My own "empty holster" protest in Dc

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I've worn an empty holster into a court building or two. Not as a protest though. I just didn't want to take off the holster and leave it with the gun.
 
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED! For a while, during the first part of the ride, the car was so full and crowded that no one could see it. As the car emptied, I tried to stand so that the holster would be right in front of people who were sitting down, but they either didn't notice it or they didn't know what they were looking at... or maybe they didn't care.

I got off at the Springfield station with no incident. There was a sign that said you couldn't carry dangerous items on board. As everyone knows, a holster isn't isn't a dangerous item. In fact, it's a piece of safety equipment.

I may do another run over the weekend. I still haven't decided what I'd do if someone challenged it. Maybe I should have a lawyer on speed dial.

Cheers.

- - - Yoda
 
Have you considered that you are advertising "I am unarmed?"

Of course, since you are in the capital of freedom, that probably screams unarmed anyhow.
 
I've worn an empty holster, poorly covered by a Tee-shirt not long enough to cover all of it, to work a few time -- not as a protest but just to see if anybody even noticed it. (they never do)
 
I would definitely have a lawyer on hand - when undertaking any type of protest like this, arrest is usually not a not a matter of if, but when.

Have you considered that you are advertising "I am unarmed?"
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If I were a crook sizing people up, I'd probably leave the fella with the empty holster out of my victim selection process simply because the type of person to own and wear a holster probably owns and wears other types of weapons as well. Not worth the risk.
 
I see people on the Washington subway with empty holsters all the time. They are security guards who are on their way home and are still wearing their uniform minus their revolver. The tell tale sign is the yellow stripes on their pants!
 
If I were a crook sizing people up, I'd probably leave the fella with the empty holster out of my victim selection process simply because the type of person to own and wear a holster probably owns and wears other types of weapons as well. Not worth the risk.
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Like a back-up gun. ;)
 
kingpin008 wrote:
I would definitely have a lawyer on hand - when undertaking any type of protest like this, arrest is usually not a not a matter of if, but when.
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Why would he get arrested? Something general like disorderly conduct? I am not doubting you as much as trying to understand how this would potentially play out.

Thanks!

Bob
 
Empty holster protest? IMO, you are simply advertising your compliance with being disarmed. I see it as a waste of time and would much rather see a very large group protest with exposed, fully loaded, weapons and a "try me" mentality. Anything less is not a protest.
 
Rooter, you are free to protest however you want to. I believe that an empty holster display can start useful conversations and potentially cause some folks to re-evaluate their assumptions and prejudices. A mass protest of guys carrying openly, in clear violation of local laws and decades of local custom, will probably just prompt an over-reaction by the police and generate fear among the very people who we are trying to win over. But as I said, if that's the way you think it ought to be done, then you are free to go ahead and do it.
- - - Yoda
 
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Why would he get arrested? Something general like disorderly conduct? I am not doubting you as much as trying to understand how this would potentially play out.
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Nofish - It could be any number of reasons. There have been numerous cases of folks running into police who are either uneducated or intolerant of people involved in the legal act of open carrying (or protesting) and being jacked up because of it. Many times it ends up being a case of "you'll beat the rap but you can't avoid the ride" - meaning that the cops will arrest and charge you, even if they know you'll ultimately get off, just to "teach you a lesson" by forcing you to sit in jail, post bond, hire a lawyer, etc, etc...

It's a shame that that sort of behavior is even a possibility, but it happens. Hence my suggestion to have a lawyer on retainer. :)
 
Why would he get arrested? Something general like disorderly conduct? I am not doubting you as much as trying to understand how this would potentially play out.

Thanks!

Bob
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Well, so far he was shocked that there had been no "incident" thusfar.

I got off at the Springfield station with no incident.
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Rooter, you are free to protest however you want to. I believe that an empty holster display can start useful conversations and potentially cause some folks to re-evaluate their assumptions and prejudices.
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So is it really a protest if you are just trying to start conversations? I hate to say it, but if you are just wearing an open holster, few people if any will take much notice in public places like where you were going and of those that do, few if any will start up a conversation with you, as you found out. The reason why you will generate so little interest is because pretty much nobody has a clue that you are protesting anything. In short, you are engaged in a very passive protest using a symbol to convey a point, only the general public does not recognize your symbol, the empty holster, as being symbolic of anything. You might as well have an empty geiger counter holster on your hip to be protesting or celebrating nuclear disarmament. Who would know what it means outside of the nuke community?

