Cop of the Day: Officer Matt Lyons, Oceanside PD

Because somebody made a call to the police about a “man with a gun.” The police don’t pick the calls, they’re tasked to respond to them.

this is a good cop sure, even though he held him wrongly. kind of a half detainment illegally. you can’t detain someone unless you arrest them, as that is holding someone against their will.

the problem is off duty cop frank white around this time shot that unarmed mom and her little 8 year old boy in a road rage incident. he shot the kid a few times. i would never open carry in this town, they shoot first and ask questions later. is a statement worth risking your life? i think the video camera saved it because i have been tossed on the ground and searched doing nothing from oceanside police as they were searching the area for someone who robbed the local mexi store. we were standing in a parking lot outside a store having a cigerette, while the real crooks got away down the road and on the highway. they had their guns drawn on us, then threw us down and we were very compliant. now that was wrong. i almost got shot for smoking. oceanside cops are some of the dirtiest cops on earth, this town is screwed up i’m moving.

“that being said why would one want to carry an unloaded weapon? ”

1. It can be loaded rather quickly by just inserting a magazine.

2. Obtaining a CCW is almost impossible in more urban areas of CA (regardless of ‘good cause’). Sacramento has changed via lawsuit to include ‘self-defense’ as good cause, but its up to elected Sheriffs to approve or deny applicants. Most just give you a denial and tell you to look into non lethal methods. Were working on that in court but that takes years.

3. Its ‘almost’ the only way to carry legally in CA. Impossible anywhere near a school (problematic in and of itself in urban areas) as one must put into a locked container. Schools are everywhere so I tend to think its not worth the hassle. CCWs in CA have no school limitations (one less argument later once its reformed), but again if one can’t obtain one, one is limited if they wish to carry.

Personally I am not a big fan of open carry. I find it more as a political statement then anything else. You’re right, police get called. Often they with come lights flashing, guns drawn and one is treated automatically as the bad guy. Many need to be better educated on the issue and I think there’s potential for mishap.

In CA, I often carry in what is often called the poor man’s method. In CA, a firearm must be stored in a locked ‘container;’ magazine not inserted. Container is undefined so it ‘could’ be a locked ziplock bag for all the law requires. Really, no joke.

I wear a maxpedition versipack when hiking (sometimes around town). Its over the shoulder and as my wife doesn’t care for the idea of open carry (even in national forests). I keep sodas, snacks and sunscreen/water in the main compartment. Pepper spray in a side compartment. No biggy. She (and everyone else) is none the wiser for me doing it. There is a zippered pouch in the back adjacent to the padding that a holstered firearm and magazine fit into nicely and comfortably. One doesn’t even notice it. I run a gun lock from the zipper through a couple of molle loops. Legal (now in a ‘locked container’), as close to CCW as I’m going to get until my county is reformed, and with the added benefit that LE will not be notified.

If LEOs are hostile toward it, that’s their fault. There are all kinds of things that might “create hostility with [some] LEOs”. Some you can control, some you can’t. Red cars, messy car interiors, black skin, tattoos, the type of music you listen to, the bumper stickers you have on your car (not just gun-related: politics, sports teams, colleges, anything really). If what you care about most is avoiding police attention and you’re prepared to do whatever it takes to effect that outcome, that’s fine. Your choice. Actually, that’s what I choose most of the time too. But is it so hard to understand why some people might choose instead to prioritize exercising their freedoms and expressing themselves?

If police waste their time responding to MWAG calls, that’s the fault of the dispatcher for not asking the right questions of callers. Is it holstered? Is the person threatening anybody in any way? Does the person appear to be drunk or on drugs? Dressed like a gang member? If the caller provides misleading answers that exaggerate the danger, the police should respond by handing out citations (or at least warnings) to the callers. Idiots make frivolous calls to 911 all the time. If an open carrier is obeying the law, how in the world would any police response be his or her fault?

As for Joe Public, it’s not guns that create the fear (any more than guns kill people), it’s ignorance and prejudice on the part of the person feeling the fear.

There are plenty of good reasons for open carrying that have nothing to do with making a point. It’s more comfortable. It could potentially deter crime. In many states (including my own), you don’t need any permit to open carry, but you do need a permit to carry discreetly. Even in shall-issue states, why should we have to pay money for a permit as though bearing arms were a privilege granted by the state rather than a natural right?

Still, I recognize that most people who practice open carry have making a statement pretty high on their list of reasons. And this is how they are addressing the very problems you listed. If by carrying openly they can desensitize the public and educate law enforcement, the fear and hostility will start to go away.

I don’t OC much myself, but here’s the problem I have with the anti-OC attitude among concealed carriers: it accepts the premise that there’s something wrong with law abiding civilians exercising their right to bear arms, that we should have to sneak around to do it.

I agree on most counts, however I see the point of carrying in public. It is not for your protection, but to make a statement about personal protection rights and to work on desensitizing “Joe Public” to firearms. If they folks see guns more, they won’t be as scared of them. My wife was intimidated by guns. I have a few and, as they started rolling into the house, she just got used to them. Now she’s begging to go to The Gun Store in Las Vegas to shoot a machine gun. That’s what this is all about. Guns are fun. Guns are useful. But if all people know of guns comes from news reports about violent crime and violence on television and in movies, they will be intimidated by them.

Now, open carry isn’t for me. I’m a family man, and real security is more important than making statements. That said, I’m glad there are people who open carry. People need to be exposed more to firearms in this country. Having, maintaining, and practicing with a firearm used to be a duty in this country, for anybody strong enough to use one. Now 70% don’t even own a firearm, much less use or carry one regularly.

Cops always want ID so they can put it in their report. That’s true of almost any citizen contact, gun or no gun. I don’t see anything wrong with what the cop did here. He asked several times, but he never coerced. A lot of cops would get noticeably bent out of shape if you refuse to provide ID (to say nothing of the recording), but this one remained calm, polite and professional. Even kind of friendly.

Are you kidding me? He approached a civilian who did nothing but have an unloaded firearm on his side. He used a control hold on his wrist while he searched him…etc…..etc. Really?

Because in the U.S. we are presumed to be innocent of any crime unless there is evidence that indicates otherwise.

That gentleman had no requirement to prove anything to the officer other than the fact that his firearm was being carried per California law (which he did)