Boxed in by 7 of Philly's finest, guns drawn and everything

[uniballin]

All because my gun was visible while I was pumping gas.

From the beginning:

I'm driving to Philly to pick up my sister because she wanted to come home for the weekend. I am on where 309 turns into Broad St. and notice that I am getting low on gas. While filling up, I didn't notice any weird stares or anything like that. The only person who made eye contact with me was an older Asian lady, but she didn't seem to be frightened or worried. I get back on Broad St. and continue down for about 5 blocks when the car next to me gets pulled over at a red light. The cop gets out of his car, gun in hand, and goes to the driver side (I could no longer see what was happening because I was in the right lane.) Seconds later, another cop appears out of no where, but his gun is pointed at the vehicle. He swings open the passenger side door and points the gun at the man's head, commanding him to keep his hands in the air. The gun was literally inches away from the suspect's head. The light turns green and I high tail it out of there, not wanting to be nearby in case some lead starts flying.

At first I chalked it up to some drug dealers getting busted, but then the coincidences start to add up. 1) The police were treating these men like they were armed 2) they were driving a dark SUV similar to mine 3) just five minutes beforehand I was out in public while open carrying. At this point I was 50% sure that they got the wrong car and were actually looking for me. Sure enough, after a few minutes of pondering if I was going to get pulled over, two cop cars pull out of oncoming traffic and stop right in front of my vehicle. Both of them jump out, guns drawn and pointed at my head through my front wind shield. I am told to put my hands up so I follow their instructions (obviously). A quick glance in the rear view mirror and all I see is red and blue. Within 10 seconds, there are SEVEN cop cars surrounding my vehicle from every side. One of the first officers on the scene tries to open my driver side door, but it was locked. He tells me to slowly unlock my door. At this point I was hesitant because I didn't want to spook the other cops and end up with a donut-sized hole in my dome, but I eventually put my left hand down to hit the unlock switch. He wastes no time at all, reaching across my body and disarming me. He puts the car in park and turns it off, and finally says that I can put my hands down.



LEO 1: Do you have a license to carry that?
Me: Yes
LEO 1: ... well?
Me: Do you want to see it?
LEO 1: Yes please, and if everything checks out, then we'll have you on your way.

While that cop was running my LTCF, another one comes up to my window.

LEO 2: Hey, you have a license for that?
Me: *points the other officer who has my license*
LEO 2: Oh OK, yea. Just so you know, what you were doing is completely legal. Open carrying is legal and is your right. But sometimes...
Me: ...sometimes things like this happen?
LEO 2: Yea.
Me: That's awesome.

He frowns at me and walks away. A minute later, another idiot comes up to my window.

LEO 3: So you were just at a gas station, right?
Me: ...
LEO 3: Well, a woman saw that you had a gun, called us, and followed you out of the gas station.
Me: What did she say? Was I making any threatening gestures? Did I take the gun out of the holster? I don't understand how anything I did warranted this type of response from you guys.
LEO 3: I don't know what she said. It's just protocol. When we get a call about someone carrying a gun, we don't know what that person is up to.
Me: Yea, whatever.

There was no point arguing with these baboons. At this point I just wanted to get my gun back and go on with my trip.

FH 1 begins to walk back to my car, NOT holding my gun. I already knew what he was about to say.

LEO 1: When we ru-
Me: Yea, it doesn't show up in the record of sales database under my name. The State Police screwed up. I bought it at reputable gun shop and have all the paper work to go along with it.
LEO 1: OK no problem, you'll be on your way in a second. Thanks for hanging in there, man.

A minute later, my property is returned to me and I am told to chamber a round after they leave. Hey, at at least they were nice to me after they pointed their service pistols at my fucking head. Overall, I'd say this was a positive encounter for the Philadelphia Police Department. It took less than 5 minutes and I didn't get charged with disorderly conduct, nor was my property stolen from me. Oh yea, I wasn't shot either, so that's a plus!