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Disarmed by VA Beach police in front of my own house on 04-26-2011

wylde007

wylde007

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Jan 23, 2009
Messages
3,035
Location
Va Beach, Occupied VA
ProShooter said:
I have to agree here. Make the call, stay inside, lock your doors.
Click to expand...
Best idea I've heard in the entire thread.

A friend of mine has been in a couple of hitches with the law lately and is trying to get himself straightened out. His wife is estranged and was fooling around on him. Now the guy she was fooling around with is probably going away for a bit - and he's afraid he could be connected to something they were up to.

He invariably asks me the same question: What should I do if X?

My answer, every time: Shut the **** up. "I want to speak to my attorney."

"Yeah, well what if...? "Shut the **** up. I want to speak to my attorney."

I think it's finally slowly sinking in, especially since I said it in front of his girlfriend and she has assured me that she will remind him if he forgets. I think he keeps looking for that "out", but there is none.

First rule - avoid interaction with police.
Second rule - Shut the **** up.
Third rule - see rules 1 and 2.
 
ProShooter

ProShooter

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www.ProactiveShooters.com, Richmond, Va., , USA
Hendu024 said:
You know, I was going to go inside, but I was already grilling out with my family and having a good time before this all happened. .
Click to expand...

BINGO! Right there!

You are outside with your family when a brandishing situation occurs outside your house in the street?

Shut off the grill, circle the wagons, round up the 'churn and stay inside.
 
wylde007

wylde007

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3,035
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Va Beach, Occupied VA
Hendu024 said:
Not all of us have the luxury of having back yards that we can grill in. I figured the armchair quarterbacking would commence quickly.
Click to expand...
Every house on Hafford appears to have a back yard. Most of them with patios and fences.

Typical row-house fare, but sufficient nonetheless.

If you do not want to hear the opinions of others, then maybe you should consider keeping your activities private. It seems more than one person would suggest that your decision to remain armed and publicly accessible was somewhat less than recommended.
 
H

Hendu024

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Apr 8, 2009
Messages
445
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
wylde007 said:
Every house on Hafford appears to have a back yard. Most of them with patios and fences.

Typical row-house fare, but sufficient nonetheless.

If you do not want to hear the opinions of others, then maybe you should consider keeping your activities private. It seems more than one person would suggest that your decision to remain armed and publicly accessible was somewhat less than recommended.
Click to expand...

Glad to see you can use Google Maps. Unfortunately, my backyard is filled with equipment and debris right now because the rear portion of my roof is bring re-done, as is work on the fencing.

I didn't say that my decision to remain where I was in my driveway before the incident was the best idea or what is recommended. I called 911, gave the description of the guy and his house number and continued doing what I had been doing before. Feel free to disagree, I'm not saying you can't.
 
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ProShooter

ProShooter

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Hendu024 said:
I figured the armchair quarterbacking would commence quickly.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call it that at all.

You posted a story alleging that your rights were violated by the police. You called the police about a MWAG, then stood outside, with a gun, and even alerted the police to your presence. As the previous poster said, what did you think was going to happen? I'm not trying to pick on you at all, but back in my days of being in uniform, I would have disarmed you too.

We, as a community are giving you advice as to how to better handle the situation next time. Take that at face value for what its worth.
 
C

Claytron

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402
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Maine
TFred said:
From the description given, it sounds to me like it would be rather stupid to not be armed while around this situation. What if the guy suddenly decides he doesn't like the neighbors watching and starts to make a run at you? Etc, etc, etc...

TFred
Click to expand...

well keeping in mind that the main goal through all of this is not to be hurt. If a guy is waving a gun around then going outside and hanging out doesnt seem like a good step towards staying safe. As proshooter said right after your post, just stay inside lock your doors and calls 911 if you are that worried.
 
H

Hendu024

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Messages
445
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
ProShooter said:
I wouldn't call it that at all.

You posted a story alleging that your rights were violated by the police. You called the police about a MWAG, then stood outside, with a gun, and even alerted the police to your presence. As the previous poster said, what did you think was going to happen? I'm not trying to pick on you at all, but back in my days of being in uniform, I would have disarmed you too.

We, as a community are giving you advice as to how to better handle the situation next time. Take that at face value for what its worth.
Click to expand...

lol, you make it sound like I called 911 and then stood at the end of my driveway with my hands on my hip waiting for something to happen.

