In to see where this goes

Yay! Another open carrier that wants to screw it up for everyone else!

And he has a criminal record.

We have found our champion!

Locust Street article:

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/09/29/man-arrested-near-school-with-handgun-rifle/

I did'nt screw anything up. Ya know why? Because I obeyed the law. However, The procedures taken on their behalf were not correct.
And who doesn't have a criminal record these days? obviously it's nothing bad enough to keep me from obtaining a CCW.

Thanks for posting this. I Should clarify that I was 1.5 miles from the school, heading in the opposite way from it at around 730 pm. The media makes everyone out to be a bad guy.

Come on, man.  Let's just be honest....you were on probation for breaking laws against taking someone else's stuff.  Regardless of the legality of your choice to carry a rifle, let's not pretend that pushing the boundaries of what you can and can't do wasn't a part of this.  

My intent was not to push any boundaries. In hindsight, it was not the smartest choice I ever made. But It was not illegal. And that is the issue here. Believe what you want. It does not matter. Only the actions taken matter.

Was this the Tard in the Chest Rig too?




Edit: I should have read the thread first

Nice going Champ, did your training pay off?

Are you or have you ever been a member of IGO? because that would likely explain a few things.

I always wondered how that case ended up.   Waiting on 2nd act

Hey, guess what happens to that law once you piss enough people off? Which is the only thing you drama queen open carriers accomplish.

We're on a legislative winning streak right now, and you're only giving the other side the examples it needs to slow the momentum.

BTW, I and many others don't have a criminal record. It's surprisingly easy to do. That fact that you're a criminal with at least one theft conviction tells me all I need to know about you and speaks volumes about your character.

I hope your lawsuit fails. Even if it does I'm sure you'll be back out there "fightin' for yer rights! hurr durr!" trolling for another one soon.

I'm going to reply to this even though it's against my better judgement.

First of all, are you in the military?

If so, I hope someone in your CoC hears about this.  Whenever we would convoy to the range, we'd make some stops at gas stations and such along the way.  Once, we drove 13 hours to Ft. Polk and had our weapons with us the whole time.

We would never be allowed to fool around off-base with our weapons, because it would drive the civilians batshit crazy and no one wants to deal with all of the 911 calls.  At the stops, the weapons stayed inside the vehicles.  If you are/were in the military, you should know better.

If we're going to keep open carry in this state, this kind of thing needs to NOT HAPPEN.

The correct way - if there is one - to get communities used to open carry is to do it in the most discrete way possible.  Dress well.  Wear a pistol in a non-tactical holster (on your belt, not a thigh rig.)  Be polite.  If someone asks you about it, take the time to give them an educated response.  If someone asks you to leave their business, do so immediately.  If you come across any LEOs, do as they say and be polite, but assert your rights.

I can assure you that the public's reaction to a nicely dressed man wearing a shiny 1911 in a leather holster on his belt is going to be far milder than their reaction to someone trying to look like f'ing Rambo walking down the sidewalk.

Doing something like this is just going to get the right to open carry taken away because our freedom-hating masters, who are always looking to "take care" of us, would love to jump on the opportunity to "fix" the law so the masses will be saved.

We all know you weren't breaking any laws and you proved the point, unfortunately you've done nothing to further the cause of Second Amendment rights in Iowa and I dread the moment I hear one of the (D)'s in the legislature bring up this exact case while making the argument that we need to ban open carry.

don't know much about this scenario but in general i have a couple comments.

to the article subject,

-it doesn't have to be illegal in order to be foolish.  we can all agree on that.
-i'm  glad you mentioned in your post it wasn't a wise move.  that sounded like a good reflection of the scenario.
-as you mentioned the media will always be against our movement.  thus, you shouldn't willingly give them fodder to use against our cause.  keep this in mind.  i'm not stating i wouldn't open carry ever, but after the state has warmed up to carry in general like they have in all the other states similar to ours would be a better time to push the outside of the envelope.  i'm sure you can all agree on that too.

to all,

when you meddle with your own rights, that is your business.  so if you steal and you get caught, you get prosecuted or in skozzy's case they let the dipshit go.  <–– insert smirk.  either way the reaction for the action falls on the subject him or herself.  however, in a situation like this, you're meddling with all our gun rights whether we all realize it or not.  so while you may pay a temporary price for an infraction or maybe not, you place us all at risk.  if you want to mess with your rights or risk loosing them, while i'd recommend against it, it is your business.  but don't fuck with mine...

