I saw something Alarming!

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TheBigBulgarian

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Hello all,
Just wanted to share what I saw. Would Like to hear what you think as well.

Ok me and the wife went to the store and on the way back as I pull out from the store parking lot onto a major road (Frankford Ave to those familiar with the area) I notice about 25 yards ahead at the bus stop a man in uniform doing something above the trash can next to the bus stop sign. As I am making a lest turn I had to look to the right to check for cars as soon as I made the turn I focused on him and OH MY GOD HE HAS A GUN. My wife screams. Well the dude was loading his revolver while waiting for the bus. He had the box of ammo sitting on top of the trash can. As I drove by he proceeded to holster his revolver and put the ammo box in his pants pocket.
The whole time he was very oblivious to his surroundings just concentrating on what he was doing.
There is a Gun Shop on the corner so I am assuming that he just got the ammo from there. Oh yeah and he wasn't a Police Officer, He was an armed security guard or an Armored Truck driver or personnel.
It was around 5:30pm so it was a lot of traffic up and down the street.
Now in PA to be an armed security you have to take 40 hour course. I think it is Act 235. Now I do not know all about it, but I am sure they teach you better than load your gun in the middle of the street as you are waiting for the bus.
Now what really disturbed me and I know it is very wrong and prejudice but again very few people aren't. This guy at first look appears to be a little mentally challenged. And I know I haven't talked to the guy so I don't know if he is or not.
The next day I was driving home from work on another major road and who do I see same guy huffing and puffing in his uniform and a back pack on with his revolver on the hip and looked like he was talking to himself. I was a traffic light so I got a better look at him and it was even more disturbing he really looks like he has a mental problem, it could be just that it is a physical one that is making him look like a mental case, but most of us have had a mental case in your high school or college the ones that always look at the ground and mumbles. Well thats him.

This really convinced me that not all people should own firearms and especially not all people should be allowed to carry them or use them as a "work tool".

I mean come on how many times have you seen or you have loaded your revolver at the bus stop.
 
I just reread the original post. I will have to state that based upon the evidence.....................


...................I have no opinion!
 
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Wierd...

If your state allows open carry, this guy might be within his rights. There are no laws against looking like someone who's cognitively disabled while carrying a firearm. And technically, if he hasn't been adjudicated mentally defective, then he could still legally buy a gun. Some people have bad social skills and talk to themselves, but they are still smart guys. I've known people who talk to themselves, met them in high school, and the ones I've known are whiz kids.

All things considered, I would call the cops, even though this might just be a guy with social skills problems. Its too wierd to risk.
 
Was he doing anything illegal with the revolver? Was he breaking any laws (open carry illegal or not?)? If so, then call the police.

If not, don't worry about it. A gun is a powerful tool, but merely a tool. If someone is not breaking a law, don't start screaming.
 
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This is not an RKBA issue at all. Does not matter if he had the gun for a legitamate purpose or not. If you see something out of the ordinary that is potentially dangerous you should call the Police. And the time to call was THEN, when you where witnessing the problem. You let it go untill the next day ! ! ! Even if this guy where a uniformed police officer or deputy he had no business playing around with his gun out on the street. You should have followed your instincts and reported it THEN. Im sure the cops in your city would much prefer responding to a "man with a gun" call than a "man shooting people on the bus" call.

By the way not Flaming you....its a live and learn kinda thing. Who knows had circumstances been different you might have prevented a mass shooting.....and those really hurt the cause of gun rights.

Mike
 
FYI, open carry on foot (not in your automobile) is lawful in PA, except in PHL.

It is also lawful in PHL, _IF_ you have an LTCF.

Loading your gun on the street? Err......not unlawful, but not exactly a great idea either.:scrutiny:
 
Might have been using Blue Tooth or even a wired ear piece/mic to talk on the phone. It is easy to miss the ear piece if you are not close and people do look like they are conversing with themselves when they use them.
 
If the guys is licensed by the state as armed security he is probably not 10-96. If he is licensed then what he did was stupid but not necessarily cause to contact the police. I would however urge you to contact what ever security company he works for and voice your concerns there. I am certain they have SOP concerning public conduct and unholstering his weapon while in uniform.
 
