AmosMoses
Regular Member
imported post
St. Helena Parish, as some of you may know, has some extremely ridiculous local code on the books. Open carry is essentially "outlawed" across the parish. I open carry throughout the parish, 100% of the time...going to the mailbox included. If you happen see me in St. Helena sans sidearm, you are in my house...and probably sitting in the bathroom when I'm taking a shower.
The latter isn't going to change. Period. If I leave the house, I'm packing.
Basically, I took a stab at handling this the "right way". Two letters to the parish attorney, one to each Police Juror, and then a submission of six information packets that carried everything from the LOCAL brochure to all pertinent legal information (including the appropriate AG Opinions), and a formal request to consider the code for revocation. The code is obviously and wantonly unconstitutional, and there was way, WAY more than enough info there to establish that to anyone who read even a small part of what I submitted. Hell, each folder was 1/2 inch thick, so no one needed to research anything, unless they thought I was feeding them something I cooked up.
Today, the Secretary of the Police Jury, actually an extremely pleasant and helpful lady, emailed the following to me:
Mr. Phillips:
Your packets were handed to the Jurors on April 27th for their review. It was on the agenda May 11th and tabled until May 25th. On May 25th the Jury took no action. If you wish the matter brought before the Police Jury again you will have to request it be placed on the agenda. It would be in you best interest to have someone at the meeting.
My immediate actions will obviously not change. Outside air won't hit me without a sidearm. If I am cited, I'll fight it, and if I am arrested, I'll continue doing the exact same thing when I get out. Whether that is wrong or right, sensible or stupid, I don't know. It's the only, and I mean ONLY thing that I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure about in this situation. I am NOT submitting to this ridiculous law, no matter what. Obviously, I'd move before I'd stop packing, but damned if that seems fair. Check 'em out (they both fall before the preemption date):
St. Helena Parish Code of Ordinances
Chapter 15. Miscellaneous Crimes and Offenses
Subchapter A. In General
Sec. 15-2. Carrying, possession, or discharge of weapons near swimming and picnic areas prohibited: violations and penalties.
A.The carrying, possession, or discharging of firearms is hereby prohibited within 500 feet of any swimming or picnic area within the Parish of St. Helena when three or more persons are engaged in swimming or picnicking.
B.Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished in accordance with section 1-21 of this Code.
(Ord. of 5-14-1964)
Sec. 15-4. Hunting or discharge of firearms near public highways and residences.
A.The carrying, possession or discharge of a loaded firearm for hunting or any other purpose within 500 feet of any inhabited dwelling or any other building or structure where a person or persons are present, without permission of the owner of said dwelling or building is prohibited.
B.The carrying, possession or discharge of a loaded firearm for hunting or any other purpose within a distance of 100 feet of the center line of any public street, road, highway or thoroughfare, whether held by servitude or as owner, is prohibited.
C.Any person violating the provisions of this section, unless he be a law officer or policeman acting within the scope of his duty and employment, shall be guilty of a violation of this Code and upon conviction, be punished in accordance with section 1-21 of this Code.
(Ord. of 11-13-1984)
[align=center]******************[/align] Chapter 1. General Provisions
Sec. 1-21. General penalty; continuing violations.
A.It shall be unlawful for any person to violate or fail to comply with any provision of this Code or to commit any act which is declared to be a crime, a misdemeanor, or unlawful, and where no specific penalty is provided therefor, whoever is found to be in violation of any provision of this Code shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100.00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment within the discretion of the court.
B.Each day any violation of this Code shall continue constitutes a separate offense.
By this, every time I hunt in my "backyard", I do so on pain of citation/arrest for offense, because I don't ask my neighbor's permission. If I have a weapon, even an unloaded one, within 500 feet of three or more people who decide to eat a sandwich outside or jump in a river, I'm technically an outlaw. I break the law every day when I check my mail, and when I go anywhere, as a matter of fact, that I leave my vehicle. And that sucks.
So, what does one do? Well, I thought that I was going about it correctly, but evidently I was wrong. Obviously, I am going to continue to pursue this, and I am going to continue to live according to what's constitutionally guaranteed to me. Now, as far as being armed while out of a vehicle within 1000 feet of a school here...uhhhhnn, sorry....as far as being armed while out of a vehicle within 1000 feet of a what somehow passes for a school here, well, that's not gonna happen. I can't honestly tell you that I have ever cast a shadow on that certain area here, anyway, and in fact, I would lay heavy, heavy odds that I have never done so, anyway, so I can very easily abide by that. And, as far as private property goes (stores, etc), all it will take is one request, and I, and my money, will never go there again. Also very easy to live with. But, in and on the rest of the parish, if you see me, you will see my sidearm.
