[newarcher]

I thought that I would share with you guys my first CC experience from years back.

I was carrying my full sized Kimber 1911 model in a Galco scout IWB holster. I was concealing it under a long, untucked camp shirt in the fall. I knew that no one could see it but I am sure I was favoring the gun.

We stopped to eat at the Varsity in downtown Atlanta. Because I knew I was favoring the hip, I decided not to wear it into the restaurant but there were some thuggish looking people paying particular attention to us and our car from the car next to us. They would have seen me take it off my hip and put it away. So I was stuck, I wasnt' leaving it to be stolen.

We went in and gave my wife the money to order and decided the safest thing to do was to sit down and keep cool. I had just sat down when a police officer that normally patrols the Varsity walked by and I thought .....' hmmm'. We made eye contact and I just gave him a nod of the head. I acted cool and then it happened. He walked on by and looked right back at the area where I had the gun behind my right hip. I thought "ahhh crap, he is going to come over here and make me pull it out and everyone is going to FREAK out and run....I am probably going to make the NEWS". But he kept going.

My wife finally came with the food and we ate. I waited for him to come by again...this time he glanced at the family with me and kept going. We were done so I told everyone that it was time to go and I took the tray and dumped it. I was talking to my wife at the time and turned around after dumping the tray and there he was again. Almost toe to toe. He asked me "how is it going?"....."Great, and you?"....."very well".....then I just stood there waiting for what happened next. He finally told me "have a good one"....."yeah, you too be safe".

After starting researching the horrid GA CC laws, I realized that had that cop wanted to arrest me, he probably could have done so without a bit of resistance. I think he might have thought I was perhaps an undercover cop or something similar....high and tight, jelly on my chin (that was a joke), etc.

Because of the CC laws in the state they are in, I would now leave it in the car for fear that he would call it a public gathering. But at the time, I was young and was excited about exercising my new rights.

New

 

[ber950]

Read State vs Burns

http://www.georgiapacking.org/caselaw/statevburns.htm

The Varsity is not a public gathering.
:ianal: :welcome:

 

[ptsmith24]

:welcome: Sounds like a pretty good first CC experience. Mine was at Walmart.

 

[legacy38]

Howdy.

 

[newarcher]

Read State vs Burns

http://www.georgiapacking.org/caselaw/statevburns.htm

The Varsity is not a public gathering.
:ianal: :welcome:

Thanks all for the welcome.

That's the real problem with the laws as written. I was right according to the letter of the law but that doesn't prevent me from being hauled out of the Varsity in cuffs, arrested, indicted, and prosecuted....not to mention having to mount the cost of a legal defense all based on a flawed interpretation of the officer.

Not busting on officers because I am sure that this officer knew I was armed and made an assessment based on my actions. Had I been wearing dreds, ankle crotched pants, and gold teeth, I am certain I would have been taken down town. Most officers are ignorant of the law and virtually none understand it to be the same....even among the same departments.

We need real reform and it's only fair. Clear list of where we can and cannot carry so that no one is surprised that they broke the law.

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[ber950]

Had I been wearing dreds, ankle crotched pants, and gold teeth, I am certain I would have been taken down town. Most officers are ignorant of the law and virtually none understand it to be the same....even among the same departments.

Not likely. Officers are better trained than you suppose, and they have better things to do than arrest people with a carry permit.

Remember State vs Burns is case law. No chance at a prosecution. The laws here are not that bad.
The one documented case in the last few years resulted in a dismissal and a couple of officers who will not make that mistake again.

 

[newarcher]

Had I been wearing dreds, ankle crotched pants, and gold teeth, I am certain I would have been taken down town. Most officers are ignorant of the law and virtually none understand it to be the same....even among the same departments.

Not likely. Officers are better trained than you suppose, and they have better things to do than arrest people with a carry permit.

Remember State vs Burns is case law. No chance at a prosecution. The laws here are not that bad.
The one documented case in the last few years resulted in a dismissal and a couple of officers who will not make that mistake again.

