If you have a particular encounter with another citizen or LEO, post it here.
 #48871  by dave_in_delaware
 
Last night at Meeting #40 at Applebee's in Middletown, a patron was leaving when he saw WPCatfish's giant revolver inside a "cowboy" style holster and thought it was best to call the police. I'm not sure of the exact wording the guy used, but according to a waitress who was nearby, she told us the patron said "a Chinese guy with a revolver." :shock: Wow, really? It's not a generic MWG call, it was a specific ethnicity and gun type call. Wow.

By the time we were walking to our tables, two middletown Police Officers were already standing near our table (they came in through the rear entrance), and another two Officers were near the front, probably talking to the manager.

I never really noticed any police officers inside, and just as quickly and silently as they entered, they had left. No one in DELOC was approached, questioned, or anything.

My guess is that the police saw that everyone was peaceful, just there to have dinner. Nothing threatening, nothing terroristic, not scaring other patrons. So no need to "get involved" in nothing.

We joked about it afterwards, but I think WPCatfish was discriminated against (race, choice of gun, color of holster, etc), since there were 3 other armed individuals near the entrance who were not called on. Hmmm.... I guess white people carrying "Glocks" are OK. :?

It just goes to show: If you're Chinese, open carry a sword. That will look more "natural" instead of looking like a cowboy. Obviously that bothers people enough to call the cops.

FYI: our waitress was very cool about us carrying. The other waitress (who heard what the MWG caller said) was really cool and wanted us to come back next month. Even the manager was happy and friendly around us (unless it was nervousness). I saw other patrons close to our table looking, pointing, and whispering to each other, but no more 911 calls were made.
 #48880  by GatorDude
 
Again, with all due respect, I don't think they the complaining party actually saw anyone else besides the "Chinese man with the revolver" while they were passing each other at the entrance.
 #48883  by Boots
 
dave_in_delaware wrote:... We joked about it afterwards, but I think WPCatfish was discriminated against (race, choice of gun, color of holster, etc), since there were 3 other armed individuals near the entrance who were not called on. Hmmm.... I guess white people carrying "Glocks" are OK. :? ....
I don't think the caller's giving the best description possible of someone is 'discrimination'.

Also, once the departing patron noticed catfish, he apparently wasn't looking around at other people, including patrons seated in the waiting area, in order to see if they were also armed. To see an open carrier is still quite rare and I'm sure he never expected to see more than one that day. :lol:

The reality is, a sidearm that looks anything like what a cop carries, or perhaps might carry, would get much less attention. They might even assume "everything must be okay; nothing too strange here". But, a bright stainless SAA and a 'big' brown western holster? That might qualify as 'very unusual' from the sheeple. To be honest, even George's revolver and western rig once garnered unwanted attention and a visit from the manager in response to a patron's inquiry at IHOP.
 #48891  by dave_in_delaware
 
I know the patron probably didn't notice anyone else carrying, based on where and how the situation presented itself. It was more of a "bad timing" issue I think. A few seconds either way, and I don't think we'd be having this conversation.

My "discrimination" comment was sarcasm, Boots. Sorry I didn't make that clear. We're just so used to TNJ leaving out ethnicity from their descriptions, it's just strange to hear someone else mention it I guess.

Oh, yeah. Both WPcatfish's and Georges rigs caught some attention, definitely beyond what anyone else would probably see or worry about with the "Glock" type guns. I'm sure that's what caught the patron's eye in the first place.
 #48895  by GatorDude
 
Speaking completely without any "edit" button...I was initially surprised at WPCatfish's rig. It was about as "open" as open could be. In speaking with him, I found out he's a cowboy shooter. I understood his choice and was impressed with it.

:applause:

P.S. If anyone hasn't met WPCatfish...he's a very quiet, understated guy. Quite friendly and someone you'd definitely want to get to know better. (basically, the exact opposite of me) :D
 #48920  by Boots
 
:pointlaugh:
GatorDude wrote:... someone you'd definitely want to get to know better. (basically, the exact opposite of me) ....
 #48925  by bluedog46
 
"chinese guy with a revolver"?

this might become a catch phrase.

I have heard black man with a gun, brown man with a knife, and yankee with a moving van headed south. a friend of mine from equador once said or " a white guy working on wallstreet" after the financial collapse. THis is a new one though.

If te cops said we got a report about a chinese guy with a revolver, it would be cool if catfish said. I have not seen him i am ( korean, japanese, if other than chinese)

my wife is still laughing about this thinking how some people are so paranoid about guns
 #48965  by rmalec
 
I wish I could have made it the other night. It would have been interesting to see my Middletown PD buddies. Middletown has an agreement with the Del Tech Criminal Justice program. They come help train with the practicum class, lecture, do ride alongs, all that jazz. Would have been funny if I saw some of the officers I know down there.
 #48967  by Boots
 
rmalec wrote:I wish I could have made it the other night. It would have been interesting to see my Middletown PD buddies. Middletown has an agreement with the Del Tech Criminal Justice program. They come help train with the practicum class, lecture, do ride alongs, all that jazz. Would have been funny if I saw some of the officers I know down there.
I was there and never even noticed them.

They got a call, checked it out, found nothing bad was going on, and left. Kudos to the Middletown PD. :mrgreen: