Rudely Displaying a Firearm

[Ben]

Story of a Texas dad hiking with his son and arrested for "rudely displaying a firearm". The story indicates the guy is a military blogger, and the amount of video available for the incident makes it look to me like maybe he was pushing boundaries and contributed to the incident. Some of the arguments the officers use in the videos however, are worth noting.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/war-veteran-arrested-for-rudely-displaying-rifle.html

[Ron]

If he did nothing wrong then the Police and .gov should be taken to court and held accountable. Having said that, it looks like this guy is not someone we should hold up as a role model.

In the gun community we need better role models and guardians than Ted the pedophile Nugent and scammers like this guy.

From the comment section:

Michael Yon
Grisham is a well known scammer and professional victim.

He was sent home from Afghanistan after seeing zero combat. He completed only about half his tour at Kandahar Airfield where he spent his time blogging and complaining about mental health issues, saying his hand was shaking from rocket strikes. The man is a coward. I and many other people were also there but not whining about the rocket strikes.

For years now, Grisham has brought unfavorable attention to himself and to the Army.

In Alabama, a schoolboard nearly had a restraining order against Grisham. He also scammed that time by setting up a legal defence fun that he absconded with.

This weekend, he reached his $11,000 goal for a legal defense and immediately announced on his Facebook that his wife and daughter were free to go on a shopping spree. When this backfired, he said his Facebook had been hacked. When that backfired, he blamed the hacking on his own wife.

Grisham was caught red handed in Stolen Valor. He got a bronze star in Iraq which he said was from taking out an entire Iraqi squad with only a hand grenade and a 9mm. This has been proven false. We got hold of his bronze star, which he refused to print, and it was for admin. No mention of any Iraqi squad.

Grisham is a scammer, and is the last person we want guarding our 2nd Amendment rights.

[Fitz]

I love the comments regarding Yon being a "government plant."


Jesus, the internet is stupid.


Anyways, Although the MSG may be a shithead like Yon describes, it doesn't excuse the actions of the police in the video, at least, from what is shown. There may be more to the story, so I'll reserve judgment.

To me, it looks like one doosh met another group of dooshes and had a doooooosh-off

[Blakenzy]

Guilty! He was clearly AWC. Armed While Civilian.

[Tallpine]

“In this day and age people are alarmed when they see someone with what you have,” one of the officers told a handcuffed Grisham. “They don’t care what the law is.”

That about sums it up.

Apparently the deputies don't care what the law is, either.

And they wonder why folks lose respect for "law enforcement" (which has apparently become opinion enforcement now).

***

Texas is sure a wonderful place, ain't it? 

[kgbsquirrel]

If he did nothing wrong then the Police and .gov should be taken to court and held accountable. Having said that, it looks like this guy is not someone we should hold up as a role model.

In the gun community we need better role models and guardians than Ted the pedophile Nugent and scammers like this guy.

From the comment section:

I'm not sure I'd put much stock into Yon's claims. Some AD .mil folks I speak with who actually know SGT Grisham in real life paint a much different picture. Apparently Yon has something of a feud going with Grisham.

[MicroBalrog]

Ted the pedophile Nugent? What now?

[zxcvbob]

The kid should press charges for false arrest.

[Boomhauer]

First of all, what is Texas law on carriage of handguns and longguns openly?

[zxcvbob]

First of all, what is Texas law on carriage of handguns and longguns openly?

That's a good question.  Open carry of a handgun is illegal, with some exceptions, like while hunting or on your own property.  I *think* open carry of long guns is still legal, but it's been 20 years since I lived there and it may have changed.

I wonder if the "rude" part (I can't believe that's a legal term) was because he had it slung in front rather than behind?

[Tallpine]

That's a good question.  Open carry of a handgun is illegal, with some exceptions, like while hunting or on your own property.  I *think* open carry of long guns is still legal, but it's been 20 years since I lived there and it may have changed.

I wonder if the "rude" part (I can't believe that's a legal term) was because he had it slung in front rather than behind?

Is that one of those over the shoulder things that allows the gun to go up 

[kgbsquirrel]

First of all, what is Texas law on carriage of handguns and longguns openly?

State Constitution    Article I, Section 23

Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.




Sec. 46.02. UNLAWFUL CARRYING WEAPONS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not:




Sec. 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(8 ) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;




That's all of it.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Lotta of ambiguity in those statutes. Did the guy really run a prior defense fund scam or the other things yon claims? Some should be verifiable

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[kgbsquirrel]

Lotta of ambiguity in those statutes. Did the guy really run a prior defense fund scam or the other things yon claims? Some should be verifiable

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

PM sent.

