SWhetsel
Regular Member
imported post
So after reading up on the laws and ensuring that I could legally try this, I went for broke. I do have my application in for my CCW but it takes at least 3 weeks and I just turned in my application yesterday.
After having spent a year and a half in Iraq, where I carried a side arm 24/7, plus when on daily missions, a long weapon. ( I'm an MP in the Army and was on an extremely small base in one of THE worst areas. FOB McHenry ) Anyway, I feel a lot safer when I am carrying and can't wait to be able to carry without issue under my CCW permit. However, tonight I wanted to try OC and decided that no better place than Akron, OH. I chose a local Coffee Shop close to campus that I; 1. Knew the owner personally and she knows I am in the Military recently back from Iraq. and 2. Knew that MANY LEO's frequented this shop for free coffee while on duty. ( some of the LEO's I knew as well )
So I walked in, after ensuring that there was no sticker on the door or windows about not carrying, ordered my coffee, and said hello to the owner. She noticed the pistol and said nothing AT ALL just continued to carry on in conversation. After talking to her at the counter for about 10 min a local Akron LEO walked in and right away "Mean Mugged" me. He ordered his coffee, went the rest room, and then came out and continued to watch me. After I finished talking with the owner, I looked over and he motioned with a "wag" of a finger, for me to come over. My heart began beating quickly as I hoped I could calmly recite everything I read up on and still sound intelligent enough while doing so to not get cuffed and stuffed.
Let me say that I "know" this cop and he is, without speaking poorly of an LEO, a complete idoit. He does shady things like wearing his uniform off duty to take advantage of local companies that are "Cop Friendly". Which I say in terms of offering free coffee or half price food out of thanks.
Anyway, as I walk up to him I can feel myself shaking, pumped up on adrenaline, and thinking to myself, I hope I handle this in a professional manner and set a great standard. First thing he asks is "what is that?" while pointing at my Springfield XD .45 Compact. First thought that came to mind was scream "It's a friggin’ pistol IDIOT! Did you think it was a banana?!" But then my sense's came too, and I calmly replied with, "my firearm." Next thing he asked was " Are you a police officer?" Now this is one thing I wish I had done differently, but I replied with a truthful answer of, "Yes, in the military."
What happened next was shocking, he flashed a dirty look and told me to break the law by saying, "You need to cover that up." To which I responded, "I can not do that as I do not have a Concealed Carry Permit and would then be breaking the law." Well of course, I'm sure he didn't like that I wasn't willing to just cover up my pistol, tuck my tail between my legs, and go away quietly. So his next retort was, "You are need to read up Akron’s laws, you can't legally carry that." So I pulled out the ole', "Actually officer, under the Ohio HB 347, local laws are null and void when it comes to firearm regulation."
Well, by now he was fumbling to think of something and just told me that I should take it off and not wear it because I will just be causing problems seeing that, "many cops frequent this shop". He also said that if I continued to carry I would end up getting arrested. Plus he AGAIN told me that I needed to read up on Akron laws. By now he knew that I was well informed and just decided to tell me how he dosn't understand why "I need to carry". So, I smiled and replied, "Thank you for your concern, but Ohio law allows me to open carry. I agree that this may cause some controversial issues, but I am willing to explain my actions to anyone that ask's. As for the reason why I feel the need to carry is for self defense. Besides sir, I feel that if I dont use my second amendment right I'll lose it."
To this he had nothing to say, turned and left the shop. Now it helped that by this time, the shop owner came up behind me and she stated that, "He is an Sgt. in the Army, I feel plenty safe with him around." But he none the less left without further issue. So, I finished my coffee and 5 min later two more LEO's walked in. I smiled at them and said hello, but I dont think they noticed my side arm. Not wanting to deal with the speech again I simply decided to head home for the night before they saw the pistol and asked about it.
SOOOOOO...... All in all, an interesting first OC. Im glad I didnt get arrested, but until I feel more and more comfortable I'll continue to just carry places like that. Kinda just keep testing the waters where I feel like I would be able to skate by, even with a "jerk" LEO.
PS I wasn’t wearing anything special either. In fact, I wanted to try this out in something I would be wearing as an every day Joe. Here's the pic of me when I got home. Nothing that screams hood rat but just that I am an average joe.