And no, I am not criticizing you, just your method and symbol. Until people recognize the symbol for what you are trying to convey, they won't have a clue that you are protesting anything or if maybe you forgot or lost your gun.
 
Why do so many of the responders here assume that an empty holster=unarmed? Even without a gun I generally have between 3 and 7 potentially lethal objects on my person, most of which would be perfectly legal to carry almosrt anywhere in the U.S.

I haven't flown disarmed for 20 years.... Dis-gunned and disgusted, yes... but never disarmed.
 
Why do so many of the responders here assume that an empty holster=unarmed?
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They are assuming that not having a gun means being unarmed. If you search the forum, you will find numerous posts by people who note that being denied a gun means being denied the right to self defense and numerous posts where people refer to not having a gun as being defenseless and that gun free zones are victim zones. For them, apparently, all power of self defense resides expressly and solely in the possession of a firearm. Protection takes no other forms.

Like you, I may not have a gun on me, but I am not disarmed and I am certainly not defenseless.
 
I think its possible that people are busy with their own lives. They are looking at their iPod and reading the newspaper. Maybe they thought your holster was a large cell phone case?

There may also be a difference between a small tan .38 holster and one of those tactical drop-leg holsters that people in the military use. But then again, people may look at the drop-leg holster and think that it is a medical device or something.

You may also be stuck in an area where people are so unfamiliar with handguns that they may not even be able to identify a holster since they may have never really seen one up close.

I have a very anti-gun neighbor who is friends with my wife. Once day, she came over as I was walking out the door with my CX4 inside a black Beretta case with big Beretta logos on the sides.

She asked me "Oh, is that an Instrument? Do you play an instrument"

I responded: "Yes, It's a very fine, precision made, Italian instrument. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the range."
 
Yoda, no offense but an empty holster? What is so brave about that? Its hardly a protest at all. Infact I think you guys are awfully paranoid. I am for 2A as much as the next guy, but I also get frustrated when people tend to see a zombie under every bed, every chair. DC is bad, but not like most here would believe. Its a city and there are plenty of all sorts of folks there. Trust me, many many folks noticed the holster but just don't care at all. They don't overtly oppose your 2A rights. I have seen a few folks with empty holsters in DC before. I couldn't figure if they were some type of off duty LEO, or a CCW who couldn't bring it into DC, and honestly didn't think much about it, didn't care that much. There are plenty of guns in DC, yup even in the hands of teens. They know what that holster is. It wouldn't surprise me if you managed to open carry and got all the way through your commute without a single question even from LEO. Wouldn't advice it, but a lot depends on what you look like and how you carry yourself.

If you looked like a gang banger I bet you get challenged before you got home even with just the empty holster. :D
 
cl4de6 said:
I think its possible that people are busy with their own lives. They are looking at their iPod and reading the newspaper. Maybe they thought your holster was a large cell phone case?

There may also be a difference between a small tan .38 holster and one of those tactical drop-leg holsters that people in the military use. But then again, people may look at the drop-leg holster and think that it is a medical device or something.

You may also be stuck in an area where people are so unfamiliar with handguns that they may not even be able to identify a holster since they may have never really seen one up close.

I have a very anti-gun neighbor who is friends with my wife. Once day, she came over as I was walking out the door with my CX4 inside a black Beretta case with big Beretta logos on the sides.

She asked me "Oh, is that an Instrument? Do you play an instrument"

I responded: "Yes, It's a very fine, precision made, Italian instrument. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the range."
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You had me laughing at this one. I have seen same exact reaction to this in VA of all places too. It has an uncanny resemblance to guitar or bass case to the untrained eye. And Berretta? isn't that some kind of hat? :D
 
"Oh, is that an Instrument? Do you play an instrument"
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I've heard those played, they sound so terrible I put on thick earmuffs and plugs when anyone is going to play one. And just try playing it anywhere other than an empty field, or armored warehouse, you will get arrested real-quick.
 
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