# Jerk Cop, Open Carry complaining Citizen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019 "2009-01-13T01:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019/21 "2009-01-13T17:35:17Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Assuming you’re in our country, then you should realize it’s a big place. We don’t all live like you do nor share your sense of what one’s mentality should be. :rolleyes: Well, obviously. But seriously, are there places in this country where significant numbers of people walk around visibly carrying guns? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019/22 "2009-01-14T00:23:32Z")
Thanks guys yeah, one of you was right. I did use the word “storm” though that certainly not what I had in my minds eye when I envisioned the scenario. More like walk down there, with a displeased tone of voice, and maybe a curseword or derogatory descriptor thrown in. Something like that… Some informative posts here. Thanks for taking the time to write them out. And for the third time, I NEVER said it was a good idea. Hell, I knew it was likely a darn bad one in the best of circumstances. I just wondered how it would shake out legally AFTER the fact (which probably, rightly or wrongly, ends up with a ride in the back of a cop car). I’d like to chat a bit more about this but I am wiped out tonight. Take it from me, never paint a car yourself at home unless you are masochists (sp?). By the way. I don’t own a gun. Fired em like 3 times in my life. Do not belong to the NRA. Do not subscribe to Soldier of Fortune magazine. Do not have a small penis (thats my story and I am sticking to it). And I do not watch Bear Grylls on TV. If youtube ever becomes pay per view, maybe some of us should talk ?🙂 Thanks again for the informative posts ! ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019/23 "2009-01-14T02:15:58Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Okay, > > Now this has bad idea written ALLL over it. Of that I have no doubt. But I am somewhat interested in how this might shake out legally. > > Lets say a cop does something really jerky, maybe even something that could end him/her in court themselves. Something just about everyone would at least say “jerk”. Lets also say all facts are proveable and there are plenty of witnesses/video cameras going for the following drama. > > Jerky thing. Say your vehicle is poorly parked so that it obstructs some county right of way. Cop and his county work crew are obstructed by it, making their job harder. So cop gets pissed. Maybe he just does something jerky like leave a nasty note on your door. Maybe the note has a few curse words in it. A little worse, maybe it has un PC ethnic references in it. Or Even worse still, he NAILED it to your beautiful expensive wooden front door, causing significant damage. Not sure the range of “wrong” matters here, just covering the bases… > > Now you get home and see the note. You are rightfully a bit miffed. You see the work crew down the street. So you storm on down there to have a chat with the note leaver. > > You are open carrying your gun. Is that going to get you in trouble? > > Would it matter if you had folks that testified that you always open carry? Or maybe they testify you NEVER open carry. > > What if you go down there for a chat without the gun. Go back to get something, like perhaps proof that the vehicle ISNT yours or you ARE perfectly legally parked, and when you come back you are NOW open carrying. > > Is how you talk to the jerk cop going to make a difference? > Now, I have little doubt you’d find yourself in cuffs pretty quick. But again, lets say this is all on tape. When the scenario hits the court room, hows it likely to shake out? It would shake out accordingly; Whatever you were charged with, you would be convicted, probably with an added charge of some sort involving firearms. Your weapon would probably end up with the police. I didn’t catch whether your state was open carry, but in my state, concealed carry is legal. A friend of mine that has a license told me that a cop pulled him over for some traffic offense. Somehow it came out that my friend was licensed. IIRC, he even produced the license, and the next thing he knew, the cop had him either leaning up against the car with his legs spread apart, or on his knees facing away from the cop. If that happened, and my friend was only involved in some routine traffic stop, well, we can imagine what it would be like for somebody in the scenario described. At the very least, the cop would probably make you do the buck and wing for his amusement. Also, how you talk to the cop will always make a big difference, even in a supposedly objective courtroom, if there were such a thing, which there isn’t. In a sense, cops keep judges in business, which means that if it weren’t for cops, judges would be making less money. How do you think they would treat a person trying to keep them from making money? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019/24 "2009-01-14T03:30:25Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I can’t even begin to understand the mentality of someone who would walk around in public openly carrying a firearm. I mean, what the fuck? I open carry my 9 mm whenever I’m out-and-about. (It’s not illegal to do so in Ohio.) FYI, my “mentality” is perfectly normal. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019/25 "2009-01-14T06:51:26Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I didn’t catch whether your state was open carry, but in my state, concealed carry is legal. A friend of mine that has a license told me that a cop pulled him over for some traffic offense. Somehow it came out that my friend was licensed. IIRC, he even produced the license, and the next thing he knew, the cop had him either leaning up against the car with his legs spread apart, or on his knees facing away from the cop. If that happened, and my friend was only involved in some routine traffic stop, well, we can imagine what it would be like for somebody in the scenario described. At the very least, the cop would probably make you do the buck and wing for his amusement. In most, if not all, states that have concealed carry laws, anyone carrying when pulled over for a traffic stop is required to tell the officer they have a gun and have their license with them, ready to present to the officer. If your friend didn’t tell the cop up front and it came out during the stop, it is not surprising the cop was less than pleased with him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerk-cop-open-carry-complaining-citizen/481019.md?page=1)