Philadelphia PD won't Look the Other Way on Open-Carry Gun Owners

[PCGS65]

What gets me is why do we need permits/permission to excercise our constitutional rights/the 2A?
Then we still get hasseled/arrested when we do abide by all these unconstitutional laws.

The 2A specifically states
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I don't understand the Philly PD's assertion that he was inviting trouble either.

Fiorino wasn't the one waving his gun around, the police officer was.
Fiorino wasn't the one using inapporpriate language and being agressive, the police officer was.
Fiorino wasn't causing trouble for anyone or harrassing anyone, the police officer was.

If Fiorino had been stopped for this several times, yet not a single time was he breaking any laws, then I would say it was not Fiorino causing the troubles, it is the Philidelphia Police department that has failed to learn from their "mistakes". It is they who are breaking the laws and they who are harrassing and causing trouble for people.

How is he inviting trouble by taping the proceedings either? If they have nothing to hide, then they should not mind the fact that they are being taped. If they mind being taped, they have something to hide, and they should be investigated for corruption.

Sounds to me like Fiorino is excersising both his second ammendment AND first ammendment rights. Philadelphia police officers must not take their oaths to uphold the Constitution or maintain ethical conduct very seriously.

 

[swinokur]

Yes, that's right. Just move to the back of the bus like they tell you to. Get away from that lunch counter. Don't drink at that water fountain. Don't cause a commotion. They're just doing their job.

 

[Vector]

As silly as it seems, open carry requires a concealed carry (LTCF) permit within the city limits in Phiily. Not sure how that works, as its not an issue anywhere else in the rest of the state (as far as I know), but, Philly is Philly, and they always want to be different.

One thing that is probably a good point to it though, at least you can carry the gun loaded in your car (you cant if you dont have a permit) the way they have it set up. If they are worried about the gun being in the holster, can you imagine the ruckus if the cop drove by and saw you standing there, gun in hand, loading up next to the car right after you got out?

That is a good point. What exactly is considered "the proper place" to take your unloaded firearm out of the car(for those states mandating it), and loading your gun and wearing it?

 

[Guns and more]

Just because someone is open-carrying doesn't mean they are legal.

I've been to Philly.
The cops better watch the gang bangers with their stolen pistols in their hoodies, and stop worrying about the OC bunch.

it is the Philidelphia Police department that has failed to learn from their "mistakes". It is they who are breaking the laws and they who are harrassing and causing trouble for people.

Philly cops are one step away from the crooks they watch.
They are above the law, and would get away with shooting an OC civilian. ("He pulled his gun on me." Case closed.)

 

[RS14]

There already is established case law, specifically in terms of carrying a firearm in Philadelphia. The police do not even have reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime being committed in order to detain a man open carrying a firearm, let alone grounds to charge him with a crime. See: Commonwealth v. Hawkins.

Commonwealth v. Hawkins was good reading, and I particularly got a kick out of

The Commonwealth takes the radical position that police have a duty to stop and frisk when they receive information from any source that a suspect has a gun. Since it is not illegal to carry a licensed gun in Pennsylvania, it is
difficult to see where this shocking idea originates, notwithstanding the Commonwealth's fanciful and histrionic references to maniacs who may spray
schoolyards with gunfire and assassins of public figures who may otherwise go
undetected. Even if the Constitution of Pennsylvania would permit such invasive police activity as the Commonwealth proposes -- which it does not --
such activity seems more likely to endanger than to protect the public.

It isn't, however, as relevant to OC as you claim it is: the justices conclude

We do not address the scenario in which the officer has an independent reason to believe that a crime (carrying an unlicensed gun) may be in progress, inquires as to whether the gun is licensed and the person does not answer.

 

[grubbylabs]

Every officer at that stop should loose their job.

 

[xfyrfiter]

Man, Philly sounds as bad as Las Vegas, sooooo glad I live in a mostly free state.

 

[HOOfan_1]

It isn't, however, as relevant to OC as you claim it is: the justices conclude

We do not address the scenario in which the officer has an independent reason to believe that a crime (carrying an unlicensed gun) may be in progress, inquires as to whether the gun is licensed and the person does not answer.

Yet that is not what happened in the situation described in the original post.

The Police Officer obtained Fiorino's attetion with a condescending remark, while pointing a loaded gun at his chest. The officer didn't ask any questions. Fiorino offered to show him proof of license and the officer refused.