Posted: 5/13/2008 10:30:34 AM EDT
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Please hit this poll concerning open carry law in Pa. It stems from the open carry incident in Dickson City. Please keep the link cold. http://pahomepage.com/ It is on the left side about a third of the way down. Thank You Jack |
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I just got back from the Dickson City town council meeting re: the incident at Old Country Buffet. Now I wasn't present on the evening in question, but here’s a very brief summary of the facts that I've learned: -On 5/09, 8+ open carriers traveled to OCB (Old Country Buffet) in Dickson City with their families/children for dinner -One of these guys is friendly with an OCB manager and has open carried there several times without problem -presumably a patron at OCB called 911 and reported several armed men -Several Dickson City PD officers responded -DCPD ordered all men with guns to a separate area of the resturant. The DCPD requested all guns handed over so that they could run them in the PA gun "registry" to check if they are "registered" -one OC'ers wife began video taping the police interaction, she was reportedly told by an officer that she would be arrested if she didn't turn the camera off -One OC'er did not produce identification and he was arrested. He was put in a police car while officers discussed the legality of OC. Several OC'ers stated at the meeting that at least one officer stated that OC was not illegal -The OC'er who was arrested was later "unarrested", however his gun was confiscated by the DCPD who stated that he can have it back when he produces proof of ownership. To the best of everyone’s knowledge, the pistol is still in the posession of the cheif of police. -Police cheif admitted on WILK radio that OC'ers broke no laws at any time. I have never open carried and I probably never will in a public place. I think it draws too much unwanted attention. However, I support any qualified, law-abiding citizen’s right to open carry. There were many troubling issues with the way the police treated the OC'ers. I went to the council meeting to show my support for my fellow gun owners. |
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OC or CC...if Obama gets elected, he'll push for a National ban on any type of carry for personal defense! "Obama supports extending the assault weapons ban, limits on gun sales, and a national law against carrying concealed weapons, with exceptions for retired police and military personnel." -CNN Political Ticker I fear it's all going to get much worse come January if we don't have another 2A grassroots movement like in 2000.  Mickey |
Both opposing points of view were voiced at the meeting. I thought the open carry side did a fantastic job. Not so much for the anti’s. The OC’ers used case law, facts, and logical thought to rebut the nonsense from the council. The primary focus of the council was that open carrying makes them uneasy. The fact that the police dept violated the OC'ers rights was not a concern at all for the city, they backed the police response 100%. For example, an anti woman at the meeting equated carrying a gun to pornography. She said neither porn nor gun carrying are welcome in "her city". Ironically, there is a prominently displayed porn shop on the main road that runs through Dickson City. It's about a mile from where the meeting was held and it's been there for as long as I can remember. The media coverage was also a joke. They said basically everyone at the meeting was there to back the city and police. At least 50% of the people in the small room were there to support the OC’ers, dozens were just outside of the packed room standing in the hall, and virtually all of these folks supported the OC’ers. I'm about 2 miles from Dickson City as I type this. I've never open carried before, but I am very tempted to strap on my P226 and go buy some motor oil at Wal-Mart. |
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Be real, everyone involved in this "event" behaved badly. Q; What happened the last time someone tried to shove their views down your throat? You pulled back and judged that person as a person to be avoided. A more intelligent course of action would have been to go to the Police and the local gov. and T-A-L-K to them first. Explain the laws concerning OC'ing in PA, allow them time to research the laws, realize that in fact OC'ing is legal in PA, then the LEO's response to this "event" would have been very different. This will not end well with this Actor. All OC & CCW carriers got hurt that day. "First do no harm." |
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Great points!
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