Hampton Roads - OC reports

OC-ed to Vinny's last night with my daughter. Lots of people and no issues.

wolf-father said:

After 3 years of her being out in public she was asked to leave a city park of all places. I went to Portsmouth City Park. After about a half hr of being there I was called over by a Portsmouth City Police officer that was there for something else. He asked if I was a polce officer to which I answered no. He then told me I could not have a gun in city parks. Then I tried to tell him that it was preempted. Then he got defensive "would I be talking to you if that was the case would I be talking to you. When it was all over it ended with me trying to educate him on it but we could not find the code in his big book of codes not even sure what year it was. It was an employee that told on me (told him was against the rules) along with a person in the park. So now I have some e-mails to write and web sites to look at. Maybe this is a good place for an OC picnic. lol

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I got a responce from the police department training devison and they told me they can make stronger laws then the state. But one the good side there are no rules in place for parks.

wolf-father said:

I got a responce from the police department training devison and they told me they can make stronger laws then the state. But one the good side there are no rules in place for parks.

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This is what is so frustrating. Even though there are no rules against OC in the park if the police are uninformed and want to infoce their own rule you still have no choice but to leave.

SO the police think they can make "stronger laws than the state",huh? Well, of course, the police can't "make" a single damn law at all! I think the officer in question was suffering from the Norfolk Police Arrogance Syndrome. That didn't work out too well for them as I recall, and led to a $15,000 out of court settlement. If Portsmouth thinks they can get away with the same thing, they will find themselves getting spanked! We know that, so we need to pay attention to this and see what develops.

Ric R, of course it is frustrating when stupidity briefly overrules common sense! I wouldn't knowingly put myself in a position that would get an officer to arrest me, even on a bogus charge, but we have to do whatever it takes to bash stupidity over the head any time it pops up! This is just how life is sometimes. There are ways we can do this without getting into any trouble.

I wonder what they'd say if we showed up for an OC picnic?

wolf-father said:

I got a responce from the police department training devison and they told me they can make stronger laws then the state. But one the good side there are no rules in place for parks.

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Could you please post that document, or provide an exact transcript with the sender's name?

wolf-father said:

Maybe this is a good place for an OC picnic. lol

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I am definitely down! I'd love for us to do more on this side of the water!

I just have to tell you guys when and where. I know, I know.

I'm down for the OC picnic also! After Danbus got arrested in Norfolk, a bunch of us descended on Waterside and the police just stood by. Same after Renegade got arrested at Town Point Park. I was there with about 40 other guys all OCing, and we just nodded "Hey" to the police. At this point, if someone with a voice recorder gets harrassed or picks up some nonsense, we can do what needs to be done. In all likelihood, we will just have a good time and make a much needed political statement!

OC-ed to Chili's for dinner. No issues.

As we were leaving I saw one woman do a target-lock on my holster mid-chew. It was like she froze as we passed. We got seated by a screaming toddler (all through dinner) which made hearing difficult and dinner less pleasant. I wonder sometimes if when the hostess sees an OC-er if they purposely seat us somewhere different? When we had the OC dinner at BD's Mongolian BBQ a week or two ago they sat our group allllllllll the way in back by the bathrooms. They were busy though so with a group of 10 I didn't think too much about it.

OC'd last night at Ruby Tuesday with my wife and youngest daughter. No problems as usual. I'm sure people saw me at the salad line, though no responses. As I was looking out the window, there was a guy smoking a cigarette outside the front door with an OC rig on his right side. It was obvious since he had lifted his sport shirt in a Virginia tuck. He left before we did. Didn't recognize him.

wolf-father said:

I got a responce from the police department training devison and they told me they can make stronger laws then the state. But one the good side there are no rules in place for parks.

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Ok here is after some debate with myself here is the responce from PPD.
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Good Morning,


In response to you inquiry, there is no code that prohibits anyone (legally allowed to carry) from having a firearm at City Park. For future reference, City Code can place more controls than State Code. I referred the Code listed and also referred City Code to ensure that there was no prohibition of firearms at any parks within the City. There are none.

I will make contact with the employee's supervisor to find out what Park rules that person was referring to as I also spoke to the Corporal in charge of the security guards who work at that location.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Lt. Smith

Lt. Lisa Smith

Portsmouth Police Department

Training Unit

330 County Street

757-393-8088 office

wolf-father said:

For future reference, City Code can place more controls than State Code.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Lt. Smith

Lt. Lisa Smith

Portsmouth Police Department

Training Unit

330 County Street

757-393-8088 office

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I think that Lt. Lisa Smith needs to be properly retrained, because it is obvious she doesn't understand preemption...

I typically don't even notice when someone reacts to me wearing a gun, my wife does, but I always tell her it wasn't a woman staring at my glock, they were checking out my butt. She usually disagrees with me but I really don't pay attention to the way people look at me. Yesterday was an exception. I know South Hill is a bit out of the area, but I have not seen a thread for them. I ran out to my hunt club yesterday to get some target practice in, had the wife and daughter with me.

No one at Walmart seemed to notice, and they had no problem selling me 9mm ammo even though I had one hanging off of the right hip.

When we stopped in KFC for lunch as I sat down after getting my lunch one of the employees came up to the counter and said to another customer "that guy had a gun" loudly enough for me to hear.

Down the street at the Exxon after I filled my truck up, the pump told me the cashier had my receipt, I grabbed the dog since she was bouncing all over the truck driving my wife nuts and walked in to get my receipt. As soon as I came through the door strong side away from the cashier, she backed up about 3 feet and acted somewhat intimidated. My daughter was grabbing a snack and saw what had happened. I asked for my receipt and the cashier handed it to my daughter. She seemed bound and determined to avoid me at all costs.