As far as stores go, with the few we have, I can honestly say that I have had no problems whatsoever. Whether people think I am law enforcement, or simply don't give a shit either way (most surely the case), I have never had anything more than a slight, short passing glance down at my hip, and that includes from LEOs....who I see all the time, and who never bother me. One gave my weapon a little tiny bit of the stinkeye the other day in the grocery store, but he looked up, nodded at me, said "hello", and went on his way to pick up milk and bread or whatever he was doing there....just like me.. Frankly, most of the LEOs around here, the sheriff included, are good and decent men and women with more important things to do than worry about someone who is carrying a gun that they can see. Hell, it's the woods out here! We don't have a single full green/red/yellow traffic light in the damned parish, so someone outta look out of place UNARMED is the way I see it.
As the secretary of the Police Jury's email indicates, I probably should have gone to the meeting. Of course, I had no idea until I got this email that it had even been considered, and I only got it because I contacted her to ask her the status. Had I known, I would have gone, but the way I fumble around, forget what I am saying, and lose my train of thought when I talk, I surely would have done myself no favor there. That's why I took the time and trouble to submit such an extensive info packet to the Police Jurors.
What aggravates me most about this ridiculous code is the inherent after-the-fact CYA factor it gives a LEO who arrests someone on state charges (that we all know do not exist). They can nail you and jail you, and then instead of admitting that they had no idea that OC was perfectly legal in LA, they could, if so advised of the existence of this code, later claim that they were enforcing the local code. MEM references meeting a St. Helena Deputy in a MS WalMart who obviously thinks that OC is illegal in Louisiana, and MEM's descriptive name (Kojak) truly bothers me, because that sounds like the Chief Criminal Deputy here, second only to the sheriff himself. Like I say, these LEOs, the sheriff and the Chief Deputy included, all seem to be very decent people to me, but MEM's description was too hard for me to ignore...and I have never ran across the sheriff or the Chief Deputy anywhere since they were in office here, so I honestly don't know what's gonna happen if I do....unless I can get this dumbass code nullified.
So, any advice and/or help would be appreciated. I am entertaining the idea of requesting that the consideration be returned to a future agenda, and trying to pack the house if I can.
Any advice?
St. Helena Parish, as some of you may know, has some extremely ridiculous local code on the books. Open carry is essentially "outlawed" across the parish. I open carry throughout the parish, 100% of the time...going to the mailbox included. If you happen see me in St. Helena sans sidearm, you are in my house...and probably sitting in the bathroom when I'm taking a shower.
The latter isn't going to change. Period. If I leave the house, I'm packing.
Basically, I took a stab at handling this the "right way". Two letters to the parish attorney, one to each Police Juror, and then a submission of six information packets that carried everything from the LOCAL brochure to all pertinent legal information (including the appropriate AG Opinions), and a formal request to consider the code for revocation. The code is obviously and wantonly unconstitutional, and there was way, WAY more than enough info there to establish that to anyone who read even a small part of what I submitted. Hell, each folder was 1/2 inch thick, so no one needed to research anything, unless they thought I was feeding them something I cooked up.
Today, the Secretary of the Police Jury, actually an extremely pleasant and helpful lady, emailed the following to me:
Mr. Phillips:
Your packets were handed to the Jurors on April 27th for their review. It was on the agenda May 11th and tabled until May 25th. On May 25th the Jury took no action. If you wish the matter brought before the Police Jury again you will have to request it be placed on the agenda. It would be in you best interest to have someone at the meeting.
My immediate actions will obviously not change. Outside air won't hit me without a sidearm. If I am cited, I'll fight it, and if I am arrested, I'll continue doing the exact same thing when I get out. Whether that is wrong or right, sensible or stupid, I don't know. It's the only, and I mean ONLY thing that I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure about in this situation. I am NOT submitting to this ridiculous law, no matter what. Obviously, I'd move before I'd stop packing, but damned if that seems fair. Check 'em out (they both fall before the preemption date):
St. Helena Parish Code of Ordinances
Chapter 15. Miscellaneous Crimes and Offenses
Subchapter A. In General
Sec. 15-2. Carrying, possession, or discharge of weapons near swimming and picnic areas prohibited: violations and penalties.
A.The carrying, possession, or discharging of firearms is hereby prohibited within 500 feet of any swimming or picnic area within the Parish of St. Helena when three or more persons are engaged in swimming or picnicking.
B.Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished in accordance with section 1-21 of this Code.
