Re: Open Carry & gun control

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On 1/26/04, brontosaurus wrote:
> I will tell you that a company's firearms policy cannot dictate
> the manner in which you will be treated by the legal system.
> Walmart does not permit customers to carry a concealed firearm,
> however a customer that carries a pistol and keeps it concealed
> will not be found out.
>
> Moreover, a company cannot have you arrested for the criminal
> use/misuse of the firearm if it is concealed and you are acting
> within the statutory guidelines of your state. However, the
> company could pursue a civil complaint against you for some
> perceived damage to the company through your negligence.
> However, if you don't draw the weapon, fire the weapon, display
> the weapon, threaten to use the weapon, then their complaint
> won't have any actual damages to attach.
>
> Nevertheless, we are talking about "law" and with all
> politically charged issues, guns bring out emotions rather than
> calm logic and there is a possibility a law abiding citizen
> with a concealed permit/license could lose a civil suit, but
> most likely a criminal suit would not hold up.

Well, Spot, on the one hand you kind of deserve all the trouble
you found yourself in. Open carry is not a problem for me
personally, but you can bet that with the culture the media has
built around firearms, open carry will be likely to cause a great
deal of trouble.

As stated in my previous post, Private property is in fact
private. What that means is that the owner of private property
possess the right to exclude. When I was in law school, we were
taught that this is the underlying principle in property
ownership. However, when you take that same property and make it
available to the general public, again, it becomes a "public
accomodation" If Stores are going to have a "no guns" policy,
contrary to any existing CCW/open carry law, and such policy is
directed at all whom enter the store, then the store must give
reasonable notice of the policy to the general public. It merely
CANNOT be assumed. Consequently, they (the store, such as Walmart)
may be challenged on it, if the CCW/open carry law is a function
of state control. The State (issuing authority) may take the
position that only the state may regulate and formulate policy as
to where or how a firearm is carried. Case in point, several town
halls in this state passed "no firearms on premises" ordinances
and failed to post it. My client, when entering city hall, was
asked by a person if he was "packing heat today" He responded
with, "none of your business" the person who asked summoned the
security guard who called the Police. the Police came (and I must
say they did a stellar job) and politely pointed out that the
ordinance is in place and that he would have to comply. The
Police took the position that it was not in their perview to
decide the validity of the ordinance. Now comes the fun part. The
city solicitor wrote my client a letter effectively banning him
from all city property. We sued and won. The Attorney General of
the state provided an opinion letter stating that "only the state
has the authority to control and regulate handguns, and towns
must follow state law. clear and simple.

Re: Open Carry & gun control, 2/14/04, by Punchhowzer.

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