[Norm357]

SO I get dispatched to take a pump to Shell Oil in Mobile AL last night.(I am a hotshot courier.Think the Transporter without all the kung fu and hot women.) I get there @0030 hrs and about a half mile before the front gate, there is a road block manned by AL State Troopers and National Guardsmen. It seems before you can get onto the refinery, your vehicle has to be searched. No problemo. So the State trooper askes me if there are any weapons in my truck, and following my policy of not lying to the po-po, I say yes, I have a holstered handgun on my side. It is then that I see rifles rise.

Thankfully, the Trooper had been around the block a couple of times and calmed everybody down after checking my DL and CCW. He was also kind enough to secure my gun in his car so I could deliver my freight.

Thought y'all might enjoy how my night went. :D

[George S.]

Why was your personal weapon taken away from you or did you offer to give it up? If the Trooper "calmed everybody down" then there should have been no need for relieving you of your pistol.

I guess if it was that important to get the pump delivered, maybe somebody could have ridden with you. Was there a sign posted that stated that weapons were not allowed on the property?

[AirForceShooter]

He took your weapon?
Screw that.

AFS

[grampster]

Nice to see the po po cooler than the NG.

[Gunpacker]

Has a condition been declared that makes it legal for police to confiscate your legal weapons there? Seems to me that the situation makes it more imperative than ever that lawful citizens have their guns. What is going on??

[Norm357]

George, the Trooper offered to secure gun my while I delivered the pump. We may have to agree to disagree. I thought that was pretty nice of him because he didnt have to do that. Maybe the price of gas will drop another dime now because shell got a new pump for the pipeline. :D I dont know about any sign, I was about a half mile from the gate. This happened on the (private??) road going up to the gate.

AFS, I suppose I could have told the Trooper to piss up a rope, but that was a 600 dollar job for 4 and a half hours of work. Kids are expensive my friend. I think the Trooper was pretty decent all things considered.

Grampster, I agree!!!

[Norm357]

Gunpacker, my gun was not confiscated. An offer was made and I accepted.

[Cazach]

Was this at a refinery or petrochem plant? If so, most have a "no weapons" policy for fear of "accidents".

[Shovelhead]

Sounded like a good time to say "I have a permit to carry" before you declare the presence of the weapon.
Good thing the Cop was more level-headed.

[Amish_Bill]

I guess a good question might be....

If you turned down the good trooper's offer of safe storage, would that have prevented you from making the delivery or caused you other grief?

[1 old 0311]

Hi Norm,

When you get a M16 pointed at you that whole in the muzzle sure looks bigger than .22 doesn't it :evil: :evil: :evil:

Kevin

[ny32182]

So why didn't you politely decline?

[Sheldon J]

I would have said no problem... as long as you or one of the boys will ride shot gun with me. :D

[heypete]

When you get a M16 pointed at you that whole in the muzzle sure looks bigger than .22 doesn't it
Ain't that the truth?

Same thing with AKs. When I was doing urban-combat training at Fort Lewis, WA, the army had hired these Iraqi expatriates at $20/hour to lurk in the buildings and shoot at us with blanks from full-auto AKs. The logic was that they knew Iraqi strategy, how to set up ambushes, etc. Good training all in all, but that .30-caliber hole in the muzzle (and the sizeable bang and flash, even from blanks) looks quite a bit larger when pointed at you.

[MechAg94]

The question I have is why would the the National Guard guys get more tense when you "declared" that you were packing. If you intended to do something bad, why would you admit you were packing?

Either way, they still should not point their rifles at you unless you are behaving in a threatening manner. I would hope the trooper had mentioned a few things to them after you left.

IMHO, the gun is safer with the trooper than with the plant security guard (if that was required).

[nipprdog]

.

[coonan357]

gentlemen petroleum plants/refinerys are federal regulated / international trade zones which make them a no gun Zone . you should have told him about your CHL before anouncing your weapon . at least he was nice enough to hold it and return it , if you would have been found with it at the refinery I hate to se where you would have wound up . today I delivered at a coal power plant up here in Illlinois(I drive a tanker) and they asked for my pocketKnife ( clip style spyderco ) and returned it when I left . ( I did get a receipt for it )this was a homeland security thing in this instance .

[kbr80]

George, the Trooper offered to secure gun my while I delivered the pump. We may have to agree to disagree. I thought that was pretty nice of him because he didnt have to do that.

Some animials are more equal than others :barf:

[AirForceShooter]

did you get it back when you left??

AFS

[chris in va]

gentlemen petroleum plants/refinerys are federal regulated / international trade zones which make them a no gun Zone

I love it when discussion forums speculate like crazy then someone in the know debunks the whole thing. :D

[Thin Black Line]

Many states also require you under your CCW licensing to declare to
a LEO when you're carrying a firearm. Failure to declare can result in
losing your CCW.

I have no problem with a private business owner, such as a refinery,
saying "No Firearms" (or "No Anything Else") on his/her private property.
It's then your choice to do business there. That's the American way.

The refinery is a special case also in the sense that it gets protection
on the outside entrance from the State due to it being necessary for
the critical infrastructure. However, there should not be public paid
LEOs on the <inside> providing security --LOL, Blackwater gets to
do that and keep their guns while all the other "private security"
outside the gates get disarmed.

[msb45]

Can someone suppply a citation or source of this data?

Many businesses are federally regulated and may be in a free trade zone. Are you saying these are all off limits? I worked in a building in a FTZ and the topic never came up, however that was long before OH CCW.

No judgement involved. I'd just like to know the scope of this. For instance doesn't every oil tanker have a flare gun, if not actual small arms. In a refinery this would scare me a hell of a lot more than a .38 .

[MaterDei]

gentlemen petroleum plants/refinerys are federal regulated / international trade zones which make them a no gun Zone .
Maybe in Georgia, NOT IN TEXAS. (probably not in Georgia either).
The refinery is a special case also in the sense that it gets protection
on the outside entrance from the State due to it being necessary for
the critical infrastructure.
How much damage do you think a guy with a handgun can do to a refinery? You could do a lot more damage with a hammer.

fwiw, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the M-16s didn't have a loaded mag anyway. I'm not saying that that justifies them being pointed at you but at least you weren't probably in any real danger other than having to change your shorts.

[larry starling]

well I guess as long as everything worked out ok and you got your firearm back. No harm :D

[No_Brakes23]

The question I have is why would the the National Guard guys get more tense when you "declared" that you were packing. If you intended to do something bad, why would you admit you were packing? A typical response by the average American male when being abruptly torn from condition White. I can say from experience, guard duty/vehicle checkpoints can get pretty routine and boring, especially here in the states. That warm sense of complacency is swiftly snatched away when the CCW'r informs the NG that he is packing.

That doesn't justify their response, but I am just putting forth one possibility of why they reacted that way.