News Concerning Open Carry
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 3 months ago
About 20 people, openly armed with rifles and handguns, marched along Mound Road in Detroit Sunday to show support for a man who says he was unlawfully arrested because city police officers are against open-carry laws.
Detroiter Elijah Woody, 24, said he was open carrying a pistol while walking on Hague near Beaubien on Sept. 13 when he stopped to talk with friends around 7 p.m. Police pulled up a short time later.
Woody said he was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a felony, and detained five days. He said his gun, a .40-caliber Glock 40, was in plain sight in a holster on his right hip when he was taken into custody.
Here is what the police are saying.
Elijah Woody, who claims he was legally open-carrying his handgun when Detroit police arrested him, is charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a license, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
While Elijah Woody claims police exited their vehicle and arrested him within 15 seconds, Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody (no relation to Elijah Woody), said police reported smelling the strong odor of marijuana, which gave them probable cause to search Elijah Woody and the group he was standing on the sidewalk of Hague between Brush and Beaubian. Sgt. Woody said a marijuana blunt was found at the scene and logged into evidence and that, although Elijah Woody had his “over-sized jacket” tucked in behind his handgun, it folded over the gun and illegally concealed it.
For a number of reasons I suspect that the police report is false. Here is Kurt Hofmann in other open carry news.
Mr. Loftus goes on to note that this event takes place in an area in which every single legislator has opposed every single pro-gun rights bill since the year 2000. In short, to attend with an openly carried firearm, and without a concealed carry permit, is to face the risk of arrest and prosecution, with no certainty that the courts will recognize Amendment 5 as invalidating all laws against permit-less open carry. Not for the faint of heart.
The implication is that open carriers will be arrested. They’d better not be. As we’ve noted, there is state preemption now and open carry is legal everywhere in Missouri.
Since I don’t have time for a Notes tonight, read also David Codrea’s latest with Examiner.
Just as the billionaire-funded Astroturfers pose as the grassroots, the overabundance of safe selections, guaranteed to give them a track record of victories they can them claim as proof of their political wallop, is all part of the carefully-staged illusion-making.
I’ve remarked before that the collectivists work top down, while we work bottom up. They have to make it look like their their method works best.
On September 25, 2014 at 7:12 am, Frank Clarke said:
Detroit is in Missouri? Since when?
On September 25, 2014 at 8:19 am, Herschel Smith said:
I cannot ever recall having asserted that Detroit is located in Missouri.
Hmmm … the post is about open carry news in various locations (I actually had a few more news items but held back on those). I would have thought that would have been obvious when I used the words “in other open carry news.” Apparently not.
On September 25, 2014 at 2:48 pm, Dave Snode said:
Not so obvious when it’s buried at the back end of a sentence that should have started a new paragraph. It looks more like a continuation of the previous thought, so it tends to get glossed over. But hey, insults are so much easier and more fun aren’t they?
On September 25, 2014 at 3:02 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I’ll tell you what. Ensure me a salary for doing anything related to my web site and I’ll promise to do better. I make exactly zero dollars on the site and post very late, usually.
On September 25, 2014 at 5:41 pm, Dave Snode said:
Kudos to you for what you do. Seriously. We’re all on the same side. Still not an excuse for insults. There seems to be too much of that, on more websites than just yours. We should be concentrating on the evils in this world, not lambasting people that are on our side over minor crap.
On September 25, 2014 at 8:04 am, THEBigFatPanda said:
My question too. Or to put it another way, what’s Missouri got to do with the price of chicken in Chickasaw?
On September 25, 2014 at 8:19 am, Herschel Smith said:
See above.
On September 25, 2014 at 8:18 am, TimeHasCome said:
Open carry is sweeping the nation . Young persons cannot and will not be stopped from their 2nd amendment rights .
On September 25, 2014 at 9:17 am, Paul B said:
Or, for that matter OFWG’s either. Although you won’t find us hanging out on street corners very much.
On September 25, 2014 at 9:23 am, Disturbed Deputy said:
Just a note on Missouri. The governor’s veto was overridden and this law goes into effect Oct 1. It lowers the age for a CCW licence to 19, allows designated teachers to carry at school, and makes open carry legal if you have a CCW.
Detroit has made an amazing comeback from earlier days, but they still have a ways to go. Looks like that will likely depend on individual departments and what their dept heads tell the troops. Might need to sued a few times like happened in MO when concealed carry was instituted there and the sheriffs didn’t want to obey the ‘shall issue’ part of the law. A few court cases changed their minds.
On September 25, 2014 at 9:55 am, Herschel Smith said:
Right sir. That’s my point. The veto had to be overridden, but in fact it was. State preemption is the law now. Period. Arrests for open carry violates state laws, and arresting officers should themselves be arrested by state police.
On September 25, 2014 at 8:28 pm, PlainSimpleTruth said:
Arresting officers should have their names, their family’s, their phone number, email, and home addresses published along with photos of all of the above. Not our problem if folks start going cartel on them. After all – don’t act like thugs, you won’t have to worry about someone burning down your house while you’re off shaking people down for money to confiscate.
On September 25, 2014 at 10:01 am, billstclair said:
Colorado has state pre-emption, too, but Denver won in court when they forbade open carry there anyway.
On September 26, 2014 at 5:49 pm, Rob Crawford said:
That sounds like some judges need to be retired.
On September 26, 2014 at 12:04 am, Aldo Elmnight said:
Where can I get me one of those Glock 40’s?
On September 26, 2014 at 12:13 am, Herschel Smith said:
Good catch. I just now noticed that. They meant 22 or 23 I suspect.