So I respectfully gave the officer my ID and told him that my gun was registered and I am just mowing my lawn. He asked me why I thought i needed a gun to mow my lawn and I told him that i simply always have it on me.
My response to that question is to ask them why THEY think they need a gun. Sometimes they "get it", sometimes they don't. The ones who don't get it usually respond with some sort of elitist crap about training and duty. I don't like to get into dick-waving contests with cops, but I can guarantee that the qualification score I got on my NC CHP quals was higher than about 99% of the LEO's annual qual scores. And I doubt that few of them can quote NC gun law statutes by number and section either. And few (if any) of them are competitive shooters, and almost none of them are NRA-qualified instructors...
The officer was very understanding thankfully and told me that if I wanted to I could tell him to "pack sand" and that it was my right to carry on my property. I told him I would keep it under a cover garment next time since I have a concealed carry permit and I certainly don't want to "induce panic". By the way I live in Columbus Ohio and I've only posted this on open carry forum for I would probably be called idiotic for open carrying anywhere else. Just wanted some feedback thanks guys.
You did well, considering it was your first time. You maintained a polite demeanor, and you complied in a non-confrontational manner.
However, I agree with most of the statements made by others.
First off, The cop was wrong when he qualified your right to OC as being "on your own property". In OH, OC is legal just about ANYWHERE that you may legally possess a firearm--including in public OFF your own property.
Second, OH has no "stop and identify" law. You have no legal obligation to provide your DL unless you are operating a motor vehicle. You have no legal obligation to provide your carry permit unless you are CCing. Name, address, and "Am I being detained" are the only thing you should say to an LEO...
Third, OH has no gun registration.
Fourth, You should have never initiated contact. Make him come onto your property. Make him initiate conversation. I would have just kept mowing, and ignoring him until he made it perfectly clear that HE wanted to say something, at which point I would have politely asked him to leave my property, because I had not called for him. If he started in with that old "I'm investigating a report of a MWAG" spiel, I would have told him, "well, I'll keep an eye out for anyone who looks suspicious", and started the mower back up...
Fifth, you didn't have a recorder of any kind on your person. You should ALWAYS carry a recorder--a digital voice recorder or a smartphone for video or something. As soon as the cruiser rolled up, I would have started the recorder...
You did OK--no problems, and the cop--although SERIOUSLY wrong about parts of the law--was polite and didn't run you much of an attitude (at least not compared to SOME cops in OH...) But letting LEOs intimidate you with a badge into being servile and overly polite only teaches them that they can walk on our rights without any sort of repercussions.
FOIA the call that initiated the stop. Find out who called it in, and then invite them over for dinner next weekend. But be SURE you are OCing when you answer the door... :banana: