daddy4count
Regular Member
Last Friday I went to Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation, WA for my friends 10 year wedding anniversary and vow renewal. They held a brief Algonquin Indian ceremony to renew their vows and asked me to preside over the ceremony.
I open carried to the event... and since I was on a brief break from elk hunting I was carrying in my Serpa on thigh mount.
The park entrance is a bridge... a narrow bridge when you try to cross against a 4WD Gator driving back across from the other side. But the two men driving it beckoned me over. They were obviously caretakers at the facility.
I was able to pass by them, but just barely. The driver noticed my sidearm and asked what I was carrying. The way he asked sounded enthusiastic so I expected a friendly conversation.
"Springfield .45 !" I replied.
"You can't have that here. We don't allow guns in the park." He frowned as he said it. I knew at once that I was in for a stand off.
"This is a County park, isn't it?" I asked, very respectfully. I knew the answer because I had looked it up before I went.
"Yes, it is."
"Then I'm afraid you can't restrict guns here. That would be against state law," my statement was met with a blank stare, so I continued.
"I'm really not trying to B.S. you, sir. If you'd like to look it up the RCW number is 9.41.290. It says that cities and counties cannot make gun laws more restrictive than the state laws. And the state law says that I CAN carry my gun here."
"I'm not saying you're BS'n me... but there are families here!" Knowing his "rules" argument was lost he was turning to child safety, as THEY often do.
"Yes, sir. I am a guest of one of those families." Was my reply.
"Why do you carry that thing anyway?" It was the passengers turn to chime in with the 'no reason for a gun' argument.
"Not that I need a reason, sir, but I carry it to protect myself and the people around me." To which he rolled his eyes. That little bit of disrespect almost earned him a verbal thrashing as my first instinct was to open hand slap him... but I resisted.
"Why don't you just cover it up with a jacket or something?" He asked scowling, raising his voice.
"That, sir, would be illegal without the proper license." At this point I scowled back as the conversation was seeming to turn hostile on their part.
They turned, motored off to wherever they were going. They must have returned sometime later that evening because my friend texted me after I left asking what that RCW number was again..? They must have come back looking for me or asking about me.
I will have to ask him what happened... or maybe he was asking for himself since after I told him what happened to me he swore he was going to return home to strap on his .357 for the remainder of his weekend stay at the park.
Just to be thorough I checked the park rules as posted when I left and the website after I got home... I found no mention of gun restrictions, whatsoever.
Just a couple of guys who thought they knew better.
I open carried to the event... and since I was on a brief break from elk hunting I was carrying in my Serpa on thigh mount.
The park entrance is a bridge... a narrow bridge when you try to cross against a 4WD Gator driving back across from the other side. But the two men driving it beckoned me over. They were obviously caretakers at the facility.
I was able to pass by them, but just barely. The driver noticed my sidearm and asked what I was carrying. The way he asked sounded enthusiastic so I expected a friendly conversation.
"Springfield .45 !" I replied.
"You can't have that here. We don't allow guns in the park." He frowned as he said it. I knew at once that I was in for a stand off.
"This is a County park, isn't it?" I asked, very respectfully. I knew the answer because I had looked it up before I went.
"Yes, it is."
"Then I'm afraid you can't restrict guns here. That would be against state law," my statement was met with a blank stare, so I continued.
"I'm really not trying to B.S. you, sir. If you'd like to look it up the RCW number is 9.41.290. It says that cities and counties cannot make gun laws more restrictive than the state laws. And the state law says that I CAN carry my gun here."
"I'm not saying you're BS'n me... but there are families here!" Knowing his "rules" argument was lost he was turning to child safety, as THEY often do.
"Yes, sir. I am a guest of one of those families." Was my reply.
"Why do you carry that thing anyway?" It was the passengers turn to chime in with the 'no reason for a gun' argument.
"Not that I need a reason, sir, but I carry it to protect myself and the people around me." To which he rolled his eyes. That little bit of disrespect almost earned him a verbal thrashing as my first instinct was to open hand slap him... but I resisted.
"Why don't you just cover it up with a jacket or something?" He asked scowling, raising his voice.
"That, sir, would be illegal without the proper license." At this point I scowled back as the conversation was seeming to turn hostile on their part.
They turned, motored off to wherever they were going. They must have returned sometime later that evening because my friend texted me after I left asking what that RCW number was again..? They must have come back looking for me or asking about me.
I will have to ask him what happened... or maybe he was asking for himself since after I told him what happened to me he swore he was going to return home to strap on his .357 for the remainder of his weekend stay at the park.
Just to be thorough I checked the park rules as posted when I left and the website after I got home... I found no mention of gun restrictions, whatsoever.
Just a couple of guys who thought they knew better.