Interesting, yet troubling story !

[Neverpanic1]

I had a class yesterday and one of my students was telling me that while in San Antonio earlier this year, a SAPD Officer approached her and rudely asked her outloud, "Ma'm, do you have a CHL ?". She answered "No, why ?". Then he asked if she was law enforcement or security. Again she said No. He mentioned that carry without a license is against the law, and she replied that she was not carrying. He says, " Well, that fanny pack you're wearing is for CHL use only !" She then opened it for him only to find her wallet and some feminine hygiene products.
I felt for her and this officer had no reason to question her. Very bad experience for her !

[The_Busy_Mom]

I'd have been asking for a badge number and a supervisor. Of course, my daddy always said that there are 3 sides to every story: yours, mine, and the somewhere in the middle is the truth/what actually happened. I would hope that maybe there was some misunderstanding, but if not, I'd have been on the phone the next day with SAPD.

TBM

[GrannyGlock]

I have told female students to reply to the question "What's in that Fanny-pack?" with Feminine protection.

[kg5ie]

At what point does a fanny pack become "for CHL use only'?

[TxRVer]

At what point does a fanny pack become "for CHL use only'?

Only when it contains a handgun.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'd have been asking for a badge number and a supervisor. Of course, my daddy always said that there are 3 sides to every story: yours, mine, and the somewhere in the middle is the truth/what actually happened. I would hope that maybe there was some misunderstanding, but if not, I'd have been on the phone the next day with SAPD.

TBM

Absolutely! I would also write a letter to the Chief of SAPD, suggesting that this particular officer be A) counseled, and B) drug tested. He is obviously right outside of his natural mind. Fannypacks existed long before the resurgence of concealed carry, even here in Texas. I owned a fannypack 15-20 years before CHL was passed here.

[chasfm11]

I have a friend with a degenerative muscle disease. He cannot reach into his pockets very well to retrieve things like his wallet so he looked online for something small that he could carry over his shoulder to hold his stuff. The only kind of gun that he owns is a Airsoft one that he uses at home so he really knows almost nothing about any other type of weapon. Unfortunately for him, his online search for an over shoulder case netted him a 5.11 pack.

He has been approached at least a dozen separate times. Several of them were fairly cordial and the officers involved only asked questions in a non-threatening manner. Several others have been belligerent and demanded that he leave where he was without even asking about the contents of his push pack. It wasn't until I explained to him that he had bought a case that was fairly easily recognized as one which is made to conceal a pistol did he understand his treatment. If you were to watch him for more than 30 seconds, it is obvious that he has physical difficulties and that carrying a firearm is probably the last thing that he would be doing. The push pack really works well for him but he is very careful now about where he wears it. I warned him that he could be taken to the ground because of his bag in the right location.

[EEllis]

That is just bizarre. I carry a gun, have that kind of tac gear and heck walk around wearing a 5.11 cap and no one has ever said anything to me at all with or without gun. I guess with enough people and enough encounters almost every interaction occurs eventually but I just have a hard time wrapping my head around how something like that could happen.

[chasfm11]

That is just bizarre. I carry a gun, have that kind of tac gear and heck walk around wearing a 5.11 cap and no one has ever said anything to me at all with or without gun. I guess with enough people and enough encounters almost every interaction occurs eventually but I just have a hard time wrapping my head around how something like that could happen.

I'm guessing that the difference is physical profiling. You probably look like an off duty LEO. He definitely does not. Because of his illness, he does not carry himself physically well and seeing that kind of a person with a tactical bag, particularly in some of the environments where he goes, is probably the catalyst for the approaches. He attends an amateur radio club meeting that is held in the Southlake, TX complex - which also houses the PD and a court.

My point in posting the situation is that fanny packs/ tactical packs can attract attention. Not all of that attention is good.

[EEllis]

That is just bizarre. I carry a gun, have that kind of tac gear and heck walk around wearing a 5.11 cap and no one has ever said anything to me at all with or without gun. I guess with enough people and enough encounters almost every interaction occurs eventually but I just have a hard time wrapping my head around how something like that could happen.

