Open Carry - Use Caution!

I know many of us are riders, having come from PNW, but keep in mind not all motorcycle shops, especially those in B-Ham, are not always gun friendly.

A few days ago, a buddy of mine goes into a local shop for service. After it's complete, he's loading up his bike and the service writer comes outside and is pissed off because he's loading prior to paying. While he was loading the bike, his shirt came up, revealing his weapon. He goes inside to pay and the guy is on the phone. He pays and leaves.

A few minutes later, he gets a call on his cell phone from Bellingham's finest telling him the service writer accused him of "brandishing" after they were involved in an argument. When my friend asked that they pull the security tapes, the issue went away.

Guys keep in mind, people can accuse you of just about anything and you having a gun visible makes you an easy target. Most cops will look at both sides but even the accusation by a few boneheads can make your life miserable and not every place has video to corroborrate your story.

Just food for thought.....especially if you need your Kawi or Suzuki serviced in Bellingham.

I'm well aware of the differences between open carry and concealed. I was making a point about when the average citizen can see your gun, they instantly have ammunition against you.

Thanks for the advice on asking a Sheriff about it.....I think I might know one or two.

Jay,

You're right, a holstered weapon in and of itself does not consitute brandishing, however, as in this case, someone makes an unwarranted accusation about a verbal argument and aggressive behavior and if nothing else, you're going to have to talk to the cops. If they say you reached for or put your hand on your gun during that argument, while impossible to prove, it's enough for probable cause based on their statement.

Keep in mind, while agencies are putting out educational memo's about open carry (I helped draft ours) for officers and deputies, not all of them have.....and not all cops see things the way we do. In some areas, hippies abound and will feel threatened by your presence. While I am a fan of open carry and don't want to discourage it in any way, I just want people to think about their venue and consider the occasional trouble maker who might say or do things that could be costly.

I think many of you are missing the point here, we all agree open carry is legal and should be exercised. cops are getting training on dealing with those who choose to do so but just saying "open carry is legal" (or "i have a permit" if you're carrying concealed and someone sees you weapon) does not mean you won't run into problems.

The issue I was trying to raise is that if you're carrying and others know you have your weapon, those who are anti-gun or even just anti you can say you did something "aggressive" and then your on the hook. Maybe it's just a conversation with the police, maybe it's a citation depending on what your accused of you could even be arrested. Any way it turns out, you're impacted by their accusation.

I just wanted to pass this incident along not to start an open carry debate but to make you all aware that this could happen to you. If you have a confrontation, get witnesses, move to an area you know is on video, basically just cover your ass. Realize cops will have to follow up, and it's not always obvious who is lying so gathering evidence to support your version of events may be time well spent.