gunsmokeTPF
Moderator
I've personally dealt with the panthers and don't want them carrying opened or concealed.
While I agree that he should have voted and then pursued a complaint that his 2A rights were violated, that's his call. However, open carry IS legal where the incident took place, so why should he be expected to leave the gun in his car? The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2A is a "fundamental" right and that a "core purpose" of the 2A is self-defense. Rights that are not exercised are lost. If he has a right to open carry, the choice of whether to carry openly or concealed should be completely his option.gunsmokeTPF said:This ain't no 3rd world nation. Leave the damn gun in the car, or stick it under the shirt and only a moron would get insulted and cut off his nose to spite his face by not voting.
For me the more important would have been exercising my right to vote, rather than carry.
I am not big on OC, but sometimes when I see the attacks on OC from TFL members, all I can picture is black people worrying that Rosa Parks might get the white folks all riled up if she doesn't move to the back of the bus - her insistence at keeping her seat could cause repercussions...
No one in this country should have to set aside one right in order to exercise another.
However, open carry IS legal where the incident took place, so why should he be expected to leave the gun in his car? The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2A is a "fundamental" right and that a "core purpose" of the 2A is self-defense. Rights that are not exercised are lost.
Come on. Seriously? Everyone involved either needs a new job that doesn't require reading or, at a minimum, remedial training.But the officers could not find a statute that clearly outlined the situation they found themselves in.
After about an hour and a half; the officers, who had asked for assistance from the Election Board, were provided a state statute (35-47-2-1) and relayed it to Edinger, telling him that it kept him from being able to bring the gun inside.
Edinger was skeptical, however, and opted to return home to look the statute up, instead of the solution of locking his gun in his car and voting first as Vanoverberghe offered.
After Edinger left, we began to do some research of our own. We quickly found that IC 35-47-2-1 dealt with the regulation of handguns; specifically, the carrying of handguns without a license or by a person convicted of domestic battery, and the exceptions there in.
There was no indication, nor intimation, that Edinger has ever been convicted of domestic battery; and Edinger is licensed to carry the gun.
It was clear this statute did not apply in this situation.
We contacted the County Clerk’s office, elections department and were connected with the Clerk herself.
Terri Rethlake admitted they had passed on an incorrect statute, seemingly by mistake. She said they had been provided the information by one of the general consul for the Election Board, Leslie Barnes.
We contacted Barnes, who told us she had been given information by the Indiana State Police, and provided us a number to reach them at.
We contacted the State Police at the number provided, but the individual was unable to help us as his equipment was not allowing him to access the state statutes electronically.
He transferred us to the Indianapolis Division of the State Police, where two officers spent the better part of an hour looking for a statute that would prohibit Edinger from bringing the gun inside.
They even enlisted the help of an attorney, who also could not locate such a statute in the same time frame and given the resources they had at the time.
About 30 minutes before the polls closed, Edinger returned to the fire department and waited for a St. Joseph County officer to arrive.
The officer spoke to Edinger and told him that even he, the officer, could not wear his gun into the building to vote.
The officer said he had been told this while working for the South Bend Police Department four years prior.
He could not remember the State Statute that he had been shown.
I think it does.Rifleman1776 said:But my state, Arkansas, does not have an open carry law.
Hence why he could have then made a big song and dance about it after having had to vote without his gun.....No one in this country should have to set aside one right in order to exercise another.
Sigh. You would have him forfeit his 2nd Amendment right in order to practice his 15th Amendment right.
The former marine has the right to vote while wearing his gun but was prevented by authorities from doing so.
Kowtowing to faulty authority is worse than not voting.