You are overreacting, IMHO.
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+ 1 Sorry, but I think your making too much out of seeing a gun being loaded and letting the imagination run a little amuck when it comes to "looks like a nut" If some of you who carry concealed happen to print , I doubt wether you would feel someone should "call the cops" as the best response.

I thought it was mostly people who were afraid of guns that would have this type re-action .

Just My Opinion.
 
I don't think its an overreaction...

I think calling the police wouldn't be a bad reaction at all. If you see suspicious activity, report it. That much can't hurt anyone, whereas ignoring it may well hurt someone down the road.

Around this forum, paranoia is often regarded as a good thing. It means you're keeping your head up and your eyes open. So there seems, at least to me, to be an inconsistency in the idea that being paranoid about this situation is an overreaction.

You might someday be mugged. Probably never, but maybe. So you carry a gun.

This guy might be up to some trouble. Probably not, but maybe. So you call the cops.
 
You are overreacting, IMHO.
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+1. My spidey senses scream out "troll alert." Seeing a uniformed (police or security) officer loading a duty revolver doesn't seem so outrageous to me. Plus, you said "he was very oblivious to his surroundings just concentrating on what he was doing." Hummm.... would you rather he not pay attention to what he was doing while loading a gun? Attentiveness to what he was doing hardly tells you whether or not he looked around and gauged his surroundings before drawing his weapon to load it. It seems to me you saw something you didn't like so any judgement of the person was tainted by this already.
 
You know its really not the gun that troubles me. I dont have a fear of inanamate objects. The original poster said his wife screamed "oh my god he has a gun" then started listing reasons why the guy made him feel uncomfortable....suspicious. Nobody is saying the suspect should be shot down for loading his gun at rush hour at the bus stop on the side of the street.....only that if suspicions where aroused that the appropriate authority should probably have been called.

years ago I worked tech sevrices for the local PD we had a girl coming out of a rerstaurant at about 3:00 in the morning downtown. she gets followed by this guy she thinks is drunk that turns up out of an alley. She rushes to her car, makes it and locks the doors as the guy comes up and starts tapping on the window. she locks the doors hauls a#$ and though shaken heads for home. she chooses not to report it cause he was "probably just drunk" and besides "I had a little weed in my car"

well while she is convincing herself that she does'nt need to call the cops the bad guy whom she later ID's in a lineup comes out of the same hiding spot rapes sodomizes and murders the next victim.

now seeing some doofus loading his gun may not be the same thing as having him follow you and tap on your window but its still suspicious and warrants attention.

Use your head.....but don't hesitate to make a choice that could cost someone their life.....do you guys really not get this ???
 
I have a similar story to tell

I met a guy who went to a high-school-called Cleeve Park- which was half a mile away from my former high-school,-which is called Hurstmere-who told me that when he and his classmates were leaving school-at the end of the day-,to go home,they saw a Pikey/traveller eject the two 12-guage cartridges from his double-barrelled shotgun and this guy began to produce cleaning fluids and cloths-to clean his shotgun with-in full-view of school kids and parents;relatives,who had parked outside the School to collect their kids.:) :)

Now this caused quite a few peple to become upset and emotionally unbalanced,at the sight of this pikey,cleaning his shotgun,so SO19(London Metropolitan Police forces Swat teams) were called to arrest this guy.Soon the sirens were wailing in the distance and they gradually got louder and louder as the cops got nearer and nearer-and soon a car and a van turned up and several MP5 and Glock17-toting cops showed up to arrest this guy.

This pikey was still cleaning his gun as the barrells of the MP5's and Glocks were pointed at his face and a shrill voice, from the Inspector told him:"Armed police,drop your weapon and lie face down, or we will open fire on you!.The man still didn't take heed of the Inspectors request,but the Inspector replied rather furiously:"DO IT NOW,DO IT NOW!!!!.So the pikey complied and lay face down ready for the cops to cuff him and for the cops to read him his rights. As he was being lead away and the shotgun-Sawed-off actually-was being bagged-up, he asked them:"I was only cleaning up my shooter and can I get it back after you've finished.":) :) :D
 
The guys that thought the poster should call the authorities kind of surprised me... The rational for calling the LEOs was "reporting a suspicious activity." The suspicious activity was a gun in public. Reminds me of this thread.

