I visited the Clerk's office ... and I agree that the metal detectors should be located only at real Court facilities, not their admin areas ... but I suspect that the Chief Judge and his minions feel like they have to protect their entire domain.

Stafford's "mailboxes" are in the foyer, between the outside and inner doors, and before the detectors.
I asked the cop at the screening station, but now that you mention it, why would any cops need a locker, since they're allowed to carry in the courthouse?
The bailiffs aren't the only ones carrying - the traffic cops carry that are there to testify to their haul.
Interesting.
They have tons of signs along the walk up to the front doors saying no to the prohibiteds, though (guns among them)
Maybe i just asked the wrong person.

Another round of errands run, including CVS, Walgreens, Country Squire (dry cleaners) and others, no reaction whatsoever to my OC'd Sig.

JamesCanby said:

Another round of errands run, including CVS, Walgreens, Country Squire (dry cleaners) and others, no reaction whatsoever to my OC'd Sig.

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I guess what it will take is for you to buy a case of bottled water.

Oh, wait! That won't be about the gun so it won't count.

Nevermind.

stay safe.

ChristCrusader said:

Stafford's "mailboxes" are in the foyer, between the outside and inner doors, and before the detectors.
I asked the cop at the screening station, but now that you mention it, why would any cops need a locker, since they're allowed to carry in the courthouse?
The bailiffs aren't the only ones carrying - the traffic cops carry that are there to testify to their haul.
Interesting.
They have tons of signs along the walk up to the front doors saying no to the prohibiteds, though (guns among them)
Maybe i just asked the wrong person.

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The statute prohibiting weapons in the courthouse exempts "officers of the court while engaged in their duties as such". So, in theory, I can carry in the courthouse, since I'm an officer of the court. But I don't, and it's the one place where I don't mind being defenseless, because the place is crawling with armed deputies. And the scariest scenario for me is a cop who's a party to a domestic relations case who comes in not "engaged in his duties" but as a whacked-out divorce person, who carries a gun inside because he can. When bad stuff happens in the courthouse, I'm going to be flat on the floor under one of the pews - you don't want to create any possibility for confusion when the deputies are trying to figure out whom to shoot at.

user said:

... When bad stuff happens in the courthouse, I'm going to be flat on the floor under one of the pews - you don't want to create any possibility for confusion when the deputies are trying to figure out whom to shoot at.

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You could always rip off your jacket, pull this up, and say the magic words.

http://www.policestore.com/duty-gea...-360-id-identification-banners-prod42039.aspx

stay safe.

skidmark said:

You could always rip off your jacket, pull this up, and say the magic words.

http://www.policestore.com/duty-gea...-360-id-identification-banners-prod42039.aspx

stay safe.

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Do you suppose we could get them to make one that says "C H P" specifically for Virginians?

Over the past few days:

Home Depot - Seven Corners
Shoppers - Seven Corners
Old Virginia Tobacco - Seven Corners
7-11/Rite Aid - Glen Carlyn Drive
Giant/Advance Auto - Crossroads Place
Autozone - Leesburg Pike and Gorham Street
Patriot Harley Davidson
Gentle Touch Dental Spa - Maple Ave, Falls Church

No issues!

Carl

skidmark said:

You could always rip off your jacket, pull this up, and say the magic words.

http://www.policestore.com/duty-gea...-360-id-identification-banners-prod42039.aspx

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I do that whenever I go somewhere new.

marshaul said:

I do that whenever I go somewhere new.

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Because you don't need no steenkin' badges? But, need a sash?

No OC today. The only two places I went, everybody already knows me as the gun guy. The employees anyway. In and out quick, didn't feel like OCing.

Shopped at Family Dollar and Food Lion while OC on Monday. Too many other places to list over the past month. Typical glances but nothing to report.

Forgot to mention this when it happened.

Last week I was in a fast-food joint for a hasty lunch. I was CCing.

One of the staff asked me out of the sky blue if I still carried my gun. I did not immediately recognize the employee. But, the story gets better.

It developed that the employee recognized me from a different location of the same chain. We chatted and figured out that she had been transferred from that location at least three years ago.

So, this employee who hadn't seen me in three years remembered me as the gun guy.

Citizen said:

--snipped--

So, this employee who hadn't seen me in three years remembered me as the gun guy.

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Maybe you should visit there more frequently than once every 3 years

Playfully Denied Access

This is a two-part story. I think I've hit a new plateau: I was playfully denied access because I was carrying a gun.

Recently, I stopped at a fast-food place. Like most places I frequent, I'm known as the gun guy.

There was a new counter staff. During a previous visit, she had distinguished herself as playful, smart, and very quick witted. Near the end of the current visit I decided I wanted a dessert of some sort, so I went back to the same counter girl and ordered a dessert. Finally she noticed the gun for the very first time--after she handed me my change, and I was about to leave. She hammed-up being scared of guns, saying she would always give me excellent service, never give me a hard time, and so forth. The manager who knows me well as a customer couldn't resist adding to the teasing. As I was stepping away from the counter to leave the restaurant with my desssert, the manager told me loudly, "We don't allow guns in here!" Other customers definitely noticed. I hunched my shoulders in mock-submission as I scurried toward the door. As soon as I noticed other customer heads swiveling my way, I realized the manager, while totally being playful, was unintentionally conveying a negative reaction to OC. So, I hammed-up the submission while doing nothing whatever to suppress the wide grin on my face.

So there you go. I've hit a new level where I'm told I can't bring my gun in, but its meant totally playfully, not at all serious. But, wait there's more!

On the next visit, the same manager was in the front, and the same sharp girl was working the counter. The counter girl rang up my order, giving me a playful hard time the whole way, the manager piping in. I changed my order to: "burger and fries, hold the onions and the criticism" Big smiles all around. Then the counter girl asked whether I was carrying; I was wearing a sport coat, so she couldn't tell by looking. Uh-oh! No! I wasn't carrying! I'd forgotten to holster up! Dang it! So, I opened my sport coat and displayed a too-round waist-line sans gun to the counter girl and manager. They didn't particularly comment, despite the opportunity to say "you need to lose weight". Now, here is where it gets interesting.

I figured it would take a good three minutes to put together my order, so I went to the car and got the gun. Just as I was walking back to the counter, the manager had my tray with completed order, and had already noticed I wasn't standing at the counter waiting. She spotted me walking up on a line of travel from the door, and instantly figured out that I had returned to the car to arm up. So, right in front of the whole world she asked me, "Did you go back to get your gun?" She knew danged well that was what I did, even though I had never said a word about doing that. All I could do, in front of all the customers at the counter was say, "You know that's what I did. Why do you need to ask." I can't help but wonder what the other customers were thinking about that conversational exchange.

Wow!!!

Cute story...

But i GIVE YOU A fail,,, Three Times!!!

But it was a good read...

howdy, i'll tell you how i feel about the subject matter, first, i wouldn't bother anybody for no reason. secondly, i would definitely not bother someone that i can clearly see has a fire arm with them. i am a firm believer that OC aids as a preventative measure more than it invites problems from wrong doers. lets face it, how many of us will walk over to a person we see carrying a gun and start mouthing off for no reason. criminals love the fact that most people will NOT carry, OC or CC so they are easy marks. i OC to give others the "no, not me buddy" benefit of the doubt to allow them to think long and hard before approaching me or my loved ones with foolishness or ill intent.

my first post at this site. GOD Bless the Commonwealth of Virginia, THE GUN STATE!