Did I Do Right?

J

johnbergsing

New member
I'm honestly not sure what the laws are regarding this but I didn't want any trouble. We got a visit from a city cop earlier regarding an altercation between my 5 y/o and a neighbor. (The neighbor kid threw dirt into the back if my daughter's head and she turned around and kicked his rear end. The problem came after that when she threatened to shoot him with one of my guns.) Anyway, when I opened the door I immediately informed the officer I was carrying, I am going to cooperate and asked how he wanted to proceed. He asked me to unload it while he was there. My question is should have even said anything? I didn't want to find out how he'd react if he saw the weapon printing thru my shirt.
 
My question is should have even said anything
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Legally...that depends on your state laws.

In Ohio,for now, if an LEO approach's you, you must inform.

At any rate, I've never been treated rudely for informing and would probably inform if it wasn't 'a must'.

Course, I don't live in Canton, Ohio. :p
 
Wow, someone called the cops on that! Pretty cheesy. 5yo girls, the next big threat...
IMHO, you did the right thing. If the cop is there to deal with you on an issue, it's probably best that your concealed handgun not become a surprise to him at a later point. Opinions vary of course.
 
In the few interactions that I've had with LE, I've always told when I'm carrying and it's never been a problem. Idaho isn't a "must inform" state, but I figure that I'd rather have them know up front than have them catch a glimpse and be surprised. Speaking up early, I think, gets everybody's expectations set properly - the officer knows that I'm armed, but probably not dangerous and I know that the officer isn't going to react poorly to seeing a firearm.

Each time I've informed them, the officer asked if I had a CCW permit. None have actually asked to see it, they've just asked.

As far as calling the cops on your child, that sure seems like a case of overreaction. I remember that when I was a kid, if I came home complaining that somebody hit me, the first question was, "What did you do to make them hit you?" Funny thing, as I recall, nobody ever took a swing or a kick right out of the blue. There was always a reason.

I suppose that it's worth mentioning to your daughter that she shouldn't threaten to shoot anybody over something petty, but raising your children is your business, not mine. :)
 
johnbergsing,

No one can try to answer your question unless they know what state you live in. Just add it to your profile and it will show up.

What I can say: good for your daughter for standing up for herself. You do need to educate her, however, on how and when to talk about guns. I suspect you have already done that.
 
I've talked to my kids about this because I had an incident generated from my daughter' school.

My daughter was talking about guns at school and I got a call from the school nurse who lectured me on the dangers of having firearms in the home... whatever crap she read and bought into from whatever the brady camp put out.

How you handled the situation with the police officer is one aspect of this, but training our kids - not just the rules of safe firearms handling, but things you do and don't say concerning firearms (like threatening to shoot someone).

The school my kids attend have a very broad and very strict ZERO tolerance policy concerning weapons, and if a child threatens to shoot or stab another student - they are automatically suspended, pending a decision to reinstate.
 
My daughter was talking about guns at school and I got a call from the school nurse who lectured me on the dangers of having firearms in the home... whatever crap she read and bought into from whatever the brady camp put out.
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countzero

So you told the nurse about the Freakanomics article that showed that the statistical fact was it is safer to have guns in the house than to have a swimming pool in your back yard... Sorry, that's how I see that episode ending if I ever have that conversation.

What I can say: good for your daughter for standing up for herself. You do need to educate her, however, on how and when to talk about guns. I suspect you have already done that.
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motorhead

Yeah, I've had that conversation with my 5 year old also, but she'll still be 5 for, well, the rest of the year and I subscribe to the age of reason being 7--I am never sure what instructions take hold and when. Just gotta keep repeating.

I think you did fine. If I didn't know why an officer was paying me a surprise howdy-do, I would probably tell him/her if I were carrying and ask them how to proceed.
 
Believe me, my daughter got a lecture about not threatening anyone with any weapon. (But I am proud of my girl for kicking that boy's butt!)

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"I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop! " ~Bob Mayne
 
You did right to inform.
Cops are generally polite & civilized... unless surprised. ;)

You also did right to "unforgetably educate" your daughter re firearms threat.
It will pay great dividends to you both downstream. :)
 
You didn't do wrong, but you were under no obligation to inform the cop you were armed, nor to unload your firearm nor to disarm yourself. You were in your own residence, and would have been well within your rights to tell the police officer to shove off, since he had neither a warrant, exigent circumstances, nor probable cause to enter your home.
 
The OP did just fine. He established he was a calm, even tempered law abiding citizen willing to cooperate with a investigation. If the OP comes across as more even tempered than the person who made the call, he now has more credibility.

Doing what post 13 suggests just ramps up the situation with a combative attitude. What the cop asked for isn't extreme and isn't trampling anyone's rights.
 
The only problem I have is, if the officer is in my house, I would definately NOT unload my gun or disarm myself.

I would explain to him that as long as my firearm is in it's holster it is a danger to no-one. As soon as it is removed from it's holster, it becomes dangerous to everyone, loaded or unloaded.

If he insisted I unload, I would insist he disarm himself. After all, it is MY property he is on.
 
What the cop asked for isn't extreme and isn't trampling anyone's rights.
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Well,,, Maybe,,,,,
The OP was in his own home after all.

Personally I believe John handled the encounter correctly,,,
If a cop came to my door in the same circumstances I too would want establish myself as cooperative.

But never forget that LEO's often assume authority they really do not have,,,
They get away with it because they are rarely challenged,,,
That Obstruction of Justice law is very open ended.

It's entirely possible that in a different type of situation,,,
I might have smiled and asked him to unload his pistol as well while he was in my home.

But overall I will second all thoughts that John handled himself well,,,
And made a good decision in a very unusual situation.

Aarond
 
Overall, I'd say that was the right move. Did you have to inform in your own home? Probably not. but best to err on the side of caution, especially due to the nature of the call.

Had you informed or had he noticed printing and you refused to disarm, how long until social services showed up you think?

I might have smiled and asked him to unload his pistol as well while he was in my home.
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I would pay to see the look on one's face if you asked that:D
 
FYI...a clarification. I thought I made this clear in my preface to the OP that he did nothing wrong, but apparently not.

My point wasn't to recommend that he treat the officer with hostility or even coldly. My point was and is that none of us is bound to supplicate ourselves before police officers - and especially not IN OUR OWN HOME just because they are police officers.

The OP acted with restraint and moderation and good judgement - and I commend him for that. But he wasn't obligated to do so. He had every right to tell the cop to scram.

I AM troubled by the cop asking him to unload his firearm in his own home. A better decision/request by the officer would have been to ask him to secure his firearm and meet the officer outside, which is where all of this should have taken place. The cop had no reason to enter the domicile other than to snoop around.
 
Some states require informing an officer if you are carrying whenever there is an official "contact." This would qualify, I think. If the OP does not live in a "must inform" state, I see no reason to do so when in your own residence.
 
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