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First time UOC.

JBolder

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Messages
17
Location
SLO county
On Friday 12/24 my friend and I left the San Luis Obispo area to spend Christmas with his family in Visalia and Fresno. In Kettleman City, I decided to UOC for the first time (after reading and watching videos on this site for the last 2 months). I had already discussed it with my friend so he had a good understanding of what I was going to do. We stopped at a gas station/mini mart to get some beef jerky and I belt holstered my .45 on one side and 2 full clips on the other side. I turned on my "spy pen" camera and gave him my cell phone/camcorder. A couple of the customers and the two women at the register noticed that I was carrying, but no one seemed to mind. We were back on the road in ten minutes with no problem. What a hoot!

On Sunday 12/26, we were in Fresno and stopped at Starbucks to get coffee for the drive home. I had read on this site that Starbucks was friendly toward UOC so I holstered up again. The girl at the counter must like pistols because she looked at mine and then gave me a big smile and took our order. Again, no problems.

My buddy got a Droid X for Christmas so we stopped at Best Buy so he could get a protective clear cover put on. I wasn't sure of their policy for UOC, but figured I would soon find out. We were in line for service for over 20 minutes, and many people noticed my firearm, including employees. Finally, one big guy (a customer) asked me why I was carrying. I gave him a brief rundown on UOC and he said he had been an MP in the military and wanted "to join the club", so I directed him to this site. Later, store security noticed my weapon and said nothing. I was beginning to feel like an old pro!!! LOL

On the way home I was driving and I got lit up by CHP just south of Fresno, and I was still UOC. He came up to the passenger side window and told me I was missing a front license plate and asked for DL and registration. It was apparent that he could not see my pistol or mags due to the center console. I gave him my DL and my friend started searching for his registration (it was his truck); and sure enough, he couldn't find it. I told the officer that he had been sorting and packing things for the last week because he was leaving in a soon for Afghanistan. He asked for a deployment date and my friend told him Jan. 3rd. He said there was no sense in giving him a ticket if he wasn't going to be here to fix it, wished us a Merry Christmas sent us on our way. There is one good cop for you. Now, if things had gone differently and he asked us to get out, I would have first told him that I was UOCing. Also, I know that even though he could not readily see my belt holsters and that might appear to be concealed carry, P.C. 12025 (f) states that it is not.
Also, due to how quickly we were pulled over, I did not record the stop. My bad. What I learned is that while UOCing, I need to stay in an UOC frame of mind, no matter what is going on.

Back in Kettleman City, we stopped at IN & OUT. A few looks but no one fainted.

A good weekend over all.
 

RockerFor2A

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
145
Location
Lemon Grove, CA
Cool story. My only concern about OC in a vehicle is that if you drive through a GFZ (as in 1000 feet of a K-12 school) is I think you've broken the law. Seems nonsensical on freeways but I don't expect much in California to make sense. :(
 

Firemark

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
445
Location
San Diego
Cool story. My only concern about OC in a vehicle is that if you drive through a GFZ (as in 1000 feet of a K-12 school) is I think you've broken the law. Seems nonsensical on freeways but I don't expect much in California to make sense. :(

+1.... I concur with this concerned comment, It is great you had all positive interactions your first time out, I also had similar interactions my first time, however, you are right you need to stay in a protective state of mind and be always ready for that 1 LEO who doesnt believe in your 2A right, and wants to prove it to you by teachig you a lesson. By which I mean trampling all over your rights, 2A, 4A, 14A, etc. Always Always Always!!!!! carry a video recording device and a hidden backup audio recorder. Stay up on all the relevant penal codes and know where your GFSZ are.

It is absolutley stupid but we all have to overcome decades of propoganda and hoplophobia promotion to get the general public and LE used to the idea that LAC's can carry firearms and they are not criminals.
 

JBolder

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Messages
17
Location
SLO county
I also concur...we were on Hwy 41 and once outside of Fresno it is wide open country with no schools near the road until Kettleman City. Where we were stopped there isn't even a building in sight. I have a lockable hard case I use when driving in the city.

I also agree about the hidden back up recorder. The "spy pen" records audio and video up to 16gb, plus you can write with it! lol
 

RockerFor2A

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
145
Location
Lemon Grove, CA
I also concur...we were on Hwy 41 and once outside of Fresno it is wide open country with no schools near the road until Kettleman City. Where we were stopped there isn't even a building in sight. I have a lockable hard case I use when driving in the city.

