Was told OC is not legal

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Looks like I'm going to have to send a letter to my local police station. I was carrying tonight and I was told open carry is not legal. The man claimed to be a police officer. He flipped through his wallet like he was looking for a card but produced nothing. He was in plain cloths.

I told him open carry was legal and offered him a Michigan Open Carry pamphlet he looked at it very briefly maybe 5 seconds and handed it back. I told him he could have it but he was not interested.

He said some thing along the lines of I'm just letting you know you can't carry like that and you're going to get your self in trouble. It was obvious he was not going to listen to what I had to say and I was not going to argue with him in front of the clerk. (not to mention dinner was on the stove)

I guess I should send a letter to the gas station as well to clear up the misinformation.

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Perhaps in addition to that, you should start organizing a big meet or something in your area...

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HPC9 wrote:

Looks like I'm going to have to send a letter to my local police station. I was carrying tonight and I was told open carry is not legal. The man claimed to be a police officer. He flipped through his wallet like he was looking for a card but produced nothing. He was in plain cloths.

I told him open carry was legal and offered him a Michigan Open Carry pamphlet he looked at it very briefly maybe 5 seconds and handed it back. I told him he could have it but he was not interested.

He said some thing along the lines of I'm just letting you know you can't carry like that and you're going to get your self in trouble. It was obvious he was not going to listen to what I had to say and I was not going to argue with him in front of the clerk. (not to mention dinner was on the stove)

I guess I should send a letter to the gas station as well to clear up the misinformation.

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If he claimed to be LE and was actually a peace officer, he should be able to produce credentials. More than likely, he was Auxilary or maybe Reserve with only an ID card-the one he was looking for. Did he give you a name or badge number? If not, I would not worry about it (Him). But, it wouldn't be a bad idea to clean things up at the station.

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HPC9 wrote:

Looks like I'm going to have to send a letter to my local police station. I was carrying tonight and I was told open carry is not legal. The man claimed to be a police officer. He flipped through his wallet like he was looking for a card but produced nothing. He was in plain cloths.

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That was pretty bold on his part if he wasn't a police officer! Did he have a badge or any ID proved that he was a police officer?



If he wasn't, then the displayed gun is not much of a deterrent (more of a conversational piece!):what:

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He must have missed the memo.

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I added to the "Letter to LEOs". is it going to be OK if I use this packet with my own story added or it is meant to be sent "as is". My intention is not to misrepresent myself or Michigan Open Carry. What do you guys think, feel free to suggest changes.


Dear Chief:
I was approached by a man in plain cloths who claimed to be a police officer while legally open carrying a pistol. He preceded to tell me open carry of a pistol was not legal. I politely disagreed. He told me I was wrong and that I needed to “cover it up”.
Aside form the misinformation that was spread the discussion was generally polite and non confrontational. However, it is imperative that, if in fact this man was a police officer, he be brough up to speed as to the legality of open carry.
Attached is information on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. The open carry of a handgun has increased in Michigan in the last year as more and more citizens are becoming aware of its legality. It is our hope that this information is helpful to you, and that you will take the time to review the information and inform your officers on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. We also hope that you work with your 911 dispatchers in regards to asking some simple question when they receive a call of a “person with a gun”. I you have questions please talk with your prosecuting attorney or you can contact me via email or phone for more information. We thank you for your time and consideration in this regard and appreciate the difficult job you all do.


Sincerely,
Skye Premo
Michigan Open Carry.
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HPC9 wrote:

I added to the "Letter to LEOs". is it going to be OK if I use this packet with my own story added or it is meant to be sent "as is". My intention is not to misrepresent myself or Michigan Open Carry. What do you guys think, feel free to suggest changes.


Dear Chief:
I was approached by a man in plain cloths who claimed to be a police officer while legally open carrying a pistol. He preceded to tell me open carry of a pistol was not legal. I politely disagreed. He told me I was wrong and that I needed to “cover it up”.
Aside form the misinformation that was spread the discussion was generally polite and non confrontational. However, it is imperative that, if in fact this man was a police officer, he be brough up to speed as to the legality of open carry.
Attached is information on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. The open carry of a handgun has increased in Michigan in the last year as more and more citizens are becoming aware of its legality. It is our hope that this information is helpful to you, and that you will take the time to review the information and inform your officers on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. We also hope that you work with your 911 dispatchers in regards to asking some simple question when they receive a call of a “person with a gun”. I you have questions please talk with your prosecuting attorney or you can contact me via email or phone for more information. We thank you for your time and consideration in this regard and appreciate the difficult job you all do.


Sincerely,
Skye Premo
Michigan Open Carry.

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HPC9, if in fact he is a peace officer, do you know for certain that he is from the local department in which you will send the letter? Did he mention that he was from your local PD?

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I suggest including the date, time, and location of your encounter so the Chief has a chance of figuring out which of his officers, if any, this man was. As it's currently written, he has nothing to go on.

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HPC9 wrote:

I added to the "Letter to LEOs".....

