I am a law enforcement agency head and have just found out that the Carmike Theater in Bethlehem, GA refused entry this week
to an off-duty LEO because he was armed even though he presented his department badge and ID to the employees. I guess Carmike thinks that OCGA 16-11-130's exemptions and allowance for certified peace officers to carry "anywhere in the state" leaves room for interpretation. As I count them there are about fifty or so groups of people that are exempt from carry laws in Georgia under this code section.... That's an awful lot of dollars that Carmike is willing to turn away because of a half baked policy. I get the reason for the knee jerk restriction in light of the Aurora situation, but to limit law enforcement's access to the facility while off duty is not the best idea.... Just saying.
You are now seeing something that Law Abiding citizens that carry experience way too often and that is after years of demonizing firearms instead of criminal behavior, we have a bunch of sheeple that wince at the mere sight of a firearm.
Part of the demonization of firearms comes from the police.
Whenever there is a shooting, the press releases from the police concentrate on the firearm used instead of that Little Johnny was a bad egg and had a rap sheet two miles long.
The initial reports from the shooting in Colorado had the shooting using an full auto AK47. It did not matter that this was not true, just pin it on some evil black gun.
Now the demonization of the firearm has gone full circle.
The sheeple have heard over and over that guns are the problem and they do not want anyone but fully uniformed police and gubmint officials carrying guns.
In their knee jerk reaction, they are now even excluding off duty officers as they have been told over and over that people do not need to carry guns daily.
As a law enforcement head, I assume that it is your job to shape policy and attitudes of the officers below you.
Perhaps you could work for better press releases when gun crimes happen. Do not show the table full of guns, show Little Johnny's mug shot and list his prior offenses.
Perhaps you could work towards shaping the young officers minds that Law Abiding Citizens carry openly and concealed and it is their right.
Perhaps you could work towards shaping policy that does not require an officer to jump out of his cruiser and draw down on a dad that is open carrying and playing in the park with his child.
Perhaps you could even work on educating the public that Law Enforcement appreciates law abiding citizens that carry and understand that when the law abiding carry, crime goes down.
Basically, you can help and we can all work together to blame the criminals for their bad behavior.
That way we can end the blaming of the tool (firearm) that criminals illegally use.