SuperMagnum said:
Anyway, both were very nice but definately took notice of my sign and gave me the stink eye. Didn't say anything about it. Might a sign like this have some legal implications if I ever do have to defend my shop? Something along the lines of "premeditation" or just being some kind of nut job with a gun?
My opinion is that you shouldn't worry about that. If you do ever have the unfortunate need to fire your weapon at an intruder, you will ultimately be judged on the facts of that incident, and not by the funny sign hanging on the wall.
Moreover, those signs are pretty common, and I don't think it would necessarily lead a person to believe that you were a bloodthirsty killer.
SuperMagnum said:
There won't really be any customers in there, except at the front. I have resisted the urge to put it on the front door.
Security is a big issue for me down there, I've installed several extra dead bolts and I'm working on a complicated security/video system. I guess I need to decide whether I want them to know I'm armed or not.
Another issue this brings up for me: if the door is open can the cops just come barging in like that for any reason? Not that I had anything to hide, but if they hadn't been in uniform I probably would have pulled my gun...
Hard to say why they walked right in, without a bit more context. I generally try to avoid doing that kind of stuff. Still, given that it is a business, it is possible that the officers didn't feel that they were walking into a non-public area. I've also often found that it is tough to locate someone to speak with in many warehouse areas, and we do occasionally need to walk around these facilities a little bit before we can locate an employee.
Personally, with only a few exceptions I always prefer to be a "knock and announce" type of cop! I do this mainly so I don't have any unpleasant surprises with an innocent homeowner/business owner.
By way of tangentially related example, on alarm calls we'll occasionally arrive to find a door on a home/business standing wide open (but without any obvious damage that would lead us to belive that it was definitely a burglar). These cases can -and do- end up going either way. It could be that a legal occupant set off the alarm, or it could be a criminal!
If that situation presents itself, and an occupant isn't around to identify themselves to us, we will certainly clear the building for possible burglars. But, in many cases we simply end up finding the lawful owner inside. As such, before I enter a building in that type of capacity I will yell an announcement of: "Police Department! If you are in the building make yourself known to me now!"
If there is a bad guy inside of the facility this can obviously cost you the element of surprise, but you do tend to gain a secondary advantage as you suddenly hear the person charging through the house or spontaneously saying "Oh, s%$&, cops!". On the other hand, if the person inside of the building is a legal occupant, they will almost always quickly identify themselves to us, which avoids putting us in a situation where we may think we've found a bad guy concealed in the residence, or where the resident believes that he is being robbed. I seek to avoid "friendly fire" as much as possible!
Long and short of it is that I doubt I would have ended up walking in like that if I was the officer who responded (but, again, context is everything).
Not that I'm involved in illegal activity, but generally when I see a cop I get worried. 
