imported post
Originally in my blog: http://blog.jcrites.com/post/107238998/yesterday-i-was-the-suspect-in-a-manhunt
I’m a firearm owner. As it is a right guaranteed to me by the Washington state constitution, I often carry my firearm openly (i.e., in a visible holster) while I go for walks or conduct business in public. I additionally have a License to Carry Concealed Pistol, which allows me to conceal it on my person or wear it while in a vehicle.
I take walks along 12th Ave S in Seattle (where I live) on days when I’m too tired or lazy to make it to the gym for a real workout. (It’s nice to get some sunshine and air when one sits in front of a computer all day).
During my walk yesterday afternoon, when I was almost home, a man comes out of his house and begins yelling at me, “Are you a cop?” “Do you have a license for that?” It’s not uncommon for me to field questions from curious pedestrians, but a person who confronts me and is already misinformed is not likely to be receptive to education. (No, no license is needed to own or carry a firearm!)
I ignore the person and walk on. I’m worried at this point — I see him heading back into his house. What if he has a firearm? Luckily he only comes out with a cell phone. He shouts a few more things at me before getting on the phone (presumably calling the police).
I continue to ignore him and make my way home.
Shortly thereafter my friends arrive for movie night. They ask me why there are so many police cars outside! Apparently as a result of the man’s phone call, seven squad cars and twelve officers arrive at the scene (a block away from my apartment) and begin a manhunt of the area! Curious to see what’s happening, I hop in the car with my friends and drive around. Sure enough, there are cars cruising up and down the street, searching, Dijkstra style. At roughly the two ends of the street sit police cruisers, lurking, hoping to catch me unawares. But luckily they are looking for a white male on foot, not in a vehicle, and so I am thoroughly camouflaged.
At this point, we weren’t sure whether they were really looking for me or not; it could easily be a coincidence. People have called the police before while I was walking — when a citizen reports a man carrying a gun, the educated police dispatcher will ask whether he’s committed a crime, since merely carrying is not. Most such events go without physical police response.
A family-friend is a police officer in Los Angeles, and we call him and ask him what to do. He says that I should wait for things to die down, call the central dispatch, say that it was a misunderstanding and offer to speak to some officers. That evening, we do it. About 30 minutes later they arrive.
The chat ends up being very pleasant and respectful. They ask for my concealed license anyway (it having nothing to do with the situation), ask where the gun is presently (stored in a box on the ground), and talk to me about the incident. I recount my side. They recount the other guy’s side. Apparently the other guy said that when he confronted me, I moved my hand to my gun. Ridiculous! I was holding a book in my hand at the time (Introduction to Analysis). Just how anyone thought that a guy wearing glasses walking down a street reading a mathematics textbook could be threatening is beyond me.
Anyway, the police don’t seem much to care that the man made the claim. I think that my calling and offering to speak with them went a long way toward my credibility. They were very respectful and acknowledged (in advance of me saying anything about it) that we have 2nd Amendment rights and that it is my right to carry in this manner. Disappointingly, they say that “in an urban environment, it’s possible to alarm people”. So they wanted to come educate me and let me know that this kind of situation could happen again, and that I should carry my weapon concealed. They pointed out that if another person or group of people thought I was threatening, that they would (“have to”) charge me with a misdemeanor.
All in all it was a friendly conversation (as friendly as any conversation can be where the other begins by frisking you). The officers were genuinely just letting me know what could happen rather than threatening me; one of the officers remarked that I did nothing wrong. They were professional throughout. We shook hands, the officers gave me their card and an incident number (#09-161865) and left.
I thought the conversation went reasonably well (given the aforementioned manhunt). However, I am still disappointed that it’s so difficult to lawfully exercise my rights — I will be in constant fear of something similar happening, but where the person wants to “get me” and makes up a story about me taking out my gun and pointing it at him. I wish I had asked the officers what would’ve happened if the man had done that. I guess I’d be in jail. Going forward I will want to have a friend and witness on my walks with me, to verify that I’m not intimidating anyone.
I find this to be outrageous. I now understand what it’s like to be a persecuted minority, to be a member of a group who are presumed to be on the wrong side of the law by default. I sympathize. I shouldn’t have to have a friend along just to go walking.
I shouldn’t have to do that but I do, because our society doesn’t sufficiently respect the civil right of firearm ownership and carry; although court precedent clearly states that merely carrying a firearm does not warrant alarm, incidents like this still happen. The man might even have thought he was telling the truth; perhaps he perceived my turning to look at him as moving my hand toward my gun. But the trigger of the police is hair-thin and they are willing to respond in force perhaps for everyone’s safety, or perhaps to send a message.
In the course of our conversation they mentioned that they found another white male carrying a gun — and that he was disarmed and cuffed. An officer, the same one who told me I did nothing wrong, told me that they “had twelve guys out looking for [me] with rifles and shotguns” (meanwhile I think to myself, “one more star and the tanks show up”).
I’m sure glad I evaded the manhunt last night, since it’s very likely that I would have been drawn upon, put on the ground, disarmed, and otherwise roughed up. All for simply going for a walk while minding my own business and bothering no-one. And accidental shootings do happen; having a gun pointed at me, even by trained police, is definitely something I do not want.
The thing I regret most about yesterday was that I missed an opportunity to explain why I’m really doing this, the reason why I open carry: not to intimidate or threaten anyone or anything like that. My objective (as part of the Open Carry Movement) is to appear as a role model citizen, to show other people of Seattle that firearm ownership and carry is a normal, peaceable activity — and that people who carry aren’t just criminals or police, but are regular, law-abiding people too, such as software engineers interested in mathematics. (We’re just occasionally the suspect in manhunts.)
