Another can of worms

Sebastian sure has a knack for finding the news that pushes peoples buttons:

This is one of the big risks with open carry. I think this guy handled himself pretty poorly, given the circumstances. Most open carry people know better than this, but it’s the bozos who are going to end up in the news.

Make sure to read the linked article.

Here's what I think happened. Mr Dohmen is a long-time 2A advocate, and he's been open-carrying for 2 years now (he has a concealed permit). He and his wife were on their way home from Denver, he needed to piss, and he did what thousands of people do - he stopped at McDonalds.

Where one hoplophobic customer told the hoplophobic manager there that there was a man with a gun in the house.

So the manager confronted Dohmen, asking if he was a cop and he replied that he was not. She then told him he had to leave. He responded that he was legally entitled to carry openly, and offered her a brochure to explain his rights under the law in Washington state. She responded that she was calling 911.

Now, as I mentioned in the comments, this manager, I'm quite sure, didn't make a "Man-openly-and-legally-carrying-a-firearm-in-my-restaurant-and-it's-making-my-customers-and-me-nervous-and-uncomfortable-and-you-have-to-come-and-DO-SOMETHING!" 911 call.

No, she made a "man with a gun" call, and that's completely different from what Dohmen was. So the police were looking for a man with a gun.

Now, I will say that Dohmen probably shouldn't have waited inside his car, and once the manager said she was going to call 911, he should have been on the phone to 911 post-haste .... might have made a difference. I would say that getting his side of the story on tape, and letting the responding officers know what kind of car to look for, and what I was wearing, and how old I am (just so they know), maybe the manager might have gotten schooled.

But she didn't, and Dohmen waited in his car, and he got responded to predictably, although everything worked out well that night. No jail, no real detention, he got his weapon back and went on his way. I really can't fault LE for what happened. I would also mention that if he had left, his desciption would have been given to police, and they'd have evetually found and stopped him anyway, with perhaps less-desirable results.

Now, the usual suspects are screaming that this is yet another reason why OC is a Bad Idea. I contend that Dohmen was ambushed, and did pretty well all things considered. He kept calm, he offered some literature that explained citizens' rights, and he left the building ..... he was going to get to talk to police no matter what happened. I think he did good.

But jumping to conclusions are some's stock in trade. To them I ask this question: What is a good OC encounter, especially in enemy territory?

pm