[kgbsquirrel]

My attorney has gotten word that the prosecutors are asking for a gag order because of all the media attention surrounding this case. So, we have already released the full video to the media before a gag order can be initiated. And, I'm releasing it here for your viewing.

http://vimeo.com/62032686

Circa 2:20

Police Sergeant: "He has the right to disarm you-"

SSGT Grisham: "-no! He has no right to disarm me if I'm not breaking the law!"

Police Sergeant: "Yes he does..."

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://www.kcentv.com/story/21860185/local-soldier-says-police-violated-his-guns-rights

[AmbulanceDriver]

oh man... I hope this goes far and wide....  

I'm not against police....  But the mantras of "officer safety" and "resisting arrest" have gone way too damn far....  

I'm sure the officers won't actually be punished, but I'm hoping some judge watches this and does the legal equivalent of a slap upside the head and calls them idiots...

The mere carrying of a firearm should not be a reason for an officer to feel "thretened"...  And I agree, if he does, then he's a sorry excuse for an officer.

[AmbulanceDriver]

From C&SD's link:

An initial resisting arrest charge was reduced to interfering with a public official Monday.

Yup...  It was a BS charge, they know it was a BS charge, and now they're trying to backpedal.  Asserting one's rights to know why they are being detained and why they are being arrested is in no way "interfering with a public official".

Freakin' A this pisses me off

[AmbulanceDriver]

Oh, and now I'm *really* freakin' pissed.....

From the link in the OP:

“I told him not to answer any questions,” Grisham said. “I told him not to answer a single question until his mother was there — and she would answer the questions for him.”
But that’s not what happened.
Chris told Fox News that the police officer refused to let him out of the car until he answered a series of questions. The boy had not been arrested.
“The officer told me that I wasn’t getting out of the patrol car until I answered his questions,” Chris said. “He said I didn’t have a choice. I was scared.”

Oh, I hope that family sues the hell out of that Police Department.   Personally, I would sue to force the officer to *personally* apologize to this kid for violating his constitutional rights.   I know that can't and won't happen.  But in a just world.....

[AmbulanceDriver]

I know it'll never happen, but wouldn't it be sweet justice for the officers involved to themselves be arrested under 18USC242.  Again, just more wishful dreaming...

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

some more background 
http://www.armytimes.com/article/20091208/OFFDUTY02/912080301/The-rise-and-fall-of-a-military-blogger

[roo_ster]

Oh, and now I'm *really* freakin' pissed.....

From the link in the OP:

Oh, I hope that family sues the hell out of that Police Department.   Personally, I would sue to force the officer to *personally* apologize to this kid for violating his constitutional rights.   I know that can't and won't happen.  But in a just world.....

Tar & feathers are too good for the POS.

[Tallpine]

CPL Chris Wilcox said, "Officers are people too. They have families, they want to go home and see those families. It would be very difficult for an officer to determine immediately who's a threat and who's not a threat when there's a gun involved, especially a high powered weapon, like an assault rifle."

Citizens are people too. They have families, they want to go home and see those families. It would be very difficult for a citizen to determine immediately when a police officer is a threat and when a police officer is not a threat when there's a gun involved, especially a high powered weapon, like an assault rifle.

 


I have to say that I have happily chatted with my local sheriff while I was open carrying and he never even batted an eye. 

[birdman]

From C&SD's link:

Yup...  It was a BS charge, they know it was a BS charge, and now they're trying to backpedal.  Asserting one's rights to know why they are being detained and why they are being arrested is in no way "interfering with a public official".

Freakin' A this pisses me off

Yes, it's become the current state of affairs where even if not being arrested, asserting one's 1A, 4A, or 5A rights is now easily construed as "interfering with blah blah blah"

And you know what, you can thank MADD for it.  It was DUI stuff that really started the erosion of 4A and 5A--both in search and in compelling evidence against yourself. 

[kgbsquirrel]

Yes, it's become the current state of affairs where even if not being arrested, asserting one's 1A, 4A, or 5A rights is now easily construed as "interfering with blah blah blah"

And you know what, you can thank MADD for it.  It was DUI stuff that really started the erosion of 4A and 5A--both in search and in compelling evidence against yourself. 

But if it saves one life...

...for the children...

...common sense*...




* Just thought of a comeback for that. "If you have to declare something is common sense when proposing it, then it probably isn't."