imported post
Joat wrote:
I'm not the only one open carrying in the grocery stores in the Twin Citys.
http://olegvolk.livejournal.com/732502.html
Yeah, that's me. I not only OC there, but got the manager's permission to shoot the poster picture there.
Okay, maybe spending $75-$100 a week there for the last 10 years helped, too.
Only twice in the last six years or so have I had
any issue with OC in MN.
In summer 2008, in the same store where this photo was taken, I was shopping with my 4-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter -- my Secret Weapons of Cute. I was carrying in a low-profile IWB holster. In retrospect, it probably looked very much, to the uninitiated, like a gun was simply stuck in my pants.
Near the end of almost an hour (it takes longer when you have "help"
), I saw two police officers talking to manager at the far end of the last aisle. I kept shopping, as I approached them, the split apart, and one asked politely, "Sir, can I see your permit to carry?"
Me: "Sure, here you go."
Officer 1: "Can I see your Driver's License, please?"
Me: "Here you go."
The first officer stepped a few feet away to call in my info on a cell phone.
That's when the interrogation started. "Are you a powiceman? What are you doing here? Is that your gun? What's a TASER? Are there any bad guys here?"
By the time the first officer returned, the second had answered a dozen questions from my son and had handed both kids police-themed stickers. The first officer handed back my permit and ID.
I asked, "So, what brings you fellas out here tonight?"
"We had a couple calls -- people wanted to make sure you had a permit."
At that point I did the only thing I could: I handed both of them business cards.
"You know, a lot of police officers want their wives or girlfriends or other family members to be familiar with handling and shooting a gun. I teach those classes, so if I can ever help you with one of those, please give me a call."
What, doesn't everyone treat a Terry stop as a sales opportunity?
I also asked if the store or a shopper called it in. They said it was one of each.
Since I was ready to check out, I looked for the most nervous-looking cashier, and went through his line. I asked him to page the manager on duty. The MOD showed up; he was the one who was talking to the officers in the aisle.
I said, politely, that I understood that he called the cops on me. (I estimate, conservatively, that I've spent $30,000-40,000 there in the last ten years, and I was ready to deploy that fact, along with the fact that there was a competitor nearby, if necessary.)
He said, no, he didn't call the police. A couple of employees approached him, and he told them it was
not a problem. He said that perhaps an employee up front decided to call the cops anyhow.
He also said that when the officers arrived, he told them that the store had no problem with me carrying there.
Then the manager leaned in a little closer and said, "As a permit holder myself, I'd recommend that you carry concealed, just so you can avoid this hassle to you, and hassle to the other shoppers."
Nice guy. I explained that I hoped he'd consider and convey to other employees that the correct response to future employee concerns would be, "Yup, he's a longtime customer, and he's fine"
I think things went fine. The manager later came to my class for his five-year renewal.
The other time was at Sam's, but that will have to wait for another post.
