CheerfulHoplite
Regular Member
So tonight, as usual for me, I strap on my S&W model 15-1 before I leave the property to get some smokes and groceries. Purely on whim, I decide that tonight is going to be an open carry night (I have my CPL, so I'm perfectly happy either way - seems to be about 50-50 which way I go on any given day), and tuck in my shirt to make it so. As per my standard drill, check the loads and clear barrel, and drop a filled speedloader in my weak side pocket, then hop in the car, and away I go.
As I generally do, I park about 3/4 of the parking lot away from the store, straight out from the north entrance - this facilitates going to the smoke shop across the lot from Freddy's. I cross the parking lot without issue, observed by a couple Coho Cafe employees and a fellow from Car Toys standing out back on their smoke break. Also as usual, when I walk into the smoke shop (CigarLand, behind Coho Cafe) the asian fellow who usually serves me (and has noted my piece on multiple occasions when I've been OC - twice commenting on it in a clearly "not concerned, just noticing" manner) pops out of his cubby in the back, and I flip him a "two packs, please" hand signal (I'm regular enough there that I don't need to be any more specific than that) which he promptly and courteously takes care of. We exchange merchandise, cash, and pleasantries, and I'm on my way.
Cross back to my car to drop my smokes in, then continue on into Freddy's. On the way in, I feel some eyeball tracks growing on my back, and look around to see a couple who appear to be india-indians giving me the semi-hairy eye from behind the windshield of their SUV, smile, wave and continue on my way. They apparently decide I'm harmless, and that's the last I know of them. Inside, do my shopping, check out through the nice short line in the "family friendly" lane, and head for the car. There's a fellow following me (Well, turns out not "following" - he was parked two spots closer to the store than me - I just happened to be ahead of him) and once I get to the car and I'm almost done stuffing my purchases into the back seat, he hails me -
Him: "Hey guy, you always carry that thing around like that?"
Me: "Uh... Which thing?"
Him: "That gun on your belt."
Me: "Eh... not ALWAYS, but often. Sometimes it's under my shirt or jacket."
Him: "Nobody gives you any trouble?"
Me: "Not so far." (prior to this, aside from the proprietor of the smoke shop noticing that it's there, I've had two comments on it - one "nice piece", one "is that a Smith & Wesson?")
Him: "Even in the store? You walk around with it showing like that?"
Me: "Yah...?"
Him: "Has anybody seen it?"
Me: "Dunno. I imagine so. Oh, wait, yeah, the other night, one of the stockers, or maybe it was a cart guy, noticed it when I was grabbing a box of cereal - He said something like 'Nice piece', then went about his business."
Him: "Wow - Last time I tried that, the Issaquah police gave me a hard time - tried to tell me I was brandishing or something like that."
Me: "Uh... the scuttlebutt I've heard says that Issaquah and Bellevue PD are both pretty well up on the law and know it's legal."
Him: "Well, they gave me a hard time, so I had to go get a concealed permit."
Me: "Eh - I've got one of those, too. I just decided to go open tonight."
After a bit more chit-chat about the legality, we parted ways.
Anybody else got any Issaquah info? I have yet to have any LEO contact while carrying (open or otherwise) but I've been told by at least three people now that Issaquah PD is "educated" about the legality, although they've been known to be a bit less than "happy" about "civilians" packing. I've also been told that Bellevue PD is both "educated" and "friendly". And of course, Sheriff Sue and her staff is not only educated AND friendly, but actually encourages the folks under her stretched-thin protection to keep and/or bear, since she's realist enough to understand how true the "when seconds count, our officers are only minutes away" concept is. I've also been warned that the WSP seem to be "educated but hostile", and that if I get stopped by them, I should expect to have my piece confiscated "for officer safety", and returned in a bag, as disassembled as possible.
Anybody else here got any observations on any of these bits of "I've been told..."? True? False? Somewhere in between?
As I generally do, I park about 3/4 of the parking lot away from the store, straight out from the north entrance - this facilitates going to the smoke shop across the lot from Freddy's. I cross the parking lot without issue, observed by a couple Coho Cafe employees and a fellow from Car Toys standing out back on their smoke break. Also as usual, when I walk into the smoke shop (CigarLand, behind Coho Cafe) the asian fellow who usually serves me (and has noted my piece on multiple occasions when I've been OC - twice commenting on it in a clearly "not concerned, just noticing" manner) pops out of his cubby in the back, and I flip him a "two packs, please" hand signal (I'm regular enough there that I don't need to be any more specific than that) which he promptly and courteously takes care of. We exchange merchandise, cash, and pleasantries, and I'm on my way.
Cross back to my car to drop my smokes in, then continue on into Freddy's. On the way in, I feel some eyeball tracks growing on my back, and look around to see a couple who appear to be india-indians giving me the semi-hairy eye from behind the windshield of their SUV, smile, wave and continue on my way. They apparently decide I'm harmless, and that's the last I know of them. Inside, do my shopping, check out through the nice short line in the "family friendly" lane, and head for the car. There's a fellow following me (Well, turns out not "following" - he was parked two spots closer to the store than me - I just happened to be ahead of him) and once I get to the car and I'm almost done stuffing my purchases into the back seat, he hails me -
Him: "Hey guy, you always carry that thing around like that?"
Me: "Uh... Which thing?"
Him: "That gun on your belt."
Me: "Eh... not ALWAYS, but often. Sometimes it's under my shirt or jacket."
Him: "Nobody gives you any trouble?"
Me: "Not so far." (prior to this, aside from the proprietor of the smoke shop noticing that it's there, I've had two comments on it - one "nice piece", one "is that a Smith & Wesson?")
Him: "Even in the store? You walk around with it showing like that?"
Me: "Yah...?"
Him: "Has anybody seen it?"
Me: "Dunno. I imagine so. Oh, wait, yeah, the other night, one of the stockers, or maybe it was a cart guy, noticed it when I was grabbing a box of cereal - He said something like 'Nice piece', then went about his business."
Him: "Wow - Last time I tried that, the Issaquah police gave me a hard time - tried to tell me I was brandishing or something like that."
Me: "Uh... the scuttlebutt I've heard says that Issaquah and Bellevue PD are both pretty well up on the law and know it's legal."
Him: "Well, they gave me a hard time, so I had to go get a concealed permit."
Me: "Eh - I've got one of those, too. I just decided to go open tonight."
After a bit more chit-chat about the legality, we parted ways.
Anybody else got any Issaquah info? I have yet to have any LEO contact while carrying (open or otherwise) but I've been told by at least three people now that Issaquah PD is "educated" about the legality, although they've been known to be a bit less than "happy" about "civilians" packing. I've also been told that Bellevue PD is both "educated" and "friendly". And of course, Sheriff Sue and her staff is not only educated AND friendly, but actually encourages the folks under her stretched-thin protection to keep and/or bear, since she's realist enough to understand how true the "when seconds count, our officers are only minutes away" concept is. I've also been warned that the WSP seem to be "educated but hostile", and that if I get stopped by them, I should expect to have my piece confiscated "for officer safety", and returned in a bag, as disassembled as possible.
Anybody else here got any observations on any of these bits of "I've been told..."? True? False? Somewhere in between?
