I was at the Mule Camp festival in Gainesville yesterday. The wife and I decided that only I would carry since we are wary of Hall county. I carried my Sig P228 in an OWB Blackhawk serpa with my t-shirt pulled over it. We had walked around all of the vendor’s tables and exhibits in the hot sun and decided to go to the food court to get something to eat from a friend’s concession. We had just sat down at a table under a canopy when my wife remarked, “that silly old man ought to know better than walking around here with that sign cause this is the heart of real deal countryâ€. I turned around to see an elderly gentleman, about my age, coming from our rear carrying a “Vote Roy Barnes†sign up high. I told her, “don’t worry, I guarantee you he won’t get far before he will be confronted.†Just as soon as I said that, I saw two of Hall County’s finest approaching quickly from behind him. I have read on this forum from respected sources that about two out of every applicant for LEO make the grade. After seeing these two, I hope I never run into the other 98. I don’t think that Hall county has any physical or appearance standards. I should point out, after having said that, I don’t know for sure if they were Hall county or Gainesville police. They took him off to the side next to the Hall county fire department table and commenced to harass him. The fat male police was talking to him and pointed to the stick that he was carrying. I couldn’t hear all that was said, but I could tell that they were harassing him for the dangerous stick weapon that he was carrying. This stick appeared to be about 1x1/4x2 or 3 feet long. They took his DL and talked on the radio and held him for about 20 minutes before they let him go without his sign. I could tell that he was trying to stand up for his rights but also didn’t want to cause himself too much grief. At the same time, I am thinking, “what if they should see me printing my gunâ€? Is that worse than a stick? We had already seen some vendors selling swords for crying out loud, and they’re harassing this poor guy for exercising his rights just because a “dangerous stick†was involved.
I must admit, though, that even though I was also exercising my rights, I was too afraid to go and stand beside this guy and help defend his. I would still be in jail if I had. I was too concerned about myself and hoped that they did not see my gun. I am ashamed because what will happen when I am finally confronted? It just bothers me what I did not do when I should have.
I must also add that we are not voting for either King Roy or real deal. We are voting for Monds. The guy still had the right to carry the sign.