Onnie
Regular Member
Last month I conversation with a CPL holder, we were in discussion about CC vs. OC. During our conversation he mentioned that the Monroe County prosecutor spoke at his handgun safety class in 2009. He stated the Prosecutor, William Paul Nichols made the statement that if a citizen who was engaged in Open Carry had five complaints against him for open carrying his office would charge that person with Disorderly Conduct.
As we all know that if the OC'er is engaged in legal Open Carry and charged with DC that those charges are generally drummed up. So I figured I would get the word from the man himself.
Due to my schedule I was unable to get a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Nichols so I figure it was better to write a letter and have his explanation in writing rather orally.
Basically I hit on 2 points, the legality of open carry, and the policy of his office "Monroe County Prosecutor" when it came to charging OC'ers with disorderly conduct.
His response:
This letter is in response to your correspondence dated November 8, 2010 concerning questions involving the open carry of a handgun. Your letter is correct in mentioning that I lecture at various pistol safety-training classes for individuals interested in applying for a concealed pistol licenses. Although this has become more time consuming as the number of classes has increased in recent years, I believe that providing this information and answering any questions is extremely beneficial because the attendees are given a comprehensive overview of the “concealed carry” laws in our state. However I never stated that an individual could be lawfully charged with “disorderly conduct” if there were five “complaints” lodged against that person for openly carrying a handgun. We both know that such a statement is incorrect based on Michigan Law.
Thank you for enclosing a copy of Michigan state police legal update no. 86. I had previously received a copy of this legal update from Sergeant Aimee Maike of the Training and Standards Division of the Michigan State Police.
/s/
As we all know that if the OC'er is engaged in legal Open Carry and charged with DC that those charges are generally drummed up. So I figured I would get the word from the man himself.
Due to my schedule I was unable to get a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Nichols so I figure it was better to write a letter and have his explanation in writing rather orally.
Basically I hit on 2 points, the legality of open carry, and the policy of his office "Monroe County Prosecutor" when it came to charging OC'ers with disorderly conduct.
His response:
This letter is in response to your correspondence dated November 8, 2010 concerning questions involving the open carry of a handgun. Your letter is correct in mentioning that I lecture at various pistol safety-training classes for individuals interested in applying for a concealed pistol licenses. Although this has become more time consuming as the number of classes has increased in recent years, I believe that providing this information and answering any questions is extremely beneficial because the attendees are given a comprehensive overview of the “concealed carry” laws in our state. However I never stated that an individual could be lawfully charged with “disorderly conduct” if there were five “complaints” lodged against that person for openly carrying a handgun. We both know that such a statement is incorrect based on Michigan Law.
Thank you for enclosing a copy of Michigan state police legal update no. 86. I had previously received a copy of this legal update from Sergeant Aimee Maike of the Training and Standards Division of the Michigan State Police.
/s/
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