I dunno, ber...

I asked several officers from various police departments about banks, malls, etc. and almost universally I receive "you would be arrested". Now whether the DA goes ahead with the case, that's another story. I am sure there are more Nifrogs out there.

But I would disagree on their training. Most police officers have widely varying opinions. I think that with the proper attitude, I could talk my way out of being arrested or demand a supervisor show up to ensure that is what they want to do.

I would agree that MOST police officers don't want to hassle me but my luck the way it is, I would get the one who does.

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[ber950]

Thats why its called Law Enforcement not Opinion Enforcement.

 

[newarcher]

Thats why its called Law Enforcement not Opinion Enforcement.

Right.......

After all, the law is sooooo clear for eveyone. The reality is that half the posts here are about clarifying the GA law.

I can only relate my experiences talking to GA law enforcement. Virtually every cop and every jurisdiction has a different interpretation of the law. As they say, "the lawyers can sort the rest out, I will arrest you for carrying at X place". There aren't a lawyer, judge, and jury sitting there in the hip pocket of the police when they are arresting you. All I can tell you is that the cop says he would arrest you for carrying in the mall and there really isn't much to stop him. So if his interpretation is that the food court is a public gathering, there really isnt' much you can do about that to stop yourself from being arrested. Tell it to the judge and all that.

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[Adam5]

If you want o help make a change to GA carry laws, the easiest way is to click "Join Georgia Carry.org" the link on the bottom of the page.

Personally, I don't worry about if a restaurant migh tne considered a public gathering, as long as they don't serve alcohol. I also don't worry about malls, shopping centers, etc. According to case law and the AG's opinion, you are legal.

 

[GAGunOwner]

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[Malum Prohibitum]

I don't think he is being paranoid. It could certainly happen.

 

[newarcher]

After starting researching the horrid GA CC laws, I realized that had that cop wanted to arrest me, he probably could have done so without a bit of resistance. I think he might have thought I was perhaps an undercover cop or something similar....high and tight, jelly on my chin (that was a joke), etc.

Because of the CC laws in the state they are in, I would now leave it in the car for fear that he would call it a public gathering. But at the time, I was young and was excited about exercising my new rights.

I think you are being a little paranoid here. You were not commiting a crime, the Varsity is not a public gathering.

All the cop could have done is to check for your GFL. If he arrested you...well...

You can be arrested for anything at anytime. If a cops doesn't like the way you look he can arrest you, even though that is unlikely and it will be thrown out of court.

A cop can even legally arrest you for speeding so...

Right, which is exactly my point.

I mean, I don't lead a very exciting life by most people's standards however getting dragged outside the varsity in handcuffs for doing my best to comply with the law is not my idea of fun. Being right after being sodomized by Et Tu Brute in the Fulton County hooskow isn't either.

I just think that it should be clearly written on the back of the license the specific places that are OFF LIMITS. If I am in one of those places while packing, arrest me. If not, get out of my business.

The problem is that the law is written very poorly. It also seems to go on to contradict itself....

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[GAGunOwner]

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[GAGunOwner]

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[GAGunOwner]

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[Malum Prohibitum]

Again, this isn't directed at any one person.

:soapbox:

It baffles me that people are so worried about a relatively minor misdemeanor when their life and the life of their family/friends is on the line.

:rant:

I worry about a misdemeanor. I could lose my liberty, my money (both fines and attorney fees), my ability to carry anywhere for years, perhaps lose my livelihood, too . . . which could result in losing the house, wife, kid, etc. (or that is what I hear happens when one loses his income and his house - wives do not like that much).

Plus there is the whole "he is a criminal" thing.

Yes, I do worry about it.

 

[GAGunOwner]

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[Malum Prohibitum]

Yes, that would suck - but you have to weigh the risk of arrest v. the risk of actually saving the lives of your family.

Don't jump on newarcher for being law abiding.

 

[merlock]

Don't jump on newarcher for being law abiding.

+1