Originally in my blog: http://blog.jcrites.com/post/107238998/yesterday-i-was-the-suspect-in-a-manhunt
I’m a firearm owner. As it is a right guaranteed to me by the Washington state constitution, I often carry my firearm openly (i.e., in a visible holster) while I go for walks or conduct business in public. I additionally have a License to Carry Concealed Pistol, which allows me to conceal it on my person or wear it while in a vehicle.
I take walks along 12th Ave S in Seattle (where I live) on days when I’m too tired or lazy to make it to the gym for a real workout. (It’s nice to get some sunshine and air when one sits in front of a computer all day).
During my walk yesterday afternoon, when I was almost home, a man comes out of his house and begins yelling at me, “Are you a cop?” “Do you have a license for that?” It’s not uncommon for me to field questions from curious pedestrians, but a person who confronts me and is already misinformed is not likely to be receptive to education. (No, no license is needed to own or carry a firearm!)
I ignore the person and walk on. I’m worried at this point — I see him heading back into his house. What if he has a firearm? Luckily he only comes out with a cell phone. He shouts a few more things at me before getting on the phone (presumably calling the police).
I continue to ignore him and make my way home.
Shortly thereafter my friends arrive for movie night. They ask me why there are so many police cars outside! Apparently as a result of the man’s phone call, seven squad cars and twelve officers arrive at the scene (a block away from my apartment) and begin a manhunt of the area! Curious to see what’s happening, I hop in the car with my friends and drive around. Sure enough, there are cars cruising up and down the street, searching, Dijkstra style. At roughly the two ends of the street sit police cruisers, lurking, hoping to catch me unawares. But luckily they are looking for a white male on foot, not in a vehicle, and so I am thoroughly camouflaged.
At this point, we weren’t sure whether they were really looking for me or not; it could easily be a coincidence. People have called the police before while I was walking — when a citizen reports a man carrying a gun, the educated police dispatcher will ask whether he’s committed a crime, since merely carrying is not. Most such events go without physical police response.
A family-friend is a police officer in Los Angeles, and we call him and ask him what to do. He says that I should wait for things to die down, call the central dispatch, say that it was a misunderstanding and offer to speak to some officers. That evening, we do it. About 30 minutes later they arrive.
The chat ends up being very pleasant and respectful. They ask for my concealed license anyway (it having nothing to do with the situation), ask where the gun is presently (stored in a box on the ground), and talk to me about the incident. I recount my side. They recount the other guy’s side. Apparently the other guy said that when he confronted me, I moved my hand to my gun. Ridiculous! I was holding a book in my hand at the time (Introduction to Analysis). Just how anyone thought that a guy wearing glasses walking down a street reading a mathematics textbook could be threatening is beyond me.
Anyway, the police don’t seem much to care that the man made the claim. I think that my calling and offering to speak with them went a long way toward my credibility. They were very respectful and acknowledged (in advance of me saying anything about it) that we have 2nd Amendment rights and that it is my right to carry in this manner. Disappointingly, they say that “in an urban environment, it’s possible to alarm people”. So they wanted to come educate me and let me know that this kind of situation could happen again, and that I should carry my weapon concealed. They pointed out that if another person or group of people thought I was threatening, that they would (“have to”) charge me with a misdemeanor.
All in all it was a friendly conversation (as friendly as any conversation can be where the other begins by frisking you). The officers were genuinely just letting me know what could happen rather than threatening me; one of the officers remarked that I did nothing wrong. They were professional throughout. We shook hands, the officers gave me their card and an incident number (#09-161865) and left.
I thought the conversation went reasonably well (given the aforementioned manhunt). However, I am still disappointed that it’s so difficult to lawfully exercise my rights — I will be in constant fear of something similar happening, but where the person wants to “get me” and makes up a story about me taking out my gun and pointing it at him. I wish I had asked the officers what would’ve happened if the man had done that. I guess I’d be in jail. Going forward I will want to have a friend and witness on my walks with me, to verify that I’m not intimidating anyone.
I find this to be outrageous. I now understand what it’s like to be a persecuted minority, to be a member of a group who are presumed to be on the wrong side of the law by default. I sympathize. I shouldn’t have to have a friend along just to go walking.
I shouldn’t have to do that but I do, because our society doesn’t sufficiently respect the civil right of firearm ownership and carry; although court precedent clearly states that merely carrying a firearm does not warrant alarm, incidents like this still happen. The man might even have thought he was telling the truth; perhaps he perceived my turning to look at him as moving my hand toward my gun. But the trigger of the police is hair-thin and they are willing to respond in force perhaps for everyone’s safety, or perhaps to send a message.
In the course of our conversation they mentioned that they found another white male carrying a gun — and that he was disarmed and cuffed. An officer, the same one who told me I did nothing wrong, told me that they “had twelve guys out looking for [me] with rifles and shotguns” (meanwhile I think to myself, “one more star and the tanks show up”).
I’m sure glad I evaded the manhunt last night, since it’s very likely that I would have been drawn upon, put on the ground, disarmed, and otherwise roughed up. All for simply going for a walk while minding my own business and bothering no-one. And accidental shootings do happen; having a gun pointed at me, even by trained police, is definitely something I do not want.
The thing I regret most about yesterday was that I missed an opportunity to explain why I’m really doing this, the reason why I open carry: not to intimidate or threaten anyone or anything like that. My objective (as part of the Open Carry Movement) is to appear as a role model citizen, to show other people of Seattle that firearm ownership and carry is a normal, peaceable activity — and that people who carry aren’t just criminals or police, but are regular, law-abiding people too, such as software engineers interested in mathematics. (We’re just occasionally the suspect in manhunts.)