Delawarelaws wrote:Before you book your picnic you should read this.First, welcome to the forum! One of the main focuses of this forum is the careful study of firearm laws and judging from your handle I see you could be an asset to this board.
New Castle County Code
http://library5.municode.com/default-te ... n=whatsnew
Sec. 24.01.014. Possession of certain knives; discharge of weapons.
No person shall carry a knife upon his or her person having a blade three (3) inches or longer in length or have possession of or discharge a BB gun, air rifle, pistol, firearm, paint ball gun, bow and arrow or any other type of lethal weapon in any park.
In my first post I included a Title 22 quote relating to municipalities. Here is Title 9 of the state code that relates to counties...
Title 9. CountiesOn this forum we are very aware of NCCo's unenforceable 'guns in the parks' law. However, we don't expect the average citizen to understand this, but we DO expect law enforcement officers to understand it; whether they personally agree with it or not.
Part I. Provisions Affecting All Counties
Chapter 3. County Governments Generally
330. General powers and duties. …
(c) The county governments shall enact no law or regulation prohibiting, restricting or licensing the ownership, transfer, possession or transportation of firearms or components of firearms or ammunition except that the discharge of a firearm may be regulated; provided any law, ordinance or regulation incorporates the justification defenses.
Since there is no law against what I did at Iron Hill Park, here is what I think should have happened... The person handling the 9-1-1 call should have asked the caller for some basic information, such as "what is the MWAG doing?"
The answer probably would have been "He's sitting on a bench in the fenced-in dog area talking to another guy."
"Where is the gun? or , What's he doing with the gun?"
---"It's in a holster on his right hip."
"Has he taken it out of the holster?"
---"No."
"Has he done anything illegal?"
---"I told you, he has a gun"
"The Delaware State Constitution acknowledges the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms openly, so that's not illegal. But if you think there is any danger to yourself or the public we can send an officer to investigate. Would you like us to do so?"
At this point, if the answer is 'yes', the officer can come to the scene and observe the situation to determine if there is any RAS to take further action. The officer could also meet with the concerned citizen and inform them of their assessment.
If there is no RAS, the person should not even be approached. No doubt some cops would like to be able to ask anyone "for their papers", but our Fourth Amendment must be protected... "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, ...." and this is the main topic of this thread.
And, that's why we talk of asserting our Fourth Amendment Right by things like "Am I being detained?" and "Am I free to go?" And expecting a RAS before the officer acts. We aren't trying to be difficult, we just expect to be able to go about our daily business in every lawful way.
Thanks for your post and your concern. And please feel free to continue the discussion here.
-Boots
Have Gun—Will Travel
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Have Gun—Will Travel
Si vis pacem, para bellum
It only took me .01 second to figure out MWAG, LOL. 