I observed him doing something wrong and illegal, not to mention something that makes the rest of the law abiding gun owners look like jerks, so I called it in. Went back to what I was doing before the incident. I can understand not getting the cop's attention, and looking back, I wouldn't have done it, I was just trying to point him in the right direction. But I certainly wasn't going to disarm myself just because the cops were going to be there, regardless of the fact that I just called someone in for brandishing.

Call me stubborn or stupid or whatever, but I don't let someone else's actions dictate how I live my life or change my day or whatever. I was having a good time before, and i wasn't going to change that.
 
H

Hendu024

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445
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Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
TFred said:
From the description given, it sounds to me like it would be rather stupid to not be armed while around this situation. What if the guy suddenly decides he doesn't like the neighbors watching and starts to make a run at you? Etc, etc, etc...

TFred
Click to expand...

That was exactly my reasoning. The driver of the truck wasn't smart enough to leave the immediate area, so the MWAG could have easily gone inside, worked himself up, and come out looking for more trouble.
 
H

Hendu024

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445
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Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Claytron said:
well keeping in mind that the main goal through all of this is not to be hurt. If a guy is waving a gun around then going outside and hanging out doesnt seem like a good step towards staying safe. As proshooter said right after your post, just stay inside lock your doors and calls 911 if you are that worried.
Click to expand...

He went inside after the initial incident, he didn't hang around outside.
 
peter nap

peter nap

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Valhalla
Hendu did what he felt was right and in fact, what he did was legal. He also called 911 on what he considered a dangerous situation. This has been hashed before and the bottom line is the two prudent choices are....Mind your own business or Call a Cop.

He chose number two because he thought it was his duty to do so.

Perhaps he should have gone inside and waited. He didn't though and I am really sick to death of hearing about "Officer Safety".

John has pressed the fact that we don't want to offend our LEO friends. I'll go along with that just as soon as LEO's start being friends instead of adversaries.

I'm just putting this in so our suggestions to Hendu stay suggestions and not criticisms.
 
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Grapeshot

Grapeshot

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Claytron said:
while im not going to say whether i think it was appropriate to call the police or not, i will admit that i think it was kind of silly to put in a 911 call about a guy with a gun and then go stand outside with your own gun on your hip.

I mean a right is a right is a right, but a little common sense goes a LONG way...
Click to expand...

We neither give our rights nor the potential need for self-defense because we have called 911.

Suggesting that it is somehow prudent is IMO silly.
 
papa bear

papa bear

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mayberry, nc
Hendu024 said:
Err.. umm. I was carrying a properly holstered firearm on my own property and this guy was angrily waving a gun around and yelling at a landscaper while there were kids running up and down the street. Kind of a different situation.
Click to expand...

RIGHT ON Hendu024. what is the point of having any property rights if you can't exercise them.
he had a holstered sidearm in clear view. making no threats and even identified himself. should he have hidden it like a coward and/or criminal would do? i thought this over reaction is the one of the things that this site is trying to educate people on.

should we all be disarmed just for carrying in public, let alone on our on property?
kind of destroys the purpose of this forum
 
riverrat10k

riverrat10k

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Aug 24, 2008
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on a rock in the james river
wylde007 said:
Best idea I've heard in the entire thread.

A friend of mine has been in a couple of hitches with the law lately and is trying to get himself straightened out. His wife is estranged and was fooling around on him. Now the guy she was fooling around with is probably going away for a bit - and he's afraid he could be connected to something they were up to.

He invariably asks me the same question: What should I do if X?

My answer, every time: Shut the **** up. "I want to speak to my attorney."

"Yeah, well what if...? "Shut the **** up. I want to speak to my attorney."
First rule - avoid interaction with police.
Second rule - Shut the **** up.
Third rule - see rules 1 and 2.
Click to expand...
/quoteBINGO! Right there!

You are outside with your family when a brandishing situation occurs outside your house in the street?

Shut off the grill, circle the wagons, round up the 'churn and stay inside.



Agree with Wylde. And Proshooter. God, what a couple! Is this a first? Although, I understand your point about being a witness. However, I think proshooter is most right, with wylde right behind. Keep the cops outta it if at all possible, and run and hide. You will live longer.
 
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