FYI - Actual open carry incident report.

[Thekatar]

Not Pete but can answer that Pete wears a FIRE Institute "uniform" when he instructs, i.e. logoed hat and shirt, etc.

[wewo]

Police do not need an "excuse" to inquire.

Yes they do in this Country ("Show me your papers!"), its called reasonable suspicion! Terry v. Ohio. And someone OCing may be out of the ordinary, but it is legal and therefore, by definition, not reasonably suspicious activity in and of itself.

[Skuggi]

Glad it didn't turn out bad but they had no reason to even approach you. What you were doing was 100% legal, if you had a licence since you obviously exited a motor vehicle. However there is never a need for them to check for a Licence unless you are violating the law in some way. I hate when they think it's okay to ask for your licence, it's not! They don't pull over everyone on the road to check if they have a drivers licence nor can they. They should always assume you're legal unless you're violating som other law.

seeing as they were looking for an impersonator I'm guessing thats why they just opened up with a friendly "Who are you with?". Least they handled it well and the damn sky didn't fall again, I'm still waiting to see it cracking here.

[D-FENS]

I am a little mixed on this topic... I'll try to keep it brief.

I'm going to take the pragmatic approach on this one instead of the idealist approach.

First of all, this was uneventful. That's the primary thing here. I assume they thought you were a police officer as you look like you could be a cop and not many people OC, and probably not many cops do out of uniform either. This could easily have been a personal inquiry as much as a suspicion inquiry.

Secondly, by Pete G acting in a professional manner, the cop/s may have never seen a citizen OC before. I'm sure it serves as a desensitizer for them. If they see upstanding citizens OCing, the less likely they'll find it alarming or the need to inquire about it.

So, I guess while I don't want the cops to feel a need to stop and ask questions, if they do, I want it to be uneventful and non-threatening. I don't like anyone asking me questions but I don't always get to pick and choose who does. If it serves to de-sensitize the local PD, then that's good for you and me and the next guy afterwards.

Since I am taking the pragmatic road on this one, keep in mind that this is Pittsburgh and not one of the more rural areas where this is common. In my 3 years here, I've only ever seen 1 OC and it looked like an off-duty cop or firefighter. It's not common by any means and I fully expect to be noticed and questioned if found in public OCing. I don't want this to happen but I also don't want to be tackled, arrested, 302'd or have my LTCF and/or firearm confiscated.

I think this is what I wanted to say in my first post.

[Emptymag]

LOL.
I'm still waiting to learn what an off-duty cop looks like...
and I always wonder, why would "we" assume "off duty cop" because he's open carrying... nevermind, same question, different thread! (and for the record, I'm guilty of that assumption too! Well, I used to be.)

Pete, thanks for sharing this with us!

[XD45]

I'm still waiting to learn what an off-duty cop looks like...

^^ off duty cop

[Emptymag]

[whoshisface]

Police do not need an "excuse" to inquire. A fellow walking around with a gun on his hip is legal, but it is out of the ordinary. Checking out things that don't look quite right is part of what police are paid to do. Walking up and asking me who I am and why I am carrying is not abusive; not in the least. Police have a right, and sometimes a duty, to inquire. He asked, I told him, there was nothing to indicate what I was saying was not true, he went about his business, end of story.

A law enforcement officer is free to talk to whomever, whenever, just like you and I however they cannot detain just willy-nilly which isn't what happened here.


They cannot terry stop you without probable cause, they can talk to you all day, you don't have to even acknowledge them.

They are not paid to check out things that don't look quite right, while we encourage them to do so that is NOT what they are here for. They are here to catch people (after or during the fact) and bring them to justice who have allegedly or knowingly violated another persons property rights (private property extends to not only what a person owns but their own body) . They are not here to scrutinise citizens activities, they can observe all they want and they can bust you when you do something wrong, they shouldn't, but often stop persons, before they actually violate the law. This leads to nothing but a hassle and most times they are just plain wrong in there assessment. Now I'm not saying they shouldn't talk to the guy that looks like he's casing the neighborhood but arresting them or detaining them is a no-no. Even if we all would think the guy is "definitely up to no good" because all of us can be wrong. I'm not willing to give up my freedoms because some guy looks shady. I don't need a LEO coming after me when I'm pacing up and down my street waiting for someone or working out some existential angst... That that I've ever had an incident but I'm not a shady looking guy. When they shake down a shady looking guy it ticks me off, because while I might be inclined to keep an eye on him none of us have a right to judge someone until they actually DO something wrong...

I would love to tell an officer that inquires about my gun and if I have a licence to hurry and stop every car on the street because maybe that guy driving doesn't have a licence. However, I would just be polite and suck it up, but that's not the way it should be. It's only that way because of their own person political beliefs.

An officers should try to isolate his person political beliefs from his actual work during his on-duty activities. I don't care if he thinks guys wearing glasses are shady characters, he can think that all day long, but he shouldn't be stopping anyone just because they have a pair of glasses on.

[PeteG]

Ok I'm clueless - what DID he mean by "who are you with"? Gangs? 'Cuz I would have said/thought the same thing - I'm with my friends...

I took him to mean what police deparment I was with.

My range uniform consists of a shirt with epaulets, and there is a F.I.R.E. Institute patch on the right sleeve. I also had a couple of things still on my belt (beside the holster).

[Frenchy]

What Department are you with...IE he thought he was police Officer. Or as stated they were looking for the impersonater.....
Why ask? Got me. I wouldn't think the impersonater would stand there and tell a cop he was a cop...but criminals ARE usually pretty stupid........

Of course they are, if they where smart, we would call them politicians