I conceal carry now. So complaining about what I did in the past won't change what happened. I am sorry for hurting ours rights but whats done is done. Theft is never right or justifiable. I have paid the price and have been reformed. Times got hard and I made a foolish decision. Regardless, that is not who I am and not my character. And that is certainly not the issue here. I am asking for advice for the future advice pertaining this incident.

I am NOT looking to stir the hornets nest here... And I am NOT bashing Spart; but I don't understand...



If we want to keep "open carry", we need to ... not open carry??



Agreed



Also agreed




The guy was in his right to do what he did.  "Not the smartest thing", maybe, but, WHY?  Because we ALL don't stand up for our right to do so?  Not one "wild west" shootout, or ANYTHING has happened since this "new law" went into effect and we still cower like puppies with our tails between our legs that we might "insult someone".  Am I going to open carry?  Probably not.  But if I want to then I should be able to do so without landing in jail, or worse.

Guy walks down the street with a firearm.(LEGALLY)
Cop stops guy and ASKS TO SEE PCW.
Guy shows PCW; cop goes away.

What am I missing here?  We get to keep our right to open carry by not open carrying....?  Is it a right, or isn't it??

"MOLON LABE"??... right, whatever.... just talk, right?

Sometimes, I'd like to open carry.  There are MANY times it would be much easier to open carry than try to find the right handgun/holster/pants/belt/shirt combo.  But, I don't.  Know why?  Because I am "afraid" of what "other people' will think.  I don't want to cause a "scene".  Well, I am starting to feel a little "oppression".  Maybe it's time for other people to stop hindering MY RIGHTS.  Time for them to "deal with it"; and get over it!

Right.  That's exactly what should have happened (provided we have all the facts.)

But it misses my point.  This kind of thing is going to cause a stir, and that's what gets the busybodies on a roll.

I've open carried before.  But I sure as shit didn't put on my Level IV body armor and strap an AR-15 to my back, because I'm not usually an asshole.

So... exercising your rights makes a person asshole now if you don't think they should be exercising that right?

If you're exercising it in the manner an asshole would? Yes.

OC is a nice option to have. It is not meant for you to put on a vest and strap an AR15 and head to the mall, and you know it. That shit is nothing more than attention starved drama queens looking for a lawsuit. They are no friend of gun owners.

These type of events serve no purpose other than to give the liberals the ammo they need to convince ambivalent suburbanites that "the law allows this type of thing, we need to change that". Most people are going to agree that some wannabe militia criminal walking the dangerous streets of Grimes with a tac-vest and an AR15 is something they do not want, and I'm sure it would motivate many people to get vocal about it.

Of course this type big picture thinking is discouraged and reviled amongst bumper sticker philosophy spouting OCers.

Fortunatelyt it also gives you something to bitch and cry about.
Look, you're a backstabbing bitch if you side with the snivelers about someone exercising their rights because you don't like them doing it.
In fact, you're worse then they are for pretending to be friendly.
Too f'ing bad for people that think they can trust you.
I understand what you are saying but to pile on him for not breaking the law, is fucked.

So ad homs are your counter argument?

If you think open carrying rifles is going to be the next step forward, knock yourself out. Just know that you will ultimately be responsible for taking rights away from others. You were saying something about backstabbing?  

Rights granted by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not absolute. The Supreme Court has ruled on this countless times. All rights are subject to reasonable limitations, cracks pots who think the Second is any different are misinformed.

100% of average citizens are going to think that open carrying a rifle in public is not reasonable. Deal with it.

Accept the laws we have and OC like a reasonable person, or push the boundaries and lose your rights. It's pretty simple.

I see it as being like this:

We can all avoid incidents like this, and we can probably keep open carry for pistols and people who aren't dressed up all mall-ninja.  This also protects people who carry concealed and happen to let their cover slip, which is good for everyone.  Imagine breaking the law because you grabbed a beverage off the top shelf in a gas station.

Or we can continue this line of thinking that just because we have a right, it needs to be exercised ad absurdum.  Then we'll probably loose open carry in Iowa, at least for a while if not forever, and we'll probably never get it back for anything but pistols if we do ever get it back.  Keep in mind that Iowa has no RKBA enumerated in our constitution - if they decide to take open carry away, we can't challenge it on constitutional grounds at the state level.  It would have to be at the federal level, and take a guess how far that would get us?

