MKEgal
Regular Member
Today was the hearing where I was supposed to get my pistol back from the Milwaukee PD.
(Didn't happen, but that's another story of judicial abuse. Have another hearing in 2 months!)
Going into the "safety building" one must go through a metal detector & have bags xrayed.
I knew this, had no contraband, nothing questionable... I thought.
They mis-identified a package of 4 AA batteries as bullets [yes, I know they're cartridges; they said "looks like bullets"], made me open my bag, show everything in it, ran it through the scanner twice, AND I got wanded.
As I was picking up my bag & putting stuff in my pocket, one screener asked if I was law enforcement.
Having run into this yesterday at the Statehouse, I answered, "No. If I were I'd be armed."
Then he asked if my holster was for the GPS. (Never heard of such a thing.)
"No, it's for my pistol."
Then he & another screener started claiming I couldn't bring the holster into the building.
(If I'd said it was for the GPS, would that be OK??)
It's a piece of nylon w/ some padding. There's one strap that's covered metal, but they could easily see the holster was empty. While I was standing there showing my bag & waiting for them to scan it again, & re-stocking my pockets they had lots of time to look at my hip.
I reminded them the prohibition is against weapons, I didn't have a weapon, they'd just scanned my bag & me, & I had to leave. I invited one of them to escort me if they chose, which they did. (Guess I wasn't all that scary... they sent the smallest of the 3 of them, a woman.)
Had a mid-level deputy (Leranth, not one of the real ones, but a bailiff sort of) meet us at the courtroom. He wasn't concerned enough to put down his drink, but told me I had to follow orders of the screener & holsters weren't allowed. Then he asked to look at it. Easy enough; look down.
I replied that I don't have to follow unlawful orders, holsters were not prohibited, weapons were, I had no weapons or other contraband, & asked him to get his supervisor. Pretty soon Deputy Thompson showed up.
Real deputy. Black uniform, SWAT tags. Not bad looking.
He looks at the holster, looks at Leranth, all but shakes his head upon hearing of the "problem". I got the impression there was a "you idiot, you called me for this?" behind there somewhere.
They go away w/ the screener, talk a minute, then the screener & Leranth disappear & Thompson comes back. He's OK. He understands a holster is not prohibited, says "it's a nylon bag".
He tried to say I should have spent more time waiting at the checkpoint, but when I told him how long they'd had to look at me while scanning me, my bag twice, & looking through the bag he backed off. I asked if the screeners would be reminded that it's weapons that are prohibited, not holsters, & he said yes.
If I can ever get the MKE Sheriff's page to open, I'll send a note complimenting Deputy Thompson & asking that the screeners have updated training.
(Didn't happen, but that's another story of judicial abuse. Have another hearing in 2 months!)
Going into the "safety building" one must go through a metal detector & have bags xrayed.
I knew this, had no contraband, nothing questionable... I thought.
They mis-identified a package of 4 AA batteries as bullets [yes, I know they're cartridges; they said "looks like bullets"], made me open my bag, show everything in it, ran it through the scanner twice, AND I got wanded.
As I was picking up my bag & putting stuff in my pocket, one screener asked if I was law enforcement.
Having run into this yesterday at the Statehouse, I answered, "No. If I were I'd be armed."
Then he asked if my holster was for the GPS. (Never heard of such a thing.)
"No, it's for my pistol."
Then he & another screener started claiming I couldn't bring the holster into the building.
(If I'd said it was for the GPS, would that be OK??)
It's a piece of nylon w/ some padding. There's one strap that's covered metal, but they could easily see the holster was empty. While I was standing there showing my bag & waiting for them to scan it again, & re-stocking my pockets they had lots of time to look at my hip.
I reminded them the prohibition is against weapons, I didn't have a weapon, they'd just scanned my bag & me, & I had to leave. I invited one of them to escort me if they chose, which they did. (Guess I wasn't all that scary... they sent the smallest of the 3 of them, a woman.)
Had a mid-level deputy (Leranth, not one of the real ones, but a bailiff sort of) meet us at the courtroom. He wasn't concerned enough to put down his drink, but told me I had to follow orders of the screener & holsters weren't allowed. Then he asked to look at it. Easy enough; look down.
I replied that I don't have to follow unlawful orders, holsters were not prohibited, weapons were, I had no weapons or other contraband, & asked him to get his supervisor. Pretty soon Deputy Thompson showed up.
Real deputy. Black uniform, SWAT tags. Not bad looking.
He looks at the holster, looks at Leranth, all but shakes his head upon hearing of the "problem". I got the impression there was a "you idiot, you called me for this?" behind there somewhere.
They go away w/ the screener, talk a minute, then the screener & Leranth disappear & Thompson comes back. He's OK. He understands a holster is not prohibited, says "it's a nylon bag".
He tried to say I should have spent more time waiting at the checkpoint, but when I told him how long they'd had to look at me while scanning me, my bag twice, & looking through the bag he backed off. I asked if the screeners would be reminded that it's weapons that are prohibited, not holsters, & he said yes.
If I can ever get the MKE Sheriff's page to open, I'll send a note complimenting Deputy Thompson & asking that the screeners have updated training.
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