open carry harrassed by cop

[TheF00L]

Mine in BLUE
and my edits

so i live downtown and walk just to walk.

i open carry.

well anyways i was walking for about 3 hours

when i was doing so cops said hi and everything they seen me This line leads me to believe that you were seen as you were walking and NOTHING happened so far

but after a few hours i got stopped by a cop
he ask me to keep my hands up and he took my gun
he asked if i have a license to carry i said yes and gave it to him
So, after about 3 hours you were finally stopped by 1 cop - questioned - relieved of your gun - relieved of your LTCF - and detained. What did he do w/ your gun? What did he do after he read your LTCF?


as i did a cop on foot ran up to me and asked what i was doing told him i was walking Seems a second cop came up to you as the first one was dealing with you

he then told me to give him some ID
i gave it to him then told him that pa law says u dont have to ID if stopped for open carry What ID did you give him?

What is the other cop doing while this cop is detaining you?

he (Still the second cop?) told me that i was wrong and that for saying that he was going to take my gun from me Where was your gun at this time? First cop still have it or is it back in your possession?

and after yelling at me and running my info Which cop was this?

he told me to cover it up and that i am dumb as fuck for open carrying and gave my gun back Which cop was this? You said the first cop originally took your gun. DID you cover it up??? If not, what did they do?

but not after telling me he was going to call sheriff to take my license away for open carry Did you get any names, dept's of these cops?

and the next time he see's me he will take it away and i will have to go to court to get it back Are you prepared to go to court for your rights?

i was like wtf are you out of your mind i was in my right

and have no clue what to do to keep this from happening again YOU CAN NOT - BUT - Here is what you NEED TO DO B4 OC'ing again: Become much more educated, much more prepared for it to happen again, get a voice recorder, carry it at all times, if walking and OC DO NOT CARRY your LTCF (where legal not to carry) or Driver License (never needed if not driving - as long as not needed for ID to buy booze, etc). I am sure others will chime in too.

When will you be contacting the department they were from and discussing this matter with their supervisor?

[mazydazy86]

ok it was the erie police dept. also officers name is lechner badge number # 345. i also talked to the shreiff and he said i was 100% right also filed a paper to the police dept. also i want to get this taking care of asap. I am 100% for my rights and everyones eles. i suck at spelling and telling a story. and grammer. also to clear up some stuff from my story. the cop that stopped me 1 took my gun from me and gave it to the one that came up on foot. i gave him a photo id and my gun license. he had my gun the whole time till the end and i walked away. hope this is better.

[brownman]

You spelled blatant wrong.
and amendment

Thank you

[JayBell]

You spelled blatant wrong.
and amendment

Wow, that was just amazingly STUPID.

enjoy your timeout.

[Adam-12]

he had my gun the whole time till the end and i walked away. hope this is better.

So it sounds like he gave it back to you at the end of the encounter?

Not that that justifies anything: taking it away AT ALL without probable cause is a crime, although he'll never be punished for it. The only difference is a practical one for you. If he'd kept the gun and sent you on your way, then ever getting it back would cost you more than buying a replacement, so you might as well kiss it goodbye, unless you plan on spending lots of money to defend a principle.

ETA: Thanks for editing your original post, BTW--much appreciated!

A lawyer can tell you the exact crime that the cop committed, but he basically threatened to steal your property if he caught you again acting in a perfectly legal manner. Sounds like official oppression, harassment, and possibly terroristic threats to me. It's not quite extortion, because he didn't demand anything from you, and it's not exactly assault, because he only threatened to assault and rob you at a later date. Please do follow up on this.

[American1776]

After all of the supposed 're-training' of PA LE after high profile incidents like Viper's, I would have thought that we would stop hearing about scary incidents like the OP's encounter with LE.

It's both surprising and disconcerting.

[ChuckS]

ok it was the erie police dept. also officers name is lechner badge number # 345. i also talked to the shreiff and he said i was 100% right also filed a paper to the police dept. ....

The Erie Police Department and the Sheriff's Department are different entities. You need to contact the Erie Police Department and file a formal complaint.

[gumbys1up]

A suggestion to help with these stops if they continue.

GO Open Carry a long gun. If they wanna get MWAG calls, Make it worth it..

Apparently they don't agree, or know the laws up your way, so again carrying a Long-gun will really wake them up and let them know. "Hey your not dicking around"

Reference my videos I posted on here as example.

Another thing is ALWAYS carry a recording device with you when out in public and know how to use it.

There is NO presumption of privacy in public, especially if the officer is in a marked vehicle, uniform. etc.

So film the bastards and get it all on tape so there is CLEAR evidence of a violation. They might tell you that you cannot film them, this is bullshit, you can.

Again reference my "Open Carry stop on video in whitehall" to see a decent example.

Best of luck, I would have refused to give him ID, as long as I was ONLY OC'ing.

First I would talk with the chief of police, then with a lawyer.

To quote the Whitehall PD "When the president follows the Constitution, I will"

With mentality like that, it's no wonder people keep getting harassed for it.

[QueechoFeecho]

OP - you might consider having someone else write up your story for you. It is tough to follow and understand what happened. It's an impediment to others trying to help you.

[reverserboy]

You north western PA people should hold an event in Erie.

GO Open Carry a long gun. If they wanna get MWAG calls, Make it worth it..

He's not joking.