Regardless of people's opinions (everyone has one), the issue here is that the police and judge violated the law, and a precedent needs to be set that this will not be tolerated in Iowa. Unfortunately, the only way for us lowly citizens to set a precedent is to sue them.

I wish him luck in this endeavor, and also hope that someday we can change our government so that lawsuits directly subtract from an agency's budget, rather than being passed on to the taxpayers. If my company fucks up and get sued, it directly affect me. It needs to be the same for employees of any entity.

sounds like you have a fair handle on what is the problem and what isn't.  i don't want to see you smashed by the justice system any more or less than anyone else.  as you know, you become an easy person to critique due to the past and current scenarios you've been involved in.  it sucks, but we have accountability for our actions, and i'm just fine with that.  this is how it is supposed to work for us all.  i wish you the best on overcoming the current hurdle.

i hope you can be honest and forthcoming if asked about the open carry issue.  the best way to respond in my opinion, is to state that while it is perfectly legal and was prior to recent 'shall issue' changes in permits, not everyone understands this so you can see how somebody might respond.  

good luck and stick to your new path.  

You really misunderstand me if you think I'm against this on the principle that open carry is wrong.

If we ever want this (Israel) to be normal:



Or this (Switzerland):



We can't get there in one fell swoop.  This type of thing hasn't been normal here in the states for generations, and it's not going to reverse itself in an instant, just like it didn't go away in an instant.

I firmly believe that getting people used to the idea of concealled carry (already happening) and then getting people used to the idea of open carry of a pistol are the steps we need to take long before we start carrying rifles while decked out in tac gear.

Bad examples though I get your point. Both require service and the countries require their service rifles kept. Don't see the US letting you take your M4 home anytime soon.

And I think we should change that.

"Like"

Romper had a case like that a few years back...a suspicious individual was hiking down the road north of des moines wearing camo and a backpack with an ar-style rifle.....I believe Romper drew down on him until the individual identified himself as a guardsman training for deployment....funny thing is, the guy was also a state trooper....even those who should know, dont always use common sense.......

Mods- please lock

Why?  I don't think this discussion has gone off the deep end, and although you are the primary subject of it you are certainly not the only one many of us are directing our points towards.

Probably because he can't seem to get his own story straight:



Not surprising given his history.

Good luck with your lawsuit. I hope you get all the taxpayer money you feel like you "deserve".

You can't quote someone and change their quote.

Guess you forgot you posted that huh?

BTW, everyone can see when you post was last edited, so feel free to run and change your story. As of right now:  [Last Edit: 5/13/2012 1:07:08 AM CDT by somekindofboogin]

I'm not going to give you the link, members can search and find it.

Google can search and find it also, so no reason not to post it: http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=8&f=42&t=291047&page=3

Oh, and since it's all online, it appears that he has been to court for (ignoring various traffic citations) assault, and criminal trespass, in addition to the aforementioned 5th degree theft.

That said, it changes nothing about the legal open-carry issue, which while in poor judgement, should have not been more than a 2 minute permit check by the officer.

spot on.  best of men or dirtbag, doesn't matter.  your rights are your rights.  if his were trampled, then this needs attention.  the unfortunate part is that nobody with credibility can touch this since the person in question has a questionable past.  while this has no genuine bearing on the issue of being held for no reason, it is valid in the political sphere.  unfortunately the political sphere impacts us all in terms of legislation, laws, code, regulation, and most unfortunately the court of public opinion.

somekindofboogin,

i'm going to do you a favor.  while i'm not real interested in getting mixed up in this, the one piece of advice you'd be wise to consider is to discontinue posting on this here and in the carry forum now.  you came to arfcom with what appear to be good intentions.  you asked for some guidance from a known source to you and now you have that.  continuing any discussion at this point with a bunch of net commandos does you only harm.

while you may or may not be somebody i'd choose to have hot cocoa with, that isn't relevent.  what is relevent is that you don't further harm yourself, your case, or our mission.  consider thanking everyone for giving you some help and their reflection, and exit the subject knowing what you have to do moving forward.  what else positive can possibly be gained at this point?  zero...

if you're a fool you'll continue.

best of luck on your journey and work hard not to repeat your mistakes.  i know i struggle with it...

-michael