Bruce's OC report from the Thousand Oaks street fair.

[Bruce John Boyer]

Open carry report from the Thousand Oaks Street Fair Oct 16th 2011
Bruce Boyer.

Attended the street-fair on Sunday after church, with my wife. We met up with our friends Frank and Christina. The street fair was held on Moorpark Rd. in the City of Thousand Oaks. The police had closed off the street and it was an advertised, open to the public, event. There were no prohibited.....… signs at the entrance and people had their dogs and skateboards (items that might be typically excluded).
We ate our lunch there and strolled around for two hours.

They had a twelve piece swing band playing and as my wife and I are dancers we danced to quite a number of songs (the dance floor was the street so we stayed over on the sidewalk, photo attached). If you are open-carry and are up dancing with your wife, not like anyone could suggest one was trying to conceal anything! There were plenty of Sheriff’s deputies present at their booths as well as walk’in around. Security guys walk’in around too. No bother from any of them.

By 3:30 we were getting close to being done when three (3) private security officers came up from behind me and the senior one announced that he could see that I was carrying a Ruger in my holster, proceeding to tell me the model number, caliber and that he could see that there was no magazine in it, that it was not loaded. He stated that he was a range instructor and more blather. That he understood that I thought I was exercising my 2nd Amendment rights but I was not allowed to have an unloaded handgun in public…….. I chose not to respond other than to smile. He then went on that my carrying had raised concerns and eyebrows and that I had better not put my hand in the gun and that I needed to either go put the gun in my car (I do not know upon what basis he thought I had a car there, as I did not) or give it to him, or I had to leave. I responded only that I thought he had nice eyebrows and that no thanks, I will just continue shopping. With that the security officer informed me that I had to leave. I asked him to clarify upon what basis was he ordering me to leave, and could he write it down? He complied in that he wrote on his card that he had ordered me to leave. He refused to list his reason but I did have him affirm his ‘reason’ in front of the other two officers and my friends were present to hear it as well. My wife who can suffer from anxiety sickness, needed to leave and go sit down. We continued to stroll and stopped for Christina to look at some pretty scarves. The Security officers chose to follow us informing me that they had requested the Sheriff’s deputies and repeatedly speaking at full volume over their radios about the “man with a gun” in such a manner that it was disturbing to many people in the immediate area. After Christina was done looking at the scarves, no deputies had arrived, I had the security officer again confirm that he was ordering me to leave and why, for that of “possession of an unloaded firearm in public”.

With that we walked 50 yards to the Coffee Bean where my wife was sitting and went inside to order. In line I made a new friend who seeing the holster inquired about obtaining a CCW I told him that they are most difficult,impossible forus non-elites, but just open-carry. As we chatted I noticed a deputy walking by an eyeing me, so I of course waved to him. The deputies came in and asked if I would step outside. I readily consented, conducting myself in a most friendly demeanor. They asked to check my firearm, and I readily consented, asking the deputy if he would kindly remove it from the holster. He expressed his appreciation in my request and stated that it would have been uncomfortable for him were I to. I concurred that I understood that it might which is why I requested that he do so. He efficiently checked it and replaced it. Throughout, the two deputies(Ventura County Sheriffs Dept) were most polite. I conveyed that I was trying to be especially cooperative as I understood what they needed to do and the uncomfortable situation it placed them in.

As two other deputies arrived I offered if they wished to check it as well, they declared it was unnecessary as the others had just done so. The deputy asked for my name which I readily gave him but I declined to provide DOB or other. In response to other questions I merely stated that I would love to chat, but another time. They asked if they could check it again, to run the serial number, and I readily consented. They completed that check and the deputy kindly replaced the Ruger in my holster.
They inquired of me regarding the new law the governor signed that would make open-carry a crime (AB144) inquired if I knew when it took effect to which I answered that it was to take effect Jan 1st, 2012. They politely said that they did not know but that I was likely more knowledgeable in that area than they. I inquired if they were aware of some of the ‘exemptions’ in the bill, such as those for ‘attorneys’ and ‘bill-collectors”? They were not. I inquired as to how they were going to be able to determine who was an ‘attorney’, ‘bill-collector’, ‘retired cop’ etc?? No idea.

In chatting with them re OC I suggested that no criminalwould be stupid enough to rob the Coffee bean with the deputy standing out front, and they laughed as it's so true. I suggeste that doies not the presense osf any arnmmed individual athen act as a deterrent to criminals? Theyconcurred but the issue of 'traing' of course came up. I was able to ask them if they felt that even someone who was not nearly as well trained as they might not still be a most effective deterrent to a criminal looking to attack say “their daughter”in a parking garage? They acknowledged that it would of course be. I asked them, rhetorically, that if the politicians truly cared about protecting women, that every woman who obtains a judge-signed restraining order would be issued a handgun and that as an officer of the law would they not volunteer their time to take the woman out to their range and teach her how to use it? Yes of course. They understood it. They get that the handgun is needed to protect women, their wives, their daughters.

This was a well utilized opportunity to illustrate to four deputy sheriffs that open-carry gun owners are good friendly citizens, their neighbors. That open carry is what women, their wives and daughters need.
The young man that I met in line who asked me about getting a CCW who watched the whole encounter with the Sheriffs wants to open carry as well as my friends Christina and Frank!
Yes, we have photos of my wife and I dancing!
Should I post them?
Comments?

[Drunkbeater]

You shouldn't have removed your gun. If the cop wants to check it, then he/she needs to be the one to remove and replace it. You got off lucky, but many times, cops will ask the carrier to remove their gun from their holster, and then arrest them for brandishing when they do.

[NavyLCDR]

Comments?

Curious as to why you offered no other information than your name, when requested, such as DOB, and yet you consented to an unlawful search of the gun's serial number to determine if it was stolen or not? They had no reasonable suspicion that the gun was stolen.

Good job though, exercising and standing up for your rights!

It's too bad that you will have to switch to a rifle to open carry after Jan 1.

[Tucker's Mom]

You shouldn't have removed your gun. If the cop wants to check it, then he/she needs to be the one to remove and replace it. You got off lucky, but many times, cops will ask the carrier to remove their gun from their holster, and then arrest them for brandishing when they do.

He didn't. Read again?

They asked to check my firearm, and I readily consented, asking the deputy if he would kindly remove it from the holster. He expressed his appreciation in my request and stated that it would have been uncomfortable for him were I to.

[Drunkbeater]

Sorry, I misunderstood.

[Shawn Jarman]

You shouldn't have removed your gun. If the cop wants to check it, then he/she needs to be the one to remove and replace it. You got off lucky, but many times, cops will ask the carrier to remove their gun from their holster, and then arrest them for brandishing when they do.

I've had a LEO ask to see my firearm one time, Reason I was talking with the LEO is, there was a guy at my friends house no one knew, His house was getting robbed a lot at this time, His neighbor called me and the police, After the LEO's and myself found him to be ok there (just picking up some old pumps my friend lrft him), I was talking with the LEO's, and One said, "The neighbor said you carry a firearm?", I said Yes, that's true, and was asked, what do you carry?, I told him, A 1911 45 ultra compact, He then asked If he could see it?, And I said sure, I removed the firearm, safety'd the firearm, and handed it to him, He asked me why i unloaded the firearm first?, Told him it was just a strick policy of mine to never hand a loaded firearm to anyone, no matter who the person is or there job title, he said "sounds like a great policy