Monday, September 13, 2010

How to handle police encounters while open carrying

When you open carry a lot, you run the risk of an encounter with a cops. This does not necessarily have to be a bad thing & believe it or not, there are pro 2A cops out there, however when it comes to OC, they seem to be far & few in between and a lot of cops simply are against it.

If you encounter the police, the goal is simply to get on with your business without being victimized.

You need to decide ahead of time how you will handle yourself in an encounter, especially when the cop is fishing for something to charge you with. Are you simply going to say yes Sir a lot, fork over your ID without protesting & allow them to frisk you and risk getting charged with something, or are you going to exercise your rights? Now is the time to decide.

I can tell you from first hand experience, talking to cops I know and reading several web forums, comments to the police like "I know my rights" instantly angers them and they take it as a challenge. While there are many good guys in uniform out there, the job by its very nature seem to attract guys who are on a power trip, so you don't want to challenge their egos, but at the same time you want to assert your rights as a citizen of this great country.

First rule (I learned the hard way) is be nice, never physically resist and do not argue even if the officer is being rude or is totally ignorant about Ohio gun laws. Our laws are complex and we gun carriers spend a lot of time going over the finer details of the law and many of us are more informed than the local police, so keep this in mind. This is not a slam on the police, just a fact. Our goal is not to try to make the cops look stupid nor bait them for a civil rights violation.

When approached, rather than answer their questions, ask your own, simply say something to the effect of " Am I free to go, or am I being detained?" If he says you are not being detained, leave. Remember, the police is not your friend, their only interest in stopping you is to find something to charge you with. You may be stopped for OCing only to be charged with something else.

Second, when asked for an ID, do not automatically hand it over. There is no law that says you are required to carry an actual ID card unless you are CCing & we are talking about OCing, and actually you only have to ID yourself if the police actually have RAS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_suspicion ) to begin with for stopping you, which they will always claim they do, so just tell them your name & address then ask for a lawyer and shut up. Under the threat of arrest as I once was for not producing an ID card, it's a personal call. Looking back, I wish I would have let them arrest me out of principal.

If they do a pat down, say "I do not consent to searches". This may help later IF you are arrested or charged with something. Your lawyer can help with this later.

More than likely you will be allowed to go after they have taken up some of your time and chewed you out a bit. Actual arrests while they do happen, are rare.

I suggest spending time on http://flexyourrights.org/ and learn as much as you can about the 4A. It is very important.

Also carry some form of digital recorder. This is critical. That way it is not your word againt the cops later. Do this even if you do not even carry a gun if you even think you may have a police encounter.

Again, be nice, but stand firm on your rights, they are what separates us from the rest of the world. Again, the goal is to simply go about your lawful business, and educate the public about open carry, not argue with the police.

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