I'm guessing that the difference is physical profiling. You probably look like an off duty LEO. He definitely does not. Because of his illness, he does not carry himself physically well and seeing that kind of a person with a tactical bag, particularly in some of the environments where he goes, is probably the catalyst for the approaches. He attends an amateur radio club meeting that is held in the Southlake, TX complex - which also houses the PD and a court.

My point in posting the situation is that fanny packs/ tactical packs can attract attention. Not all of that attention is good.

It might be so. That they would assume because he is infirm that he couldn't be a LEO is one thing but then to assume that same infirm person is a threat based on his "gear" seems to be a bit strange to me. Anything can happen once but that it happens so often seems bizarre. I don't know maybe it's like you said and it's hard for me to "get it" since it never happens to me. Maybe they are profiling him as homeless not armed? Lots of "Street solicitors" adopt the tac gear for their "help the vet" deal.

[chasfm11]

OK. Here is a WWYD scenario.

You are working security at an emergency preparedness seminar sponsored by a Federal Congressman. The event is being held at a high school on a Saturday. There are 100s of people moving among about 50 booths of information and a demonstration by the handlers of the rescue dogs that were used in West, TX after the explosion is in progress.

A frail looking retirement aged man makes his way from the parking lot into the school's lobby where the booths are set up with at logoed 5.11 bag slung over his shoulder. He seems a bit confused and is looking around.

This is one of the specific situations. He was looking for me as we agreed to meet there.

[Keith B]

OK. Here is a WWYD scenario.

You are working security at an emergency preparedness seminar sponsored by a Federal Congressman. The event is being held at a high school on a Saturday. There are 100s of people moving among about 50 booths of information and a demonstration by the handlers of the rescue dogs that were used in West, TX after the explosion is in progress.

A frail looking retirement aged man makes his way from the parking lot into the school's lobby where the booths are set up with at logoed 5.11 bag slung over his shoulder. He seems a bit confused and is looking around.

This is one of the specific situations. He was looking for me as we agreed to meet there.

I would help him find you and that he didn't need any other assistance.

[chasfm11]

OK. Here is a WWYD scenario.

You are working security at an emergency preparedness seminar sponsored by a Federal Congressman. The event is being held at a high school on a Saturday. There are 100s of people moving among about 50 booths of information and a demonstration by the handlers of the rescue dogs that were used in West, TX after the explosion is in progress.

A frail looking retirement aged man makes his way from the parking lot into the school's lobby where the booths are set up with at logoed 5.11 bag slung over his shoulder. He seems a bit confused and is looking around.

This is one of the specific situations. He was looking for me as we agreed to meet there.

I would help him find you and that he didn't need any other assistance.

Unfortunately, one of the LEOs who approached him didn't take the same path.

[VMI77]

I warned him that he could be taken to the ground because of his bag in the right location.

If so, the officer doing it should be fired, perhaps even charged with assault, since there is no basis for physically assaulting someone merely because they're wearing a fanny pack, even if they're big and tough, much less if they're old and frail.

[chasfm11]

I warned him that he could be taken to the ground because of his bag in the right location.

If so, the officer doing it should be fired, perhaps even charged with assault, since there is no basis for physically assaulting someone merely because they're wearing a fanny pack, even if they're big and tough, much less if they're old and frail.

While I agree with you in principal, it still could happen. His is not exactly like this one
http://www.511tactical.com/All-Products ... -Pack.html
but it is the same setup with a large over the shoulder strap and the pouch part positioned under his non-dominant arm. I wouldn't have thought that it would attract any attention but based on the number of times that it has already, the possibility is there.

He is totally oblivious to all gun related matters. He is the amateur radio liaison to clearly posted 30.06 hospital and attends meetings there. The amateur radio club meetings in the PD/court building (there is no security checkpoint prior to the meeting room) and going to events like the EP one in the high school pose risks to him that he does not understand. I know that he has gone to Grapevine Mills Mall, too. If I were to develop a set of high risk places for him to visit, I could probably not build one better than the one that he already has developed completely innocently. I'm afraid that it would only take a MWAG report from citizen who recognized the pouch for a bad chain of events to start.