Pa. Patriot ARRESTED at the OC dinner @ The Old Country Buffet in Dickson City 5/9

[Damage control]

Originally Posted by headcase

It's kinda weird, I was fine all day then I got sick around 7:30 and wasn't any better until after 10:00. That about the time frame this went down?

WOW.

Yes all that were present were sick in this time frame. Actually I'm still a little sick over it. I was up worring about Mr & Mrs. PA and their children, now that I know all is ok with them and had the chance to reflect I'm pissed about how the rest of us were treated.

DC

[Bmaninmifco]

Pa. Patriot sorry this had to happen to you.
Glad it was someone who knows his rights and can make a stand for all gun owners in the commonwealth though.
And I hope your kids are alright the one thing the LEO's did that hasn't been mentioned is the kids who were there with their parents that weren't apart of the group all they know now is that carrying a gun legally will get you arrested ergo a bad thing. What a shame more members of a generation lost.

[kevinmch]

"The schooling has just begun." -Pa. Patriot. This whole thread gives me chills, both of disgust, as well as anticipation of future recourse. I also had no idea Pa. Patriot was an FFL holder. Even better! Pa Patriot, you are right, they definitely bit off more than they could chew. Godspeed, and keep us posted!

[PennsyPlinker]

I just finished reading through all the exciting part of this thread - what a story! You know the definition of adventure, right? Something bad happening to someone else far away. Sounds like you had an adventure last night! PA Patriot, I am sorry we could not have been there to offer support to you, your family, and all the others at the dinner, but if and when any support is needed in other ways, we will be there for you and for PA gun rights!

Just think of all the great stories everyone will have to tell once this is all over.

[Statkowski]

This warrants another open-carry dinner at Old Country Buffet in a month or so.

Oh, don't forget to include the 911 dispatcher and the 911 supervisor in the criminal/civil complaint. How they reacted to the original "complaint" had a direct bearing on how the police reacted. For example, did the 911 dispatcher ask if there was any criminal activity going on?

[headcase]

Originally Posted by Damage control

Yes all that were present were sick in this time frame. Actually I'm still a little sick over it. I was up worring about Mr & Mrs. PA and their children, now that I know all is ok with them and had the chance to reflect I'm pissed about how the rest of us were treated.

DC

I wasn't there, obviously, and I just found out about it, and I am still trying to digest it. I would let Rich get a little shut eye, then get with him and see what's up. While I can only speculate about what went down, I would imagine that you and a few others were harassed as well. I am truly sorry I didn't make it and was unable to stand up with you guys..

[Damage control]

Rich,

I would also inquire if OCB had video surveillances and get copy's ASAP.


DC

[addicted2freedom]

Wow... it's a tragedy that law enforcement (and the DA) do not know the law. Hope they have a notepad to take down some notes. Go get them!

On another, I now carry a pocket video camera with me everywhere that I go. I don't OC or CC, but feel that if I should witness something unjust that I would be prepared to capture the incident. I hope to get a small cheap audio recorder also in the event that if I am told to stop recording video... I can covertly begin recording audio. Without evidence it becomes a matter of whom to believe... the cops or the parties involved... and sadly SOME cops will lie to cover up their mistakes.

[Emptymag]

Originally Posted by 1rcm

As an ex-LEO I’m willing to say with certainty what most probably took place …. Two or three officers responded to a ‘man with gun’ call. Upon arrival they saw a whole gaggle of ‘man's (I guess woman’s too) with guns and called in the Calvary (kind of surprises me that there were only 8 cars as something like this around here would draw a ¼ County-wide response). Anyway, never having encountered this before and NOT being trained for it they kind of started out with the ‘I represent the law so here’s how this game will be played’ response (in-bread from the Academy). When PaPatriot didn’t play that same game the confusion began. They probably called some on-duty ranking officer who hadn’t a clue. Then the call got made to the Chief who also hadn’t a clue. Then to PSP who we all know from other encounters most times don’t have a clue. Then finally to the on-call DA who wouldn’t touch something like this without consulting with at least 3 other ADA’s and then his/her boss. Finally among all those calls someone piped-in that maybe no one really and LEGALLY knows the right answers to the REAL questions off hand as to what to do for sure right this minute so now it is time to try to start to save some face while still 'keeping the peace'. And then the Chief or ADA said exactly what I used to hear all too often …. “We’ll you guys are the ones on-scene … handle it the best you can for right now and we’ll work it later from there”.

When I was still on the job that’s undeniably how it would have gone down for me. For my ’20 in’ I honestly believed OC was quite problematic and would have told anyone I saw doing it to ‘cover it up if you have a permit’ or risk arrest for DC (yep, that old catch-all). Once I joined this forum my eyes got opened VERY wide. See the problem? Pretty bad-eah?

The bottom line here is there is a LOT of education that needs to be done on ‘gun carry’ in general all across the LEO community. And PA Patriot, my hat goes off to you as I sure do hope that with your incident school is about to be called into session. As a recent convert to jealously guarding my 2’d Amendment Rights (I even just recently joined the dreaded NRA) I sincerely applaud you and wish you nothing but great success!

Originally Posted by LM4300

+1 to 1rcm!

I can totally seeing the response by Police going this way. Until I found PAFOA, I was unaware that OC was even an option. I never heard of it, and still havent seen anyone do it. (I now keep a copy of the PA gun rights pamphlet in my file folder for work )

As a current LEO, I know many of my collegues are also blissfully unaware of citizens gun rights.

Although I have my own tactical opinions of OC vs CC, I feel I have a better understading of the PA law since joining the forum. Something I didnt get fully in the Academy (concerning gun laws). Which brings me to my point.

However things go with PA Patriot, his legal action should call for some updated training for law enforcement. All PA police go through mandatory yearly training. That would be a prime opportunity to get the right information to LEO's. The below link is the site for the state commision that oversees the training.

http://www.mpoetc.state.pa.us/mpotrs/site/default.asp

How about and update and training on the law and ways to respond to situations like this? I'm sure that, in it's self, would be a long process to have implemented, but I would be worth it.

Simply put, welcome to the forum guys.
I want to thank you for your input.(and gave you both pos rep points for it)

[Mrs. Pa Patriot]

Originally Posted by headcase

HOLY MONKEY SHIT!!!!!!!!

How are the kids and the Mrs. doing? Were they able to deal with it pretty well? The kids I mean, as I am sure your wife was probably in pitbull mode

*Please excuse any talking in circles, I never got to bed till 5 am and was back up at 8:30 with the boys*

I said to Rich last night on the way home that when you read this...you were going say dang I miss the good stuff. lol

The boys are actually fine. Our oldest (6 yr old) was upset for a few minutes but after the situation was explained....he calmed down and ate his ice cream. But yes I was definitely in "pitbull mode". Two things you don't mess with in my life are my husband and my kids.....I don't have time for that crap. If I thought there was any reason to think that Rich had done something wrong I would have been upset with him....but because I know Rich and what he knows and trust him....I was just very pissed off that this was happening. The officers were out of line....plain and simple.

It is very sad, in the restaurant I overheard a lot of the "telephone game" going on. It was like one table would tell another table what they "thought" or heard was going on and finally I passed a couple tables who were downright rude with what they were saying. I pulled out my flyers and told them that they had no reason to be scared of us, we were just having dinner with our families when this happened....we did nothing wrong. Then asked them to read the flyer and educate themselves a little more on the subject. It doesn't hurt a soul to learn something new everyday......Knowledge is power.

Next time though....I expect to see you there....got it?

Judy