AGAIN: ''Solo open-carry in Ohio - a 5-cop encounter''
The following note has been posted to the OFCC CCW-Talk discussion list. The writer experienced the following in Hamiton County (Cincinnati) Ohio, where the Prosecutor's office has already made a valiant effort to inform law enforcement about the legality of open carry in Ohio:
Talk about irony! The following happened right after leaving the Clifton/Cincinnati Open Carry Walk, which went very well.
After the Walk was over, I met my dad at Northgate Mall. Got something at Suncoast, and as I left I noticed two sheriff's deputies and a mall security officer. As I began toward the exit the deputy asked me to stop, then questioned me about why I am carrying a gun. I told him "for self-defense." Then they all began to ask me if I am law enforcement. I of course said no, "I'm just a citizen," so they began with the "you can't carry a weapon."
I realized they were talking about concealed (which it wasn't) and had no idea about open carry being a possibility,
let alone legal. I got out my copy of the Hamilton County Prosecutor's notice to LEAs about open carry being legal. They all read it with great interest. The security guard kept asking questions like "are you licensed to carry that? Do you have any training?" etc. etc.
Next stop, mall security office. Of course I wasn't arrested, but they still made it sound like I didn't have a choice but to go with them to talk.
Bottom line, they call some more "beat" deputies, who come and question me. One of the two, both undercover, already knew it was completely legal and explained it to the others. Some of them still couldn't understand the concept of open vs. concealed. So they finally asked me to show them how I was carrying it and I did. Then they finally realized that it was visible, and that first deputy who stopped me confirmed that it was.
They asked for my gun, ostensibly to check that it wasn't stolen, etc. I let them have it (now wondering if they had the authority under "probable cause" or not...).
The mall security officer was the one freaking out the most, repeating "you can't just carry a gun into a mall!" over and over. I offered that I would have left with no trouble if he had asked me to. He countered with "I can't just let you go! My supervisor would kill me!"
So, what do I get for all my trouble? Having to sign a paper that says I'm barred from the Mall indefinitely. The security guard tells me that it probably won't stay that way, and I should call his supervisor tomorrow to talk about it. I plan to do so and hopefully show him the downside of banning a law-abiding citizen excercising a fundamental Constitutional right (both Federal and State) that has patronized his
mall for most of his life.
They returned my gun. The one undercover deputy said I sure picked a good weapon for self-defense (G20)--"that's a real hole shooter."
The other two deputies that first stopped me seemed interested to finally know the law on open carry. They were very nice, just trying to do their job--I can't fault them too much if none of their superiors had informed them of the law in this area.
They left me with this observation: "You should expect this kind of thing to happen eventually; not all people know the law."
Related Stories:
OFCC obtains copy of Hamilton County Prosecutor's Open Carry Mandate
Why cops don't open carry off-duty, and why we shouldn't be forced to either
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