Ravenwood - 10/17/03 06:50 PM
Opponents of concealed carry in Ohio claim that it is not necessary, because open carry of firearms is perfectly legal. That argument was bolstered by the Ohio Supreme Court, which basically ruled that the legislature had the right to ban concealed carry because open carry is legal. With open carry legal, it cannot be said that Ohio lawmakers are denying people the right to self defense, which is expressly stated in the Ohio constitution.
That said, Ohioans For Concealed Carry, OFCC, has the story of one Ohioan who was harassed by know nothing cops for carrying openly. (emphasis mine)
As I approached, he asked why I had a gun. I said because I can open carry in Ohio. He said no, that it wasn't legal in Ohio. I insisted that it was and referenced Klein vs. Leis and that the Supreme Court ruled I can. He asked to take possession of the weapon and I allowed him to so he would relax.So here is a guy complying with the law, and not hurting anyone. Cops respond to a hysterical "man with a gun" call from some busy-body neighbor, and proceed to give John Q. Citizen the business. Then after they cannot find any reason to deny him his rights, they try to intimidate him into not exercising them in the first place.They ran my ID and the serial number on the Glock. . . When all my info came back clean they had a little pow-wow. . . They came back, handed me back my gun and ammo, the first officer suggested I practice my civil rights in a different way, which I quickly dismissed and told them that if they thought is was necessary I would carry the gun more conspicously (sic). They had suggested that it was possible that my jacket might blow over my gun and then it would be concealed.
While I fully support those in law enforcement, cops have no right to try to coerce someone into not exercising their rights. What would be the reaction had these cops been stifling anti-war protester's freedom of assembly? As for the community, if the neighbors have a problem seeing a law abiding citizen toting a gun around openly, perhaps they should write their state senator and tell him to pass concealed carry legislation.
I'm in Ohio and have seen nobody carrying a gun. Apparently it would seem unusual.
Hunting season is another matter. Last year I was passed (bicycle) by a pickup truck carrying a half-dozen armed camouflaged guys riding in the back, going I guess from one likely deer spot to another. It's a guy thing but I guess it doesn't take root everywhere.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at October 18, 2003 8:50 AMWell, I have heard of your site a few times, but never stopped by. Then found post. Not sure if this will mean anything to you but I had similiar happen today. The wife and I walked to the bank to get money for my wife's trip to New Orleans. I was open carrying my handgun as per usual. This was my third time open carrying to this bank, which is inside a Fred Meyer department store. Young teller at the bank decided I was too scary looking after withdrawing money from my account, legally, so he called the police.
They caught up with us in Fred Meyer's make-up section. Officer K-9 boy decided to investigate an investigation, (per usual), "this isn't harassment, this is investigating an investigation." No crime being committed he didn't have much to do, so I told him I didn't enjoy his company in the make-up section. He told me to calm down and called out a "code 1." This means all the cops come running for back-up. He had already taken my gun from me. And told me I was making a scene. I asked him, "was a "code 1" really necessary? Five cops coming to harass me is what will make a scene." He told me he only called for one additional unit. Yeah, right. We had 4 more show up, within minutes. They sure are busy these days.
So, I am surrounded by officer's giving me their opinion on open carrying, my attitude, and anything else they could come up with. They tried talking with the wife, (who was remaining calm as a cucumber), but didn't get very far, her saying, society has been brainwashed against open carrying.
They knew they had nothing on me, but tried to back me into a lie. Asking for a Concealed Weapon permit? I told him I didn't need one for what I was doing. But he asked me again. (Key to that little misdemeanors is if you have a CCW permit and don't tell a cop when he asks for it, then you are breaking a law). I do not have one, so he couldn't get me on that little technicality. (But, he tried). Also, tried to get me on the whole address change crap. "Is this your current address?" Bite me, yes it is.
Next was the attempt to get me removed from the store. I knew this was coming too. Congratulations go out to FRED MEYER!!! Cops were trying to get a manager to get me removed from the store for open carrying. Fred Meyer managers wanted none of it, and walked away from the officers. Officer dog boy then went back to the bank to see if he could get the manager there to ban me from open carrying at the bank. He didn't know Washington Mutual corporate policy but made a guess it was against open carrying, (I think the officer encouraged him some on this one). So, they had the bank manager come over and ask me to carry it concealed in his store, (he didn't realize it but he actually said, "you have no right to self-defense in our store.") That being said, officer dog boy gave me my gun back and the army marched out to go collect more taxes.
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