Ah-- so you already have that covered. When you said you were pulled over in the car while OC, I was worried the LEO might have been able to deduce you had driven through a school zone.

I haven't even ventured out in my own neighborhood yet. I live in Lemon Grove. My house is within 1000 feet of a private K-12 school. So I'd have LUCC outside that area. I haven't even sat down to map it. Seriously the antis have laid so many traps and snares for OCers, it's crazy. One of my primary concerns is discovering some school I didnt know about at the worst possible time. Sucks being an honest citizen. If I were a gang banger I'd just conceal withou any permit at all. Sheesh.
 

Born2Lose

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
262
Location
PRK, East County San Diego
Ah-- so you already have that covered. When you said you were pulled over in the car while OC, I was worried the LEO might have been able to deduce you had driven through a school zone.

I haven't even ventured out in my own neighborhood yet. I live in Lemon Grove. My house is within 1000 feet of a private K-12 school. So I'd have LUCC outside that area. I haven't even sat down to map it. Seriously the antis have laid so many traps and snares for OCers, it's crazy. One of my primary concerns is discovering some school I didn't know about at the worst possible time. Sucks being an honest citizen. If I were a gang banger I'd just conceal withou any permit at all. Sheesh.

San Diego has A LOT of schools. I was checking out some places i normally go to (to see if i could start carrying there) and wow..it's a minefield. The suburbs have many a snare for the ill prepared UOC'er.

In a free(er) state you would mentally map out the places you CAN'T go. In the PRK you have to mentally map out the few places you CAN go.
 
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Firemark

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
445
Location
San Diego
San Diego has A LOT of schools. I was checking out some places i normally go to (to see if i could start carrying there) and wow..it's a minefield. The suburbs have many a snare for the ill prepared UOC'er.

In a free(er) state you would mentally map out the places you CAN'T go. In the PRK you have to mentally map out the few places you CAN go.

Yep its pretty tough, pretty much most malls are no good, either by 1000 ft or property owner disallows, Dont forget to not only do google/mapquest searches for (school, schools, Kindergarten, middle school, elementary school, high school) but Montessori, charter, religious, catholic, jewish, gateway, etc... Then I would also scout the area not carrying and confirm the address and property lines to be sure, also are they actually a school with a student body, state license, and zoning.

As an example, 818 Santa Barbara Pl. used to be an elementary school, but now is used by the school district as storage and adult and intern training. However the sign on the side of the building says "Mission Beach School" (please look at it on google maps). This is an example of a potential trap for UOC. It was the source of considerable police attention when about 2 years ago a large group UOC'd in that area, they had done their homework and discovered it was no longer being used as a school. However LEO saw the words "Mission Beach Elementary" on the building and were ready to cuff everyone. I spoke with the police chief who was in charge that day after the fact and she told me how she wound up calling the school district, to find out, and said the only reason no one was arrested was because if a civilain called asking if it was an elementary school they would have been told "no it is not".
Now I have researched and talke to the building sup. it has not been inspected as a school for several years and there is no fire drill records and no children are taught there.
Is it safe to UOC there??????
Dont think that an overzealous LEO will still try to nab you on being in 1000 ft zone cause they are just going by the sign, and they have immunity if they are making a mistake. And the large majority of LEO have not dealt with UOC and have no idea how to conduct a stop or detain correctly. They had 2 bulletins almost 2 years ago now, hows your memory?
Just food for thought.
 

hgreen

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
470
Location
Centreville, VA
As an example, 818 Santa Barbara Pl. used to be an elementary school, but now is used by the school district as storage and adult and intern training. However the sign on the side of the building says "Mission Beach School" (please look at it on google maps). This is an example of a potential trap for UOC. It was the source of considerable police attention when about 2 years ago a large group UOC'd in that area, they had done their homework and discovered it was no longer being used as a school. However LEO saw the words "Mission Beach Elementary" on the building and were ready to cuff everyone. I spoke with the police chief who was in charge that day after the fact and she told me how she wound up calling the school district, to find out, and said the only reason no one was arrested was because if a civilain called asking if it was an elementary school they would have been told "no it is not".
Now I have researched and talke to the building sup. it has not been inspected as a school for several years and there is no fire drill records and no children are taught there.
Is it safe to UOC there??????
Dont think that an overzealous LEO will still try to nab you on being in 1000 ft zone cause they are just going by the sign, and they have immunity if they are making a mistake...

