Carry Concealed

[ek127]

Yesterday, in a relatively quiet neighborhood, I responded on a call involving a male "brandishing a gun". The complainant said "the male stepped out of his truck, pulled out a gun, racked the slide, pointed in toward the ground, crossed the street, and walked into a house."
while outside this house, I spoke to a female who said the male with the gun is attending her husbands CCW class. When I contacted the husband, I saw the suspect male sitting on the floor getting ready for class. The student then quickly reached for the gun, which was in the floor next to him. I told him to leave it on the floor. He said "I wanted to show you it was unloaded" .... No thanks! The instrutor handled the rest!

I've heard a few people in other posts complain about how they were treated by LEO because they were CCW. I will agree; There are some of Officers who may act over zealous when it comes to approaching citizens who are CCW. However, there are some citizens, who are CCW, that cause this. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% for peoples right to CCW. But do it responsibly.
If a LEO receives a complaint about a citizen with a Firearm, chances are, the complainant saw it. I have never taken, or heard of, a complaint from a citizen "bumping into" someone and feeling a gun. Most are about fully exposed guns or someone handling the gun in public.

These comments were not made to offend anyone, and I realize I am referring to a small percentage of people who CCW. But if you do teach, or even discuss CCW, please stress more about Concealment.
My 2 cents worth, Ek

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

In TX - this gentleman would be in serious
trouble. You have to stay concealed.
The gun should have been cased and unloaded.

When I took a few classes, the instructors
were very careful transitioning folks with
their carry guns for class. If you were
carrying, there was a controlled procedure
if we needed the guns unloaded. After the end
of a shooting session, we controlled
making ourselves hot when we hit the road.


You know if I saw a guy get out in front
of the neighbors', rack the gun and walk
towards the house, I would call the cops
also.

Could be the old pissed off boy friend
coming to call.

 

[James K]

Hi, EK127,

Anyone carrying a gun legally must do so responsbily and with discretion. (I won't address illegal carry, but an otherwise law-abiding citizens carrying illegally needs even more discretion.)

LEOs are not immune to problems. I know a man who was (now retired) a detective on a city police force. One day at work he received a real emergency call - wife says pick up a loaf of bread and some milk on the way home.

He is shopping at the super market just outside the city when his coat falls open and a little boy looks up and spots the gun. The kid runs screaming to his mother, shouting, "Mommy, Mommy, that man's got a gun!" Mommy runs to the store manager, shouting and screaming. The manager runs out to the parking lot, where a "special deputy" is directing traffic. The deputy comes running into the store, drawing his breaktop .32 and yelling about shooting the holdup man.

When my friend told the story, I asked what he did. He replied that he shouted "I surrender" as loud as he could and put his hands up.

Sure he was legal, but any other action could have started a shooting episode with possibly serious consequences.

The lesson here is that if you are carrying a concealed weapon, conceal it. Swaggering around with the gun showing is not a good idea for anyone, even a LEO.

Jim

[This message has been edited by Jim Keenan (edited December 23, 1999).]