(Ord. of 5-14-1964)
Sec. 15-4. Hunting or discharge of firearms near public highways and residences.
A.The carrying, possession or discharge of a loaded firearm for hunting or any other purpose within 500 feet of any inhabited dwelling or any other building or structure where a person or persons are present, without permission of the owner of said dwelling or building is prohibited.
B.The carrying, possession or discharge of a loaded firearm for hunting or any other purpose within a distance of 100 feet of the center line of any public street, road, highway or thoroughfare, whether held by servitude or as owner, is prohibited.
C.Any person violating the provisions of this section, unless he be a law officer or policeman acting within the scope of his duty and employment, shall be guilty of a violation of this Code and upon conviction, be punished in accordance with section 1-21 of this Code.
(Ord. of 11-13-1984)
[align=center]******************[/align] Chapter 1. General Provisions
Sec. 1-21. General penalty; continuing violations.
A.It shall be unlawful for any person to violate or fail to comply with any provision of this Code or to commit any act which is declared to be a crime, a misdemeanor, or unlawful, and where no specific penalty is provided therefor, whoever is found to be in violation of any provision of this Code shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100.00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment within the discretion of the court.
B.Each day any violation of this Code shall continue constitutes a separate offense.
By this, every time I hunt in my "backyard", I do so on pain of citation/arrest for offense, because I don't ask my neighbor's permission. If I have a weapon, even an unloaded one, within 500 feet of three or more people who decide to eat a sandwich outside or jump in a river, I'm technically an outlaw. I break the law every day when I check my mail, and when I go anywhere, as a matter of fact, that I leave my vehicle. And that sucks.
So, what does one do? Well, I thought that I was going about it correctly, but evidently I was wrong. Obviously, I am going to continue to pursue this, and I am going to continue to live according to what's constitutionally guaranteed to me. Now, as far as being armed while out of a vehicle within 1000 feet of a school here...uhhhhnn, sorry....as far as being armed while out of a vehicle within 1000 feet of a what somehow passes for a school here, well, that's not gonna happen. I can't honestly tell you that I have ever cast a shadow on that certain area here, anyway, and in fact, I would lay heavy, heavy odds that I have never done so, anyway, so I can very easily abide by that. And, as far as private property goes (stores, etc), all it will take is one request, and I, and my money, will never go there again. Also very easy to live with. But, in and on the rest of the parish, if you see me, you will see my sidearm.
As far as stores go, with the few we have, I can honestly say that I have had no problems whatsoever. Whether people think I am law enforcement, or simply don't give a shit either way (most surely the case), I have never had anything more than a slight, short passing glance down at my hip, and that includes from LEOs....who I see all the time, and who never bother me. One gave my weapon a little tiny bit of the stinkeye the other day in the grocery store, but he looked up, nodded at me, said "hello", and went on his way to pick up milk and bread or whatever he was doing there....just like me.. Frankly, most of the LEOs around here, the sheriff included, are good and decent men and women with more important things to do than worry about someone who is carrying a gun that they can see. Hell, it's the woods out here! We don't have a single full green/red/yellow traffic light in the damned parish, so someone outta look out of place UNARMED is the way I see it.
As the secretary of the Police Jury's email indicates, I probably should have gone to the meeting. Of course, I had no idea until I got this email that it had even been considered, and I only got it because I contacted her to ask her the status. Had I known, I would have gone, but the way I fumble around, forget what I am saying, and lose my train of thought when I talk, I surely would have done myself no favor there. That's why I took the time and trouble to submit such an extensive info packet to the Police Jurors.
What aggravates me most about this ridiculous code is the inherent after-the-fact CYA factor it gives a LEO who arrests someone on state charges (that we all know do not exist). They can nail you and jail you, and then instead of admitting that they had no idea that OC was perfectly legal in LA, they could, if so advised of the existence of this code, later claim that they were enforcing the local code. MEM references meeting a St. Helena Deputy in a MS WalMart who obviously thinks that OC is illegal in Louisiana, and MEM's descriptive name (Kojak) truly bothers me, because that sounds like the Chief Criminal Deputy here, second only to the sheriff himself. Like I say, these LEOs, the sheriff and the Chief Deputy included, all seem to be very decent people to me, but MEM's description was too hard for me to ignore...and I have never ran across the sheriff or the Chief Deputy anywhere since they were in office here, so I honestly don't know what's gonna happen if I do....unless I can get this dumbass code nullified.
So, any advice and/or help would be appreciated. I am entertaining the idea of requesting that the consideration be returned to a future agenda, and trying to pack the house if I can.
Any advice?
