Louisiana open carry activist settles with police department

[stevieb92]

After stumbling across this site for the first time, I just had to sign up and tell you guys THANK YOU for all the support.
Let's just say it's rather encouraging to know there ARE people who think AND live the same beliefs I hold.
There is a lot more to this story than what Gun Week reported. Best as I can tell, NO "law enforcement officers" (Note: I didn't refer to them as "peace officers") were disciplined or fired and NO one offered a simple apology for their criminal actions.
Upon cashing the check, the wife and I headed straight back to Tanger Outlet Mall, the very spot where all this started.
The wife had me pose for a picture standing in front of the very store, armed. As she turned on the camera, an unmarked Gonzales cop car drove slowly between she and I, seriously, I am not making that up.
You guys (and gals?) carry on.
Thank you.
Mark

Welcome to PAFOA!!! Glad to have you here!!! Thanks for fighting the "law enforcement" officers and seeing this through to the end.

Rep sent!!!!

[headcase]

We will and thank you for standing up.

Rep sent.

Glad to see that you found our site, and welcome! You'll find it to be a great source of information.

AND THANK YOU... by standing up for your own rights, you've stood up for all of our rights as well.

Welcome to PAFOA!!! Glad to have you here!!! Thanks for fighting the "law enforcement" officers and seeing this through to the end.

Rep sent!!!!

Ditto, ditto, and ditto.

[mark edward marchiafava]

The REAL story is the TOTAL FAILURE of all the people who have sworn oaths to defend my rights. NONE of them would so much as investigate these rogue cops, much less prosecute them for their numerous violations of both state and federal law.
Who do you call when the COPS are the criminals? Other cops?
I'm not bitter at all, but I'm not done, either. When government enforcers can violate their masters at will, there's something wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
Suggestions?

[pex]

I'm not bitter at all, but I'm not done, either. When government enforcers can violate their masters at will, there's something wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
Suggestions?

A assume you can't discuss the settlement to tell us what actually was done so far? I mean, were you appropriately repaid and the department punished monetarily? Why did you settle instead of seeing it through?

[mark edward marchiafava]

Prior to this incident, I had no concept of a non-disclosure agreement. As one poster on another board so accurately summed it up, "now that they've violated your 2nd amendment rights, they're also violating your 1st amendment rights." I agree.
From what I can gather, the money comes from a state fund which is funded by various police departments,etc. It was my intention to pursue the officers in their individual capacity. My attorney told me that's now how it works.
He went on to tell me if we were to take this to trial, the settlement wouldn't necessarily have been any higher, but it would increase his expenses.
Satisfied? Not hardly.
I can still see that arrogant cop, strutting around the police station, my Smith model 586 in his hands, sneering at me while I was shackled to the wall, "I can't believe you were walking around Tanger with a loaded 357." I just had to laugh when he made that comment, thinking, what good is an UNloaded 357?
Cops, what a bunch.

[headcase]

The REAL story is the TOTAL FAILURE of all the people who have sworn oaths to defend my rights. NONE of them would so much as investigate these rogue cops, much less prosecute them for their numerous violations of both state and federal law.
Who do you call when the COPS are the criminals? Other cops?
I'm not bitter at all, but I'm not done, either. When government enforcers can violate their masters at will, there's something wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
Suggestions?

If the money was substantial, maybe consider starting a fund for legal expense help, for others who find themselves in your situation.

[Pa. Patriot]

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/277...?showALL=y&c=y

Gonzales settles gun-carrying man’s lawsuit


LIZ CONDO
Mark Marchiafava wears his gun Friday near a mall where he was arrested by Gonzales police in 2006. The charge for illegal carrying of a weapon later was dismissed. City officials recently paid Marchiafava an undisclosed amount to settle his civil rights suit. Marchiafava continues to carry his pistol in a holster on his hip.



* By BILL LODGE
* Advocate staff writer
* Published: Aug 31, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

Mark Marchiafava says he’s earned the right to wear his .357-caliber Magnum pistol in a hip holster in Gonzales.

And, he says at a local mall, city residents paid him to demonstrate that right.

“I wish the taxpayers of Gonzales knew just how much money it is,” the 55-year-old Marchiafava adds.

In January 2006, the longtime Baton Rouge resident was at the same mall, wearing the same pistol, when a Gonzales police officer asked him why he was carrying a gun.

Marchiafava says he told the officer that non-felons can legally carry firearms that are not concealed.

That exchange led to Marchiafava’s arrest on a count of illegal carrying of a weapon. The arrest led to an hours-long stay at the Ascension Parish Prison.

But the case later was dismissed, and Marchiafava’s bond and weapon were returned to him.

Marchiafava didn’t let the dispute fade away. He sued for violation of his constitutional right to bear arms. The city recently settled the case by paying Marchiafava an undisclosed amount of money.

“I can’t disclose any client confidences,” said Bradley C. Myers, a Baton Rouge attorney for the Gonzales Police Department. “The details are confidential, not the fact of the settlement.”

So why pay Marchiafava?

“It was just a business decision that everybody makes during a civil suit,” Myers said.

“There are risks in all litigation and costs to defend litigation,” Myers said, adding that city officials weighed those risks and costs before opting for a settlement.

Marchiafava won’t talk dollars and cents, either.

“The confidentiality agreement prevents me from disclosing that amount,” Marchiafava said.

But he said the settlement would “buy someone a brand-new motorcycle.”

“All of this could have been avoided,” Marchiafava said. “I kept telling them: ‘Don’t arrest me.’”

After his arrest, Marchiafava said, Police Chief Bill Landry told other people: “‘We have a policy of arresting anybody carrying any type of firearm without a concealed-gun permit.’

“It’s not the people who are openly carrying weapons that you need to worry about,” Marchiafava said. “It’s the people who carry concealed guns that you need to be concerned about.”

Marchiafava said he remains concerned that someone else may someday be arrested under similar circumstances because: “In Gonzales, the law is whatever the cops say it is.”

That’s not correct, Chief Landry said.

“We will follow the law as prescribed,” Landry said, adding that the law permits carrying a firearm in an unconcealed holster. But Landry will not discuss the case further.

“I’ve got no comment on that,” Landry said. “I’ve got no comment.”

Donald North, a professor at Southern University Law Center, said Marchiafava has the legal right to carry a firearm in a holster on his hip.

North says carrying the firearm in that manner falls under the same law that requires hunters to keep their shotguns and rifles on gun racks visible through the rear windows of their vehicles.

“If you’re not concealing it, the statute does not prohibit your carrying of that weapon,” North explained.

“This only applies to law-abiding citizens,” the professor said. “Convicted felons can’t do this.”

North adds that he is merely explaining the law, not advocating a particular behavior.

“I’m not trying to suggest we should go back to the days of the Wild West,” North said.

Marchiafava says he does not regret carrying the pistol — even when it draws unwelcome attention from police officers.

He says other people should exercise their right to lawfully carry firearms.

“When they (police officers) shoved a gun in my face, I was thinking: ‘These guys are dangerous.’

[andrewjs18]

rep sent.......

thanks!

[mjfletcher]

MEM,

To misquote the characters on the old show In Living Color....

"12 rep points....

...

In the bullsey"

[schmol]

I think we'll have one of our own receiving a nice check soon...congrats on fighting for your rights!!