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For the love of God,a proper response to the incident, andgood spelling, Man! At this point this seems to be a likely case of officer impersonation, and no more. There is no evidence of shortcomings in the chief's police department, with regard to their knowledge of OC. The person you encountered showed no proof they were a LEO. So, pursue this as ONLY as what it seems to be at this point: someone impersonating an officer.

My suggested edits to your message (in boldface):

"Dear Chief:
I was approached by a man in plain [clothes] who claimed to be a police officer while I was at [insert location] at [insert time][/b]. I was legally open carrying a pistol. He [proceeded][/b] to tell me open carry of a pistol was not legal. I politely disagreed. He told me I was wrong and that I needed to “cover it up”. [Knowing that open carry is legal, I asked for this person’s law enforcement identification. He failed to produce any identification. I believe I am a victim of a person impersonating a law enforcement officer. I will be formally registering this criminal complaint with your department soon, and I request that you please contact me with further questions and the findings of your investigation as they emerge.][/b]"

Contact the police department about this apparent officer impersonation before sending the above to the chief. No need for attachments as, at this point, there is no evidence his department is in need of any education.

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DanM wrote:

HPC9 wrote:

I added to the "Letter to LEOs".....

Click to expand...

For the love of God,a proper response to the incident, andgood spelling, Man! At this point this seems to be a likely case of officer impersonation, and no more. There is no evidence of shortcomings in the chief's police department, with regard to their knowledge of OC. The person you encountered showed no proof they were a LEO. So, pursue this as ONLY as what it seems to be at this point: someone impersonating an officer.

My suggested edits to your message (in boldface):

"Dear Chief:
I was approached by a man in plain [clothes] who claimed to be a police officer while I was at [insert location] at [insert time][/b]. I was legally open carrying a pistol. He [proceeded][/b] to tell me open carry of a pistol was not legal. I politely disagreed. He told me I was wrong and that I needed to “cover it up”. [Knowing that open carry is legal, I asked for this person’s law enforcement identification. He failed to produce any identification. I believe I am a victim of a person impersonating a law enforcement officer. I will be formally registering this criminal complaint with your department soon, and I request that you please contact me with further questions and the findings of your investigation as they emerge.][/b]"

Contact the police department about this apparent officer impersonation before sending the above to the chief. No need for attachments as, at this point, there is no evidence his department is in need of any education.

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+1

To send such a letter to the chief when you don't have enough facts to go on will not bode well for anyone involved. It sounded more like a wannabe than an actuall officer. I could be wrong, but without knowing which force the "so called" officer is employed by, there is no way to send it to his superiors.

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HPC9 wrote:

I added to the "Letter to LEOs". is it going to be OK if I use this packet with my own story added or it is meant to be sent "as is". My intention is not to misrepresent myself or Michigan Open Carry. What do you guys think, feel free to suggest changes.


Dear Chief:
I was approached by a man in plain cloths who claimed to be a police officer while legally open carrying a pistol. He preceded to tell me open carry of a pistol was not legal. I politely disagreed. He told me I was wrong and that I needed to “cover it up”.
Aside form the misinformation that was spread the discussion was generally polite and non confrontational. However, it is imperative that, if in fact this man was a police officer, he be brough up to speed as to the legality of open carry.
Attached is information on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. The open carry of a handgun has increased in Michigan in the last year as more and more citizens are becoming aware of its legality. It is our hope that this information is helpful to you, and that you will take the time to review the information and inform your officers on the legality of the open carry of a handgun in Michigan. We also hope that you work with your 911 dispatchers in regards to asking some simple question when they receive a call of a “person with a gun”. I you have questions please talk with your prosecuting attorney or you can contact me via email or phone for more information. We thank you for your time and consideration in this regard and appreciate the difficult job you all do.


Sincerely,
Skye Premo
Michigan Open Carry.




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I have a problem with using MOC as you do.

I suggest that if anyone writes letters and references MOC you need to but down that you are aparticipant, until you become a paid member andthen use memberwhen you become one in the future. Small point but an important one. So until we offer memberships, a person can useparticipant. Or you can ask one of the acting board members to sign it (once we appoint them).

Sincerely,
Joe Smith, Participant
Michigan Open carry

Or you can use:

Joe Smith, Member
opencarry.org

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+1 for DanM's post

+1 for Venator's post

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Had some things going on at the house, been to busy to keep up with this lately. I only have about 2 mins to reply while on break at work.

Just wanted to say thanks for the input. I'm going to try to put some time into this tonight. I knew what I typed up needed lots of work that why I put it up here to be commented on.

I am about 85% sure he is an officer. I've seen him before just don't remember where.

I didn't think to ask for ID when he said he was an officer he pulled out his wallet and flipped though it looking for something but didn't find what ever it was and put his wallet back.

times up hope this makes sense I don't have time to re-read it.

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HPC9 wrote:

I didn't think to ask for ID when he said he was an officer he pulled out his wallet and flipped though it looking for something but didn't find what ever it was and put his wallet back.

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I do this a lot when I'm looking for a spare business card and then realize I don't have any in there.

I always try to keep an extra in my wallet, but never have it when I need it. Which reminds me: I should put an extra in my wallet...