hgreen
Regular Member
Here's a letter I've sent off to the event directors and property owners of the http://www.vascottishgames.org/Index.html.
Will post responses when I receive them. I am really hoping to avoid legal confrontations, just want them to clearly post their policies so this won't happen to anyone else.
I really thought I had left this type of interaction behind when I left California!
Will post responses when I receive them. I am really hoping to avoid legal confrontations, just want them to clearly post their policies so this won't happen to anyone else.
to 
rb@greatmeadow.org,
ks@greatmeadow.orgcc
sheriff.fox@fauquiercounty.gov,
paul.mercer@fauquiercounty.gov,
james.fisher@fauquiercounty.gov
subject
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing because of a very negative experience that my wife and I endured while attending the festival this weekend where I was assaulted and illegally searched by one of your hired security officers (in the uniform of a Sheriff Deputy, therefore acting under the color of authority).
First some background, in Virginia it is 100% legal for law-abiding adults to carry firearms for self-defense purposes, either openly (where the firearm is visible, such as a belt holster - http://virginiaopencarry.org) or concealed (with a valid permit), as a right protected under the US Constitution. It is common practice for those who carry firearms for self-defense to also carry recording to devices to serve as evidence in the event they have to use their firearms to defend themselves. Therefore, I have this entire interaction recorded should it be necessary to provide further evidence of this event beyond the testimony of my wife and myself.
Prior to arriving at the festival I spent considerable time searching the ticket stub we had purchased and the websites of both the Virginia Scottish Games Festival and the Great Meadow Foundation to see if there was any policy prohibiting the lawful carrying of firearms for self-defense. Finding no such policy I decided to attend and carry firearms for self-defense as I always do in Virginia. After parking we checked in at the entrance, again seeing no signs prohibiting firearms.
After a few minutes walking through the exhibits I was stopped by two deputies (apparently hired as private security for the event) and was told that my "weapon" could not be displayed, even though I was carrying it in a 100% legal manner (called open carry), just like they carried their firearms.
I asked what the problem was because I was in no violation of any law and had seen no postings prohibiting firearms. The deputies only stated that I must secure my "weapon" in my vehicle because it could not be displayed. I further asked if there was a policy stating firearms were prohibited, they would not answer and repeated that my "weapon" could not be displayed here.
Not wanting to cause any problems I complied with their request to secure my firearm in my vehicle. I felt some rain drops starting to fall again as I was securing my firearm so I put on my raincoat and returned to the festival.
Within a few minutes of walking through the classic car display another deputy approached me and demanded I allow him to search me for "weapons". I asked what his reasonable articulable suspicion was for wanting to search me and he refused to state anything other than claiming that he had one. He gave me no option to leave the premise or opportunity to state that I did not consent to the search; he immediately reached into my rain coat and assaulted me by performing an illegal search of my person and property without my consent. Finding nothing illegal (I am a law-abiding citizen) he left before I had a chance to ask for his identification. Since he had just demonstrated that he has no regard for individual civil rights and respect for his fellow citizen I feared that chasing after him to get his identification would be seen to him as a threat and put myself and wife in more serious danger.
As I'm sure you can imagine these events had a very negative impact on my wife and I, and feeling no longer welcome or safe at the festival, we decided to go home.
It is my hope that you will provide clarification of your policies regarding firearms (if they exist), reimbursement for my ticket purchase and an apology with how you will ensure this never happens to anyone else at the festival and this venue.
Sincerely,
Harley Green
I really thought I had left this type of interaction behind when I left California!
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