So after reading up on the laws and ensuring that I could legally try this, I went for broke. I do have my application in for my CCW but it takes at least 3 weeks and I just turned in my application yesterday.
After having spent a year and a half in Iraq, where I carried a side arm 24/7, plus when on daily missions, a long weapon. ( I'm an MP in the Army and was on an extremely small base in one of THE worst areas. FOB McHenry ) Anyway, I feel a lot safer when I am carrying and can't wait to be able to carry without issue under my CCW permit. However, tonight I wanted to try OC and decided that no better place than Akron, OH. I chose a local Coffee Shop close to campus that I; 1. Knew the owner personally and she knows I am in the Military recently back from Iraq. and 2. Knew that MANY LEO's frequented this shop for free coffee while on duty. ( some of the LEO's I knew as well )
So I walked in, after ensuring that there was no sticker on the door or windows about not carrying, ordered my coffee, and said hello to the owner. She noticed the pistol and said nothing AT ALL just continued to carry on in conversation. After talking to her at the counter for about 10 min a local Akron LEO walked in and right away "Mean Mugged" me. He ordered his coffee, went the rest room, and then came out and continued to watch me. After I finished talking with the owner, I looked over and he motioned with a "wag" of a finger, for me to come over. My heart began beating quickly as I hoped I could calmly recite everything I read up on and still sound intelligent enough while doing so to not get cuffed and stuffed.
Let me say that I "know" this cop and he is, without speaking poorly of an LEO, a complete idoit. He does shady things like wearing his uniform off duty to take advantage of local companies that are "Cop Friendly". Which I say in terms of offering free coffee or half price food out of thanks.
Anyway, as I walk up to him I can feel myself shaking, pumped up on adrenaline, and thinking to myself, I hope I handle this in a professional manner and set a great standard. First thing he asks is "what is that?" while pointing at my Springfield XD .45 Compact. First thought that came to mind was scream "It's a friggin’ pistol IDIOT! Did you think it was a banana?!" But then my sense's came too, and I calmly replied with, "my firearm." Next thing he asked was " Are you a police officer?" Now this is one thing I wish I had done differently, but I replied with a truthful answer of, "Yes, in the military."
What happened next was shocking, he flashed a dirty look and told me to break the law by saying, "You need to cover that up." To which I responded, "I can not do that as I do not have a Concealed Carry Permit and would then be breaking the law." Well of course, I'm sure he didn't like that I wasn't willing to just cover up my pistol, tuck my tail between my legs, and go away quietly. So his next retort was, "You are need to read up Akron’s laws, you can't legally carry that." So I pulled out the ole', "Actually officer, under the Ohio HB 347, local laws are null and void when it comes to firearm regulation."
Well, by now he was fumbling to think of something and just told me that I should take it off and not wear it because I will just be causing problems seeing that, "many cops frequent this shop". He also said that if I continued to carry I would end up getting arrested. Plus he AGAIN told me that I needed to read up on Akron laws. By now he knew that I was well informed and just decided to tell me how he dosn't understand why "I need to carry". So, I smiled and replied, "Thank you for your concern, but Ohio law allows me to open carry. I agree that this may cause some controversial issues, but I am willing to explain my actions to anyone that ask's. As for the reason why I feel the need to carry is for self defense. Besides sir, I feel that if I dont use my second amendment right I'll lose it."
To this he had nothing to say, turned and left the shop. Now it helped that by this time, the shop owner came up behind me and she stated that, "He is an Sgt. in the Army, I feel plenty safe with him around." But he none the less left without further issue. So, I finished my coffee and 5 min later two more LEO's walked in. I smiled at them and said hello, but I dont think they noticed my side arm. Not wanting to deal with the speech again I simply decided to head home for the night before they saw the pistol and asked about it.
SOOOOOO...... All in all, an interesting first OC. Im glad I didnt get arrested, but until I feel more and more comfortable I'll continue to just carry places like that. Kinda just keep testing the waters where I feel like I would be able to skate by, even with a "jerk" LEO.
PS I wasn’t wearing anything special either. In fact, I wanted to try this out in something I would be wearing as an every day Joe. Here's the pic of me when I got home. Nothing that screams hood rat but just that I am an average joe.