American Rattlesnake
Regular Member
imported post
On advice from sv_libertarian (thanks Steve!) I emailed the Bothell Police Chief to talk about open carry. Chief Conover was extremely polite and informative. He said that the Bothell Police Officers and Dispatchers recognize the right of citizens to open carry in a peaceable manner. He reminded me that most people aren't used to seeing it and that doing so would likely generate calls to the PD which might have to be "checked out" depending on the "totality of circumstances" as reported by the concerned caller. Nothing wrong with this in my opinion...that's how all emergency calls work.
The impression I got from our discussion was that the dispatchers would do their best to ascertain if there was really something illegal going on rather than just hearing "man with a gun" and sending off the S.W.A.T. team.
I have nothing but praise for the respectful and polite way in which Chief Conover discussed these issues with me. He answered a chain of questions that lasted roughly two weeks and was always professional and informative.
Hope this is helpful for some folks....I'm contacting other local departments as well that maybe haven't been talked to yet.
Advice is always welcome.
Regards,
Rattler
On advice from sv_libertarian (thanks Steve!) I emailed the Bothell Police Chief to talk about open carry. Chief Conover was extremely polite and informative. He said that the Bothell Police Officers and Dispatchers recognize the right of citizens to open carry in a peaceable manner. He reminded me that most people aren't used to seeing it and that doing so would likely generate calls to the PD which might have to be "checked out" depending on the "totality of circumstances" as reported by the concerned caller. Nothing wrong with this in my opinion...that's how all emergency calls work.
The impression I got from our discussion was that the dispatchers would do their best to ascertain if there was really something illegal going on rather than just hearing "man with a gun" and sending off the S.W.A.T. team.
I have nothing but praise for the respectful and polite way in which Chief Conover discussed these issues with me. He answered a chain of questions that lasted roughly two weeks and was always professional and informative.
Hope this is helpful for some folks....I'm contacting other local departments as well that maybe haven't been talked to yet.
Advice is always welcome.
Regards,
Rattler