ntnwwnet
Regular Member
imported post
First off, I'd like to thank everybody in the CA forum for all their posts/insights. I've spent the past few days (literally) combing over as many of the experience & penal code postings as I could find.
Yesterday, I finally gathered up the cahones to exercise my open carry rights.
So, here it goes:
Since it was my first time, I wanted it to be a short and relatively close (to my house) outing. It was around lunch time, so I holstered[sup]1[/sup] my Walther (P99 AS 9mm), headed into my garage, got in my car, and drove down the street to the local sub sandwich place.
The sub sandwich place was right across the street from a gas station and next to a 24 hour fitness place, so there were enough people in the area. Walking into the sandwich place was uneventful. Upon entering the (surprisingly empty for lunch hour) I was greeted by an employee, and then headed to order my food.
While I was reaching for my wallet, the cashier noticed my Walther on my hip and asked me, "On a break officer?" Not wanting to get in trouble for impersonating an officer I replied "I'm not a cop. I'm just a regular guy exercising his rights."
"Well isn't that illegal?" he asked.
"It's unloaded and I'm not hiding it, which makes it legal." I replied.
"Oh, I thought it was only legal to do that with a fake one, like a BB gun." he said.
"I'm not sure about that, but [I gave him a copy of the pamphlet posted on this forum] this should give you all the information." I added.
After that, I paid for my sandwich, walked out the front door, and drove home. In all the experience (while scaring me poop-less) was interesting, to say the least. How many people can say that their first open carry experience resulted in a more informed person? (Okay, probably a lot. But I'm going to pretend that I'm unique.)
A few things I'd like to add:
First off, I'd like to thank everybody in the CA forum for all their posts/insights. I've spent the past few days (literally) combing over as many of the experience & penal code postings as I could find.
Yesterday, I finally gathered up the cahones to exercise my open carry rights.
So, here it goes:
Since it was my first time, I wanted it to be a short and relatively close (to my house) outing. It was around lunch time, so I holstered[sup]1[/sup] my Walther (P99 AS 9mm), headed into my garage, got in my car, and drove down the street to the local sub sandwich place.
The sub sandwich place was right across the street from a gas station and next to a 24 hour fitness place, so there were enough people in the area. Walking into the sandwich place was uneventful. Upon entering the (surprisingly empty for lunch hour) I was greeted by an employee, and then headed to order my food.
While I was reaching for my wallet, the cashier noticed my Walther on my hip and asked me, "On a break officer?" Not wanting to get in trouble for impersonating an officer I replied "I'm not a cop. I'm just a regular guy exercising his rights."
"Well isn't that illegal?" he asked.
"It's unloaded and I'm not hiding it, which makes it legal." I replied.
"Oh, I thought it was only legal to do that with a fake one, like a BB gun." he said.
"I'm not sure about that, but [I gave him a copy of the pamphlet posted on this forum] this should give you all the information." I added.
After that, I paid for my sandwich, walked out the front door, and drove home. In all the experience (while scaring me poop-less) was interesting, to say the least. How many people can say that their first open carry experience resulted in a more informed person? (Okay, probably a lot. But I'm going to pretend that I'm unique.)
A few things I'd like to add:
- [sup]1[/sup] My P99 was unloaded (of course) with an empty chamber and magazine in the gun.
- I left my ammo and loaded magazine at home. I didn't want to take any chances if a LEO interaction was going to take place.
- I've attached in image of the case the gun came in. If I use the lock (as pictured) would it qualify as a "locked container" as per PC 12026?
- Is the cashier (I put him at mid- to late-twenties) correct in saying that BB/air guns can also be openly carried like a "real steel" firearm? I checked the PC's definition of a "firearm" and it only mentions
A BB/air gun that uses compressed air doesn't seem to fit. Could he have actually been right?
