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Incident in Aurora

FogRider

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I went to the Century 16 to see a movie tonite (Balls of Fury is the most hilarious thing I have seen in a while btw), and decided to OC. Had no problems in line getting my ticket, but I noticed a couple of cops sitting in the lobby watching everyone. I figured they hadn't seen my XD when I walked in and got in line (they were to my 10oc 15yd), and might want to talk to me. Sure enough, the stood up (surprisingly fast), and came over to inquire about my gun carrying habits.

Cop 1: Your shirt is untucked (I had a button down shirt tucked behind my owb rig)
Me: Yes, I know.
C1: Why are you carrying a gun?
Me: Because I can and want to.
C1: So why don't you have it concealed?
C2: Do you have a permit for that?
Me: Well, I don't need a permit to carry openly, but I do have a chp.
C1: Mind if I see it?
Me: *hands over my permit*
C2: I'm going to have to ask you to cover that up.
Me: OK, but I prefer not to.
C1: Well, I prefer you don't. You are going to cause people to get nervous and cause me problems. So cover it up, or I will ask you to lock it up in your vehicle. (it seemed like a bad idea to mention that he was the only nervous one in the lobby, and if anyone hadn't noticed my gun before, the whole lobby did now.
Me: Well, to be honest with you I have never had a problem before.
C1: That realy surprises me. Have a nice evening.

It seems a good idea to mention that the theater itself didn't seem to have a problem with my gun, or at least no-one said anything. Perhaps they didn't because they new the cops were present? Slightly annoying, and in a different situation I might have been a little more set on continuing to OC, but I believe in picking my battles and preferred to just cover up (not that effective, an owb holster and a short shirt is hardly concealed) and move on. I suppose the most annoying part was having a couple of cops announce to the theater that I was carrying.
 

HankT

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I like the way you asserted your preference and how you elected to depart from them in the interest of resolving the problem. That's a judgment call and as long as you think through the consequences, it's your show.

Did you give up your rights by showing your CHP? (I don't know if your state requires production in this case.) Nah. It just facilitated the identification process. You could have withheld the info....could've just given your first name....etc. But it's up to you to judge how you want the encounter to go.

And deciding to go CC at the (unreasonable, really) order of the LEO is also just a rational choice. Was your right to OC abrogated? Nah. As you say, you pick your battles.

I think you handled it just fine, although, the LEO went over the line.
 

para_org

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I always find it illuminating when cops 'ask' you to do something. It is a way to get you to aborgate your rights without being blamed later for taking them from you. YOU agreed when they (merely) asked.

Of course the problem is that a cop rarely (if ever) MERELY asks anything. They ask, when they are being more than just a little bit of "in your face". Nothing MERE about that IMHO.

Fortunately cops here in NM are not so stupid to be asking such things. At least I haven't (yet) run into any. (Open carry is constitutionally protected here, which makes a cop doing what you talk about VERY stupid, or at the very least very bold.)
 

denwego

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The only thing I would've done (as a fellow Colorado resident) would have been to ask for a manager to back all of this up. If they were off duty and providing security, then by state law they have the same authority as other private citizens and their "requests" are as if another guy on the street made them. If they were on duty, then "requesting" you stop doing something legal while on the private property of another only carries force when they're following the wishes of the owner or controller. If the manager wanted it that way as well, I'd follow what they'd want without question, since private property rights are the basis of society as I see it. But if it were just the cop using his commission to enforce his opinion on private property... that just rubs me the wrong way for whatever reason.

But that's all in hindsight. I certainly would've given my CHP as well to move things along, and probably would've covered up if I were with someone else and they still wanted to see the movie. And I'm sorry you're down in Aurora and need to put up with garbage like this from cops catering to making Kalifornians comfy!
 

FogRider

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para_org wrote:
I always find it illuminating when cops 'ask' you to do something. It is a way to get you to aborgate your rights without being blamed later for taking them from you. YOU agreed when they (merely) asked.

Of course the problem is that a cop rarely (if ever) MERELY asks anything. They ask, when they are being more than just a little bit of "in your face". Nothing MERE about that IMHO.

Fortunately cops here in NM are not so stupid to be asking such things. At least I haven't (yet) run into any. (Open carry is constitutionally protected here, which makes a cop doing what you talk about VERY stupid, or at the very least very bold.)

It's hard to depict the tone of the conversation using text, but it was definitely going towards "you are going to obey this "request"". But like I said, I saw them well before they saw me and had time to evaluate my possible responses. My decision was that I would be willing to conceal if asked politely (or at least not a flat out demand), but I was not going anywhere unarmed. My only response he seemed happy with was my agreement to conceal, but hey, I'm not here to make cops happy, just satisfied enough to keep them off my back
 

Anubis

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This incident report is in line with other threads in this section concerning the Aurora Police Department's unofficial policy of discouraging OC.
 

FogRider

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Anubis wrote:
This incident report is in line with other threads in this section concerning the Aurora Police Department's unofficial policy of discouraging OC.
It sure seems that way. This is the first time in about 4-5mo of carrying I have had a problem, but come to thnk of it, when I picked up my chp the deputy that gave it to me seemed rather incredulous when I stated I was going to continue OC'ing, and said I could expect problems. Bummer.
 

FogRider

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Followup:

I im planning on going out again tonite, so I decided to go down and talk to a manager (concealing this time). I am not peeved enough to type out the entire conversation, but the gist was that while the theater did not have a specific policy on OC, they would treat the security's (police) decisions as policy. So, long story (short story?) short, if a cop asks me to conceal, theater says conceal too. Bummer.
 

para_org

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FogRider wrote:
Followup:

I im planning on going out again tonite, so I decided to go down and talk to a manager (concealing this time). I am not peeved enough to type out the entire conversation, but the gist was that while the theater did not have a specific policy on OC, they would treat the security's (police) decisions as policy. So, long story (short story?) short, if a cop asks me to conceal, theater says conceal too. Bummer.
Sad really.

Just wondering; if the manager defers to the other hired help for policy decisions as well. i.e. If the counter help says that popcorn should be raised another $2.50 a box does the manager make that policy for the evening as well ?

The ONLY place I have EVER been asked to leave while carryaing was the local theater. Now the kids and I watch movies in our own home and it costs less too. Oh yeah, the popcorn tastes better too.
 

gator

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Fogrider



Big stones!! I live in A-Town as well and you were in the middle of gangbanger central so too be honest I think the LEO's were pretty low key in their response.

I have been given a lot more sh!t for OC'ing in better parts of Aurora.
 
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