If more people saw firearms in public on a normal basis, then more people wouldn't scream out "Oh my GOD! He has a gun!" at the sight of one.:confused:
 
If more people saw firearms in public on a normal basis, then more people wouldn't scream out "Oh my GOD! He has a gun!" at the sight of one.
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+1.

I think calling the police wouldn't be a bad reaction at all. If you see suspicious activity, report it. That much can't hurt anyone, whereas ignoring it may well hurt someone down the road.
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And this gets us right back to the age-old argument over how much intrusion are you willing to accept in return for a premise of safety? What if you're the guy getting rousted? What if the act of being rousted makes you late to work at your new job and you get fired? What if you have this new job because your life just went into the crapper for any number of reasons and you had to move in with a buddy in a different town? Now you've just been added to the rolls of the unemployed in a new town and have no viable means of supporting your broken life, and for what? So some other guy belted safely into his car and driving by could assuage his ego that he did something 'for the public good', without having stuck his neck out to get personally involved? Spare me.

The road to h-e-doublehockeysticks is paved with 'it's for the children' and, 'if we can save only one life, it'll have been worth it'. That's the mindset that we fight against ever day. Why do we tolerate it under different circumstances?

For shame.

This guy at first look appears to be a little mentally challenged. And I know I haven't talked to the guy so I don't know if he is or not.
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If you see a situation that makes you uncomfortable, then by all means scope it out. If you feel like things might not quite be kosher, then take reasonable action to confirm or deny your suspicions. But don't do this chickensheet, 'I'll keep driving but I'll call the cops', routine. If you care enough to care, then care enough to get involved. if you're not willing to put some skin in the game (intelligently and with prudence) then by all means SHUT UP AND KEEP MOVING.

This really convinced me that not all people should own firearms and especially not all people should be allowed to carry them or use them as a "work tool".
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This really convinced me that you're a troll.
 
The guy did not have a bluetoth device in his ear I checked. I was stopped at a light so I got a better view of him the second time.
My wife was an anti but I am slowly converting her. But again years of her mom filling her head with anti gun bs doesnt go away so fast. The first time I took her to the range she shot for an hour and a halfI had to drag her out.

Now to me calling the cops would have been over reacting. What alarmed me was that he was loading it in public thats all. In firearms courses, classes, LE training, on all forums and here everyone preaches RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP.
Well loading the gun in public = not very responsible. at least to me.
And again this guy is supposed to protect people and he is walking around with an empty revolver!
 
Now to me calling the cops would have been over reacting. What alarmed me was that he was loading it in public thats all. In firearms courses, classes, LE training, on all forums and here everyone preaches RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP.
Well loading the gun in public = not very responsible. at least to me.
And again this guy is supposed to protect people and he is walking around with an empty revolver!
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I do not mean to start a "what if" scenario thread, but you do not know why he was loading his sidearm in public. It could have been the responsible thing to do.:) Maybe he just came from a location in which he had to check his gun to a guard and he didn't think that it was responsible to hand someone his loaded firearm. I do not know and neither did you. Maybe he was doing the responsible thing by loading it there.

Him loading his revolver is no different than when I remove my CCW from the GunVault in my vehicle and inserting the mag before I holster it. If someone should happen to see me I hope they do not call the authorities.

The way I see it, the guy wasn't committing a crime. The only "offense" that he committed was being seen in public with a firearm and it is a shame that in today's society that some see this as a cause for concern.

just my .02
 
Anyone else notice what side of the issue people tend to fall based on their post count? Food for thought.

Greg
 
Anyone else notice what side of the issue people tend to fall based on their post count? Food for thought.
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I do not see the correlation.

You have members with as many as 850 posts advocating the same thing as members with 9 posts.
You also have members with 2500 posts agreeing with members with only 24.

Or are you trying to say that the dude loading his wheelgun in public should post more?:neener:
 
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