+1 Great point!
Another example along the same lines is the Manhattan Beach Police Chief who reclassified a church building as school zones at the 11th hour in an attempt to keep us from OCing at a city fair. We asked the LA DA office for help and they basically ignored us, only way to fight it would probably have been to be arrested and challenge it legally that way costing us huge time and $$.

http://www.southbayopencarry.org/20...ach-police-place-local-school-in-legal-peril/

626.9 Can not be challenged and invalidated soon enough!
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Kudos to the OPer, not only for daring it, but mostly for taking the time to get the lay of the land and his facts straight beforehand. That's saying something!

Yep its pretty tough, pretty much most malls are no good, either by 1000 ft or property owner disallows, Dont forget to not only do google/mapquest searches for (school, schools, Kindergarten, middle school, elementary school, high school) but Montessori, charter, religious, catholic, jewish, gateway, etc...

Does California consider in-vehicle carry as open carry, as in if you drive past a school you're in violation of the federal 1,000 rule (and does California have a state 1,000 rule for both schools as well as (rolls eyes)... malls)?

The reason I'm asking is that my son lives there, and I would never dare run afoul of the law during visitation should that take place in California.

Regardless, please push for a change to the state law regarding the legal status of one's vehicle. Here in Colorado, one's vehicle is considered an extension of one's home. Regardless, on my son's behalf, I've written various members of the legislature, as well as Governor Schwarzenegger, concerning not just our movement, but primarily of the foundations of our country behind our movement, the "lessons learned," if you will, of tens of thousands of our earliest citizens, lessons which percolated upwards, refined at each level by men of similar experience, mind, and fortitude, until a few hundred of them hammered out the finished results in a document upon which was built the greatest country our world has yet known.

The more we adhere to principles upon which our country was founded, the more likely we are to remain a great nation. The further we depart from them, the more likely we are to join the ranks of the many great nations who have fallen, because they attempted the same.

No law-abiding citizen should ever have to pick and thread their way through school zones because some connaiving desk-jockey pushed through a law which is both completely ineffectual and counter-productive, preventing the law-abiding 95% of our citizenry from protecting ourselves and our families anywhere near a school while giving free reign to the law-breaking other 5%.

What utter moron this one up again? Never mind, I'd rather not get sidetracked.

Instead, let's put this and similar laws back where they belong: Off the Books.
 

Decoligny

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2007
Messages
1,865
Location
Rosamond, California, USA
Does California consider in-vehicle carry as open carry, as in if you drive past a school you're in violation of the federal 1,000 rule (and does California have a state 1,000 rule for both schools as well as (rolls eyes)... malls)?

California has Penal Code 626.9 which is the CA Gun Free School Zone Act. It makes it illegal to carry a gun within 1000 feet of a K-12 school unless it is locked up and unloaded, or you have a CCW.

To the best of my knowledge (and my knowledge of CA gun laws is pretty good) there is no state law prohibiting carry of firearms in malls. What we do have here are plenty of malls that have "No Guns Allowed" policies set in place by the owners/management.
 
Last edited:

pullnshoot25

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
1,139
Location
Escondido, California, USA
Yep its pretty tough, pretty much most malls are no good, either by 1000 ft or property owner disallows, Dont forget to not only do google/mapquest searches for (school, schools, Kindergarten, middle school, elementary school, high school) but Montessori, charter, religious, catholic, jewish, gateway, etc... Then I would also scout the area not carrying and confirm the address and property lines to be sure, also are they actually a school with a student body, state license, and zoning.

As an example, 818 Santa Barbara Pl. used to be an elementary school, but now is used by the school district as storage and adult and intern training. However the sign on the side of the building says "Mission Beach School" (please look at it on google maps). This is an example of a potential trap for UOC. It was the source of considerable police attention when about 2 years ago a large group UOC'd in that area, they had done their homework and discovered it was no longer being used as a school. However LEO saw the words "Mission Beach Elementary" on the building and were ready to cuff everyone. I spoke with the police chief who was in charge that day after the fact and she told me how she wound up calling the school district, to find out, and said the only reason no one was arrested was because if a civilain called asking if it was an elementary school they would have been told "no it is not".
Now I have researched and talke to the building sup. it has not been inspected as a school for several years and there is no fire drill records and no children are taught there.
Is it safe to UOC there??????
Dont think that an overzealous LEO will still try to nab you on being in 1000 ft zone cause they are just going by the sign, and they have immunity if they are making a mistake. And the large majority of LEO have not dealt with UOC and have no idea how to conduct a stop or detain correctly. They had 2 bulletins almost 2 years ago now, hows your memory?
Just food for thought.

Yep.
 
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