Yoda
Member
I was at Representative Castor's Tampa Town Hall meeting in Tampa last night, and I was one of the guys at the "battle of the door" that's been on TV. I'm even on some of the U-tube and TV video.
Before they opened (then closed) the doors, I saw a guy wearing a vest, and it was as obvious as anything that he was carrying concealed. I made my way to him and quietly said, "You're carrying, aren't you?" He gave me an odd look and asked why I thought so, and I told him that he was wearing the same vest I wear when I'm carrying. He said something about liking the vest, then moved away and slipped inside the hall.
He later took up a commanding position at the door. After the fight to keep the door open, some plainclothes police officers came out and kept everyone away from the door. The only thing they had to identify themselves as cops was a badge on the belt, and the badges didn't get exposed until that moment. I talked with them, and explained that until they displayed a badge and identified themselves as policemen, I would would see no reason to treat them with any sort of deference.
As far as I know, the guy I ID'ed never displayed a badge, which makes me wonder if he was some private security guy, or just a union thug. It's also possible that he was, in fact, a cop.
I later talked with a senior police officer outside the meeting hall, and we had a very friendly discussion on CCW. We agreed that the Town Hall venue didn't fall within any of Florida's prohibited categories for concealed carry, but he said that if the organizer had announced before the meeting that concealed firearms were prohibited, then anyone with a CCW would be obligated to leave. I suspect he'll recommend that future meetings like this include such announcements.
One thing that bothered me was the large number of police officers (or secret service?) who were not in uniform and who could not be identified as sworn officers. What would be the impact if I got into a shoving match with someone who appeared to be a civilian, but then identified himself as a cop?
At any rate, below is a photo of the guy with the concealed firearm. You can see his vest in this photo, but you can't see the bulge under the vest at the 4:00 o'clock position. In case he's a real cop, i've covered his face. I'm hidden behind the guy with the beard.
BTW: EVERY cop that identified himself as a cop treated us regular folks with extreme courtesy, even though a small number of hotheads at the door turned their anger towards the cops and gave them a lot of verbal abuse. The Tampa police force did a very good job. There were two guys at the door who acted like real goons, but i never saw whether they were cops, and I suspect they weren't.
- - - Yoda
Before they opened (then closed) the doors, I saw a guy wearing a vest, and it was as obvious as anything that he was carrying concealed. I made my way to him and quietly said, "You're carrying, aren't you?" He gave me an odd look and asked why I thought so, and I told him that he was wearing the same vest I wear when I'm carrying. He said something about liking the vest, then moved away and slipped inside the hall.
He later took up a commanding position at the door. After the fight to keep the door open, some plainclothes police officers came out and kept everyone away from the door. The only thing they had to identify themselves as cops was a badge on the belt, and the badges didn't get exposed until that moment. I talked with them, and explained that until they displayed a badge and identified themselves as policemen, I would would see no reason to treat them with any sort of deference.
As far as I know, the guy I ID'ed never displayed a badge, which makes me wonder if he was some private security guy, or just a union thug. It's also possible that he was, in fact, a cop.
I later talked with a senior police officer outside the meeting hall, and we had a very friendly discussion on CCW. We agreed that the Town Hall venue didn't fall within any of Florida's prohibited categories for concealed carry, but he said that if the organizer had announced before the meeting that concealed firearms were prohibited, then anyone with a CCW would be obligated to leave. I suspect he'll recommend that future meetings like this include such announcements.
One thing that bothered me was the large number of police officers (or secret service?) who were not in uniform and who could not be identified as sworn officers. What would be the impact if I got into a shoving match with someone who appeared to be a civilian, but then identified himself as a cop?
At any rate, below is a photo of the guy with the concealed firearm. You can see his vest in this photo, but you can't see the bulge under the vest at the 4:00 o'clock position. In case he's a real cop, i've covered his face. I'm hidden behind the guy with the beard.
BTW: EVERY cop that identified himself as a cop treated us regular folks with extreme courtesy, even though a small number of hotheads at the door turned their anger towards the cops and gave them a lot of verbal abuse. The Tampa police force did a very good job. There were two guys at the door who acted like real goons, but i never saw whether they were cops, and I suspect they weren't.
- - - Yoda
