cops harassing man legally carrying gun

[Oggie]

Hey XL,

Firstly apologies for the silence - not due to disinterest ! Was away on business. Sometimes I do manage to fit in some work in between my busy life on this wonderful forum
Ok- I think to sum it up from my end. You made a statement in an earlier post saying that you were not keen to open carry but supported the right to. That's great and I'm completely with you on that. What I frown upon is that there are a whole heap of people that seem to want to bait cops by open carrying. They have camera's rolling and ready and almost count down till the policeman arrives. They open carry not because they need to but because they want to do it for their 10 mins of You Tube fame. Also I do understand the values that America was founded on and the American constitution is a wonderful one. It wonderful to see the sometimes polarised but always engaging and passionate discussions/debates on American issues. I too would support the right to open carry with one caveat. That being please conceal it if it upsets anyone. I come from New Zealand. We have grown up around firearms and on a per capita ownership of firearms basis we are right at the top. Yet our gun crime rates are probably the lowest in the world. I own various firearms, hunt avidly and am a vocal advocate of responsible gun ownership. I also believe in complete freedom of speech and expression hence will express my humble opinion again. Now I will not bend out of shape but please dont yourself either
It is my opinion and opinion only that there is no need to open carry especially as it can bring out fears in people who have mindsets about open carry. Concealed carry is absolutely OK by me. Now if however one is in a rural farming area or a sparsely populated area where firearms are not regarded as evil tools that take lives and most people have grown up with exposure to them open carry is absolutely cool. I guess my point is - as responsible firearm owners one should be considerate of people. Ok - that's my bit - have enjoyed this session.
Best wishes,
Oggie

[xl_target]

Oggie,
I actually agree with most of what you say. Though there are a few things that I do want to address.

Ok- I think to sum it up from my end. You made a statement in an earlier post saying that you were not keen to open carry but supported the right to. That's great and I'm completely with you on that. What I frown upon is that there are a whole heap of people that seem to want to bait cops by open carrying. They have camera's rolling and ready and almost count down till the policeman arrives. They open carry not because they need to but because they want to do it for their 10 mins of You Tube fame.

As far as baiting the cops go; when a person is following the law and the cops hassle you for doing that, it behooves you to have some way to record that as it would only be your word against the cops when you do go to court. Cops have been known to lie about what actually transpired. Sure there are some people whose goal is to put something controversial on YouTube but there are plenty of legitimate cases out there. In fact, the standard advice when you carry (even a concealed weapon) is to have some sort of recording device with you. Regardless of what the law says, there are a lot of cops out there who feel that their authority is being challenged when they see a civilian with a handgun whether it is concealed or not. You are not going to win when the cop makes his stop. Only by documenting cases of harassment and using that documentation to win in court (and thus making the cop's employers pay for these transgressions of the law) can you get these cops to follow the law.

Don't get me wrong, the vast majority of cops are dedicated guardians of the law and take their "to serve and protect" motto seriously. They have a tough and dangerous job and one that I wouldn't want to do. I admire and respect most of them. However, there are some in their ranks who have serious complexes about themselves and the job that they are supposed to do. It is to protect oneself from them and their excesses that many American permit holders routinely carry recording devices. With the law being established for so many years, there really shouldn't be so many cases, of egregious behavior on the part of law enforcement, on YouTube.

There are a lot of things we don't do because it is against the law. As law abiding citizens, we suck it up an follow the law. It is the penalty we pay to have law and order in our communities and we do that gladly.
It is time for those who don't like guns to suck it up and follow the law too.