CCW discovered by a anti cop

Status
Not open for further replies.

oneshooter

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2004
Messages
1,331
Location
TEXAS, by God
Last saturday Loving Wife and I went out to eat. We went to a local Sports Grill as she had won a $25.00 gift check from them. As we were waiting for a table( there were 3 football games on the telly's) I was bumped from behind. I was wearing my SIG 220 in a Don Hume IWB rig at about the 4:30 position, covered by a Hawaiian flowered shirt. The next thing I know the off duty cop( HPD) was showing me his badge and asking if I was armed. I replied yes, and that I was a CCL holder. He asked to see my CCL and I reached into my shirt pocket for the leather folder I carry it in and gave it to him. He looked at it, He looked at me, He looked at it again. Then he handed it to me with the comment "I don't like it, but I guess your legal" and turned away. Our table was called then and we went and ate a very good meal while discussing this.
He never asked Loving Wife if she was armed. She was carrying a Colt LW Commander in .45cal! AND her CCL.

From now on I will try to keep away from crowded venues!


Oneshooter
Livin in Texas
 
It was completely inappropriate for him to ask. I hope you wrote down his name and number. You could post it here if you did. If you'd told him to move to another state I'm sure he would have arrested you. It's one law for us and another for our Lord Protectors. This is another good argument for VT/Alaska carry. I don't need no stinkin' permit!

But it also means you're not concealed enough, which is something I've noticed with others who rely on a beltline carry and a light cover. Consider a deeper concealment.
 
Last edited:
<does a double-take at the OP's location -- Texas?? How'd he find an anti cop in Texas, of all places??>

<thinks a moment>



Ahha! You're in Austin?

pax
 
If it was concealed, then I would not worry about it. The law is "concealed from view", not totally hidden and unaccessable. I would get his badge number and discuss it with his supervisor. I would consider that harassment.
 
Then he handed it to me with the comment "I don't like it, but I guess your legal" and turned away.
At least he knows he's there to enforce the law, and not his opinion, poor as it may be. I wonder, though, what his reaction might have been if it was a traffic stop on the side of a lonely road, and not a bump in a crowded restaurant.
 
I'd relate the incident in a formal letter addressed to the chief of your local PD. If their officers cannot maintain a non-insulting, professional demeanor in the face of an interaction with a legitimate, law-abiding citizen....

This is a problem and needs to be dealt with. The cop needs to be spoken to by his superiors as to what is appropriate professional behavior.

Write down as many details as you can remember and then try to find out the name of the police officer. Craft the letter from there. Be specific, polite, and don't go demanding punishment etc. Just let them know what happened and request communication. And then thank them for doing a tough, often thankless job.

Just my advice.
 
You have a lot more tact than I do.

I would have probably lived to regret my statements and actions, which would have definitely included taking his name and badge number and promising to contact his Chief.

Likely accompanied by the observation that he is not paid to "like" or "dislike" the law, he is paid to uphold it.

Probably followed by a clarification on what being a "public servant" means, and a possible reminder of what "to protect and serve" means.

I would, however, have tried to refrain from the use of the term jack-booted thugs... Even my belligerence has its limits. Sometimes. :)
 
You did well. I'd have been stifling myself from saying "Man, that badge is so heavy, I don't see how you can even carry it." Or insisting on seeing his picture ID and then comparing his face to the picture and making a big show of suspecting that he's a fake and acting like a fake.
 
It was a Houston PD officer. Although we were in the county at the time. I didn't get his name, just remember him flashing his badge. Loving Wife never saw the badge. The weapon was, in accordence with Texas law, concealed from view. The shirt is large enough that it does not "print". The officer, once he IDed himself was witin his rights to ask me for my CCL. Again within Texas CCL law. Refusing to show it to him would be a felony.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas
 
CCW discovered by a anti cop

Harris county needs to stop hiring California transplants.
(No offense meant to our long-suffering left coast brethren)

Direct him to Lawdog's site for an education in how such things are supposed to be handled in Texas.
 
Correction, Cosmoline, it was completely appropriate for the cop to ask. When a cop, even an off duty one, has a reason to believe that someone is armed then it is responsible for him or her to make sure that the armed person is legally armed.
It just wasn't professional for the cop to toss in his own $.02, but I honestly don't think it was that big of a deal.
 
I am not aware if off-duty cops are able to carry without a CHL in TX but I don't think they can.. He probably felt insecure because HE was unarmed and MAY not be able to carry as you do ..
 
Tell him I'll trade him houses if he wants to live in a state where he can run people in for carrying guns in holsters.

No takebacks!
 
ya, i def. would have got the badge number and called supervisor...

at least in texas you can cary in a sports grill place, in ohio we cant carry anywere that serves beer for consumption on the premisis, so no restaurants, bars, sports bars, ect....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i would be beginning to wonder if the bump from behind was deliberate or not, since he couldn't keep his opinion to himself-but then, everyone tells me i'm paranoid!
 
If everyone carried open part of the time the cops with an ax to grind would pack up and move to Jersey.

No matter what the jurisdiction a man minding his own business should get extra attention just because he takes responsibility for his own welfare. Carry in public should not be an issue for LEO or any other.
 
There are "anti" cops in Texas. Not every cop in Texas is from Texas for one thing. This is also a state with multiple different cultures inhabiting the same territory; it's not all rednecks.

Very true. The big city Texas cops seem just as likely to be "anti" as a cop from any urban area.

Small town cops are usually pretty layed back, unless you run into the occasional uptight power-trippin' Barney Fife type.
 
Every anti is a potential convert - even if they are LEOs.

Take a moment and speak with them. Ask him what exactly he means by his statement. Talk with him about personal responsibility for your own safety and that of your family. Talk with him about civil rights. Ask him what his fears or concerns are regarding non-uniformed civilians (as he is a civilian as well - albeit one charged with a public trust) exercising their second amendment right. Find out where he feels that the founding fathers, the FBI, the state government, and the Bill of Rights went wrong and that people should not enjoy your civil rights as free men and women. Does he have any other rights he feels should be eliminated? See if you can address these types of issues without coming on too much like you are attacking him.

You don't need to be antagonistic. Be courteous and self possessed. You have your dignity and have done nothing wrong or to be ashamed of. Speak to him man to man. Try not to shame or embarrass the officer too harshly. Doing this tends to make people simply turtle up and get hostile/defensive.

This is classic force multiplication.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top