So, Did I Screw Up, Or???

[jdonovan]

There is HUGE difference between open carry and OPEN FONDLING.

[tinner666]

I can't say. The picture remind me of my school days. Students and even teachers passing around their hardware, here in Va. The scene was played in Richmond, Chesterfield and Powhatan to my knowledge.
I went to school one year in NC where it was considered common too.
About a year or so ago, an officer asked if the bump under my shirt was a firearm. After I said yes, he asked what I ws carrying. When I told him he asked to see it and I allowed that after emptying it. In a grocery store of all places.
I would just call it politically incorrect.

I noticed the people standing closest to you really looked terrified and about to faint.

[arkypete]

I never understood why folks with 'concealed weapons' permits seem to not focus in on the concept of concealed. It's not a fashion statement.

Jim

[allingeneral]

Maybe the worst part was not having the situational awareness to know that there was someone 15 steps away from you with a camera.

[thekinetic]

This is why I will not tolerate people taking pictures of me because they are ALWAYS a jackwagon and will ask that they kindly remove my picture from said device.

There is nothing fundamentally or legally wrong with what you did, though there is gun etiquette being violated. We as gun owners must set an example if we are to win the hearts and minds of those who dispise us. It's why I follow the code of the gentleman, the comfort of those around me is always my priority.

[PhantomPhixer]

So when does touching a weapon become brandishing? I assumed the weapon would have to be loaded and/or aimed to be considered brandishing. Are we talking about the difference between what is 'legal' and what is 'prudent'?

[allingeneral]

So when does touching a weapon become brandishing? I assumed the weapon would have to be loaded and/or aimed to be considered brandishing. Are we talking about the difference between what is 'legal' and what is 'prudent'?

Brandishing requires an intent to instill fear or intimidate. i.e., showing your weapon in order intimidate someone in an effort to get them to capitulate.

Legal vs. prudent, indeed. No laws were broken, but it's not prudent to handle a weapon in this manner.

[PhantomPhixer]

This is one of the reasons I avoid going into NOVA like the plague. Nothing but hysteria. How would they have reacted if he had just open-carried? Sickens me what this society has become, makes me want to just go live in a cabin in the woods.

[mtbinva]

So, Did I Screw Up, Or???

Yes, yes you did. If you want to show someone your gun, do it behind closed doors.

Your gun should have stayed in the holster.

I'm not going to comment about the "fat, stupid idiot wasting oxygen", but you didn't do gun owners any favors with that move.

+1

The ONLY time my weapon is ever taken from its holster in public is to use it for its intended purpose. To date, it's NEVER been unholstered in public.

Just my $0.02

[dorminWS]

What y'all are really saying here is that showing the gun to friend in a public place offended the sensibilities of onlookers and perhaps of the larger community. It is interesting that the people who posted to criticize the behavior at least largely seemed to be complaining not that they were necessarily offended, but that they thought the behavior would be offensive to others and discredit gun owners in general. Also interesting that folks who were so solicitous of propriety were not in the least hesitant to say really nasty things about MarkSpaz in (electronic) print.

Bottom line, at least by my lights:

Yes, under the circumstances it may have been ill advised to do what Spaz did.

But it really shouldn't have been.

Such opprobrium heaped upon behavior that is entirely legal and not in the least offensive at least in large parts of the country is, in my opinion, priggish and offensive in its own right, and that offends *MY* sensibilities. And it bothers me some to agree with those idiots.

EDIT: And it seems to me that the very next step is what happened in Temple, TX.
http://vagunforum.net/post159680.html#p159680

[WRW]

@ dorminWS, It does appear to me that we are drawing different lines in the sand depending on the occasion.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[MarcSpaz]

I thank all of you for your feedback. I really appreciate the folks that supported my actions. I fell the way you do.

For those that let me know there is a common opinion that there was an etiquette problem, I can agree to acknowledge and respect that opinion and will do what I can to ensure I don't offend others moving forward. This was the kind of info I was looking for.

I never understood why folks with 'concealed weapons' permits seem to not focus in on the concept of concealed. It's not a fashion statement.

Jim

Virginia is a right to carry / open carry state. I have a CHP for other people's comfort in social settings and to help reduce myself from being an initial target if a bad guy decides to do something stupid even though I'm armed.

I should not have to keep it concealed just because I have a permit to do so.

Maybe the worst part was not having the situational awareness to know that there was someone 15 steps away from you with a camera.

I knew someone was taking pictures. We were at a cruise-in with some high-end car floating around. Cameras were out all morning. I just didn't think it was going to become what it did.

[jasonallen127]

You didn't do anything wrong or illegal. At no point were you aiming the weapon at someone or deliberately threatening/intimidating someone with your pistol. VA is an open carry state, and if you have a CHP, you have very few restrictions on what you can carry and when/where in this state, and you were well within those bounds...

...that said, Northern VA is a weird mix of legally gun-friendly and culturally like Maryland ("Guns are bad, mmmk?"). Would I have taken out a pistol to show it to others in the open like that? Probably not with all the ass-hattery going on post-Newtown shooting. As others have mentioned, NoVA cops would have loved to make your day very difficult if they'd been called in. You would have been lucky to have gotten a stern lecture from the ill-informed, often anti-gun police officers I've met in NoVA, even if you were completely within your rights.

Given the current twitchy climate regarding gun ownership, I agree with others that recommend not un-holstering in public (whether open or concealed carrying) unless you're drawing in response to a threat.

Further, the guy who took the picture of you and made some very unkind remarks is a sh!tbag for acting the way he did, and he doesn't understand how to behave with a modicum of respect. Considering how rash and quick to judgement he seems to be, I for one am glad he's not a firearms owner.

[DryBones]

I for one am glad he's not a firearms owner.

oh but he is. and very outspoken 2A supporter.

[WRW]

@ DryBones, I'd say he is a selective supporter of 2A. I've got some other thoughts about him, as well.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[DryBones]

1 of a kind, that's for sure!

[Swampman]

I also have a CHP in VA and carry depending upon the area I am going into. I do not, under normal circumstances, remove my weapon from my holster. There is one reason and one reason only that my weapon comes out of my holster, and that is in a dire emergency when my life or others lives are in imminent danger. The post about the guy in Texas further reinforces that in my mind. I agree with others who have said you did nothing wrong. In my view, given the current climate of bed-wetting in this country, you should not have unholstered your weapon in public. It is a very sad day that it has come to this, but we all have to be adaptable to current situations. I think you probably will avoid making that same move again just to save yourself the hassle.

[SHMIV]

Social faux pas.

My opinion, I'm in the camp that says society is screwed up. That said, when in Rome... (and why do I, an American in America, feel like I'm in Rome?!)

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[allingeneral]

Did they delete the thread over on the jeepers site? or did they just lock it so that only members can see it?

[aznav]

So, Did I Screw Up, Or???

Yes, yes you did. If you want to show someone your gun, do it behind closed doors.

Your gun should have stayed in the holster.

I'm not going to comment about the "fat, stupid idiot wasting oxygen", but you didn't do gun owners any favors with that move.

Yup and yup. Appreciate your safety-consciousness but, oh man, in light of today's politics and events, we want to be uber-careful to not undercut what we have in Virginia.

ps. I am new to Virginia, but I can tell you that the state I came from, that would be considered brandishing. Stupid? Yes, but the law.