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Question about securing sidearm while in a courthouse.

skidmark

skidmark

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darthmord,

Good luck to you. Please let us know how things go.

My biased opinion is that you are going to need to get arrested and fight the case to see if any judge will in fact agree that the bounds of the courthouse are inside the buikding as opposed to being minimally at the outside edge of the walls.

stay safe.
 
ed

ed

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Loudoun County - Dulles Airport, Virginia, USA
skidmark said:
darthmord,

Good luck to you. Please let us know how things go.

My biased opinion is that you are going to need to get arrested and fight the case to see if any judge will in fact agree that the bounds of the courthouse are inside the buikding as opposed to being minimally at the outside edge of the walls.

stay safe.
Click to expand...
and if ya do that, get 1 or two of us there with video cams
 
F

FFchris

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Loudoun Co, VA
I'll be going to the Leesburg courthouse later today after stopping by the sheriff's office with my SO so she can apply for her permit. I'll ask while at the the Sheriff's Office since they provide court security. Hopefully they'll say it's ok to carry inside in order to lock it up before passing through security, otherwise I'll lock it up before heading inside. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
 
ed

ed

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FFchris said:
That is what I'm wondering about, in regards to the lobby area before passing through security. If I can lock it up in the lockers there before passing through would, in my opinion, be better than securing it in the car. I don't want to find out the hard way while I take my SO there (so she can submit her carry application to the clerk of the court) sometime next week.
Click to expand...

ed said:
I know that is what you are wondering about.. I sent an email today and asked. Ed
Click to expand...

Email from Loudoun Sheriff received today:
"We have investigated this matter and determined the deputy was incorrect in this incident. Our staff had misinterpret an order issued by the judges prohibiting weapons in the court buildings to include the grounds also. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we are correcting our practice. For several reason, I cannot allow weapons to stored in the lock boxes at the court entrance. If there are further questions regarding this matter please contact me."
 
F

FFchris

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Got an answer

While I was with my SO waiting for her background check to go though at LCSO, the lady at the front desk called over to the court house to ask for me about locking my sidearm in the lockers just inside the front doors. She told me that I wouldn't be allowed to carry inside. Having been told that, I reluctantly locked it in the glovebox before heading into the Leesburg courthouse. The lockers inside are very small (maybe a 4x5 in opening). I don't think my G22 and spare mag would've fit in it anyway.

After conducting our business, I decided to ask one of the deputies on the way out. The deputy (forgot his name) said I couldn't use the lockers to secure my sidearm. According to him, I would've been in trouble for having it on me within the rod iron fence surrounding most of the grounds. On the way out, we noticed a large sign thats on the wall just to the right of the doors (if walking in, it to the wall behind you to the left) list everything that's prohibited inside. Too bad you have to turn around when you come in to see it.
 
ed

ed

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FFchris said:
According to him, I would've been in trouble for having it on me within the rod iron fence surrounding most of the grounds.
Click to expand...
rodiron.jpg


And according to his boss, that's not true.
 
Last edited:
Old Virginia Joe

Old Virginia Joe

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FFchris said:
While I was with my SO waiting for her background check to go though at LCSO, the lady at the front desk called over to the court house to ask for me about locking my sidearm in the lockers just inside the front doors. She told me that I wouldn't be allowed to carry inside. Having been told that, I reluctantly locked it in the glovebox before heading into the Leesburg courthouse. The lockers inside are very small (maybe a 4x5 in opening). I don't think my G22 and spare mag would've fit in it anyway.

After conducting our business, I decided to ask one of the deputies on the way out. The deputy (forgot his name) said I couldn't use the lockers to secure my sidearm. According to him, I would've been in trouble for having it on me within the rod iron fence surrounding most of the grounds. On the way out, we noticed a large sign thats on the wall just to the right of the doors (if walking in, it to the wall BEHIND YOU to the left) list everything that's prohibited inside. Too bad you have to TURN AROUND when you come in to see it.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! You have to look backwards to see the sign? How ridiculous! That, along with all the typographical and grammatical errors in the email response make me wonder just what kind of Bubbas Gump they have running that county.
 
skidmark

skidmark

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Not to mention the possibility that Ed may have mistyped.

It could happen!

stay safe.
 
F

FFchris

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To make sure I understand correctly, what's the correct procedure that the Sheriff was talking about? When was/is this being corrected? If it was, that wasn't the case yesterday.
 
ed

ed

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Ed's understanding..

The "courthouse building" in Leesburg has magnetometers as 15 feet into the doorway. With old "Post Office" boxes as "lockers" to lock up your cell phones (those with camera, etc.).

It is my understanding that you can't even enter that building carrying. It is also my understanding that you can carry on the "grounds" of that building. Apparently some deputy said you can;t and I believe that is what the Sheriff said he would correct. If you have further questions, why not email him directly or call him for your specific answer?
 
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