My daughter thought she had probably noticed me wearing a gun while I was filling up the truck. I think she was intimidated by the dog. Some people tend to have irrational fears of things, such as a six pound chihuahua.

All in all a pretty uneventful day, not the normal open carry day for me, just uneventful.

Attended the rescheduled Newport News Fireworks downtown by the Victory Arch tonight.

The event was well-attended, the show was great, and the police were afoot and on bicycles. I spoke with a sergeant about parking (after I actually parked) and with several officers on duty at the entrance about why there wasn't a sign further up the block directing folks to the handicapped parking lot (the only sign was at the entrance). As a result, we walked about two blocks. It turned out that the walk paid off when the show was over.

Not a single comment about my gun.

Hey all, been a while.

I was OC today at Arcet, in Hampton. Took the kids and got my argon bottle filled, since my form 1 build has been approved to build my 9mm supressor, I will be needing the gas for some TIG.

I also stopped by the Wood's Orchard farm market in Hampton, got the kids some fresh fruit and hung out there, while they ate.

A few glances, at my p11, but no looks of shock or fear. Nice day to be out and about.

ODA 226 said:

I think that Lt. Lisa Smith needs to be properly retrained, because it is obvious she doesn't understand preemption...

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Technically she is correct. She writes:

"For future reference, City Code can place more controls than State Code. ".

They can. Just not anything involving the carry of firearms. Who knows if that's what she really meant. More clarification is needed.

No Carry at the Mariner's Museum

We went to the Mariner's Museum yesterday (7/7/2011) to attend the free Thursday (June/July) evening concert. I was spotted OCing by Security, and was told that no firearms are allowed on the property.

For details, see my post at http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...-Museum-in-Newport-News&p=1568952#post1568952

Open carried to True Value Hardware this morning, Lowe's this afternoon and Lazy Daze Hookah Lounge in NN this evening. Danbus and some family and friends were there, many oc'ing. Danladi is doing well, and gives his regards.

For the past couple weeks

I have carried in Food Lion, Advance Auto, Chic-Fil-A, Exxon, Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Super K-Mart, Target, Chinese goods outlet center (aka wallmart), the pool place on Magruder Blvd, NAPA, Sears, Trader's Joe's, Appleby's, Luigi's and the Patrick Henry mall. In the mall we stopped by the T-Mobile place where the conversation with the phone seller went something like this:

him: is that a real gun?!?!
me: well yeah. a fake gun wouldn't do me any good
him: that's not allowed in here
me: really??
him: yeah, its the mall's policy, not ours.
me: not good.......
him: why do you have a gun anyways?
me: basically the same reason I have fire extinguishers in the house and seat belts in the car, and home owner's insurance,
him: oh, make's sense
me: you have one, don't you???
him: me! no!!
me: you need to get one
him: yeah, probably, but what about is someone snatches it? Do you worry about someone grabbing your gun? (he wasn't trying to be a smart a$$ here, just actually curious)
me: you mean like when all the bad guys grab the cop's guns?
him: (eye roll, then sheepishly said) yeah, good point
me: really, you take all kinds of precautions in life, wear seat belts, have health insurance and life insurance, lock your doors so it doesn't make sense to not make any provisions whatsoever with your personal safety.
him: wow, never really thought about it like that.
me: seriously, give it some real thought. Your wife and kids may need you to stand between them and a bad guy some day

at this point he had a serious/thoughtful look on his face. then he showed us all kinds of phones and features, etc. As we were leaving I quipped, give it some thought about your security. He assured me that he intended to do that.


I was also in the World Market buying stuff and interacted with a young lady in the wine section and she was speaking that wine language about berries and fruity follow-up and blah blah blah. Then after I got the things I came for I got to the counter where a lady rang up my purchases and the chit chat was something like:

her: whatta ya do?
me: as of the first of the month I retired so now I just do "honey do's" all day (we share a chuckle)
her: you retired as a cop?
me: no, nuclear pipefitter!
her: but you gotta gun
me: sure do, I can't be mixing it up with the thugs and gang bangers out there, they're crazy
her: they sure are! maybe ya need two of them things,
me: well, now that you mention it, I do
her: you have one hid too?!!
me: yeah. You have a couple too don't ya?
her: no, but.....
me: well, you need to get one, or TWO! (we share another chuckle) You have to take care of yourself
her: but I don't have a permit
me: you don't need one to buy or own a gun, or even carry it openly like this
her: I thought I'd have to get a permit or something
me: no, just buy it. you only need a permit to carry it concealed
her: I guess I really DO need one, I live alone,
me: listen honey, you need to get yourself a nice revolver and learn how to use it. There's some ranges around here that offer lessons. you have to be ready to take care of yourself in case some crack head tries something stupid.

At this point there was a line forming so I bid her farewell and gave her a VCDL flyer and encouraged her to give it some serious thought. She said she would. It was a pleasant conversation and the other customers even seemed to be interested and they weren't fussing about me holding up the line (but I didn't want to push it or be rude and give someone a bad impression of a gun owner, so I moved along)

Oh, and I also open carried in the Bone Fish Grill too. Nice food. Big prices. Fun times. Well, that's my installment for a while. Stay tuned.........

Been OCing a bit but my allergies are killing me so I tend to OC less when I am grumpy.

Been to Tropical Smoothie, Best Buy, Food Lion.

Having to drop off and pickup kids 4 times a day for practice at their school crimps my OC-style too. :-(