Nervous visit to DPD

[PappaGun]

Yesterday I stopped in to my local police station to give them a map with the location of a homeless guy who has taken up residence in a wooded area near my house.

This has happened before and it is impossible to explain the location on the phone, so now my wife or I go and personally detail how to get there. This is the first time I have gone.

When I walked up to the building there was a sign on the outside that stated that guns are prohibited in the facility and to do so
one is "guilty" of a Class A misdemeanor. (I thought guilt was determined a court?)

I know it's OK to carry in the unsecured area. But I began to envision a scenario where I would be asked to come inside the secured area to meet the officer to explain the location. I had a vision of having to call some of the Legal Eagles here for help
with my test case; maybe another Costco.

It didn't happen. I met with the officer in the lobby and all was good.

How would you have handled it if you had been asked to step inside?

[MoJo]

Simply tell the officer you are armed and ask if there is a secure storage facility. Some departments will say come on in you're with me. Others will freak. Small to medium departments seem to be the coolest.

[karl]

In Houston the stations are police/courthouse combos.

[tallmike]

Just inform the officer that you are armed before you enter the secured area.

I went to have a conversation with our police chief once. I caught him outside the station and asked if we could speak, when he invited me in I said "just so you know, I am armed." His answer? "So?"

[G.A. Heath]

Just a quick reminder: a lot of law enforcement facilities also serve as correctional facilities, which is a prohibited place.

[steveincowtown]

People/LEO you encounter when you are carrying or transporting your firearm are typically going to feed of whatever energy you give them. I fly a great deal with my firearm (packed underneath the plane of course) and quickly learned that by instead of saying something like “I have a gun to check” , I now always just say causally say during check in “Could I get one of those firearms tags?” It seems like the less of a deal we make of it, the more normal those around us will see carrying a firearm. I would not tell an officer in a million years that “I am armed” or “I have a gun”, I think both of the statements have broad implication that can be taken in a wide variety of context. Thankfully I don’t interact with LEO’s often at all, but whenever it has come up I always say first “Just a heads up I have my CHL and I am carrying today.” By using this type of language you are (1) establishing you are carrying, and have a license to do so (2) establishing that you do indeed have a firearm on you. Like I said though…just an opinion.

[NEB]

--NEB

[hirundo82]

Just a quick reminder: a lot of law enforcement facilities also serve as correctional facilities, which is a prohibited place.

It may be splitting hairs (but what else is the Internet for), but I'd argue that having a lockup in the building doesn't make the entire building off limits. Premises means "a building or portion of a building" so the part of the building that isn't used for confining prisoners but is used for other law enforcement purposes shouldn't be considered part of the correctional facility. In the same vein, I'd argue that if there is a clear distinction between parts of a building used by a court and parts not used by a court, the parts that are clearly not a court are not off limits.

[Dragonfighter]

Just a quick reminder: a lot of law enforcement facilities also serve as correctional facilities, which is a prohibited place.

It may be splitting hairs (but what else is the Internet for), but I'd argue that having a lockup in the building doesn't make the entire building off limits. Premises means "a building or portion of a building" so the part of the building that isn't used for confining prisoners but is used for other law enforcement purposes shouldn't be considered part of the correctional facility. In the same vein, I'd argue that if there is a clear distinction between parts of a building used by a court and parts not used by a court, the parts that are clearly not a court are not off limits.

PC 46.03(a)

(3) on the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the court;

em. added

One of those things. If you are not in the court, its lobby or any of the offices you SHOULD be okay. But all it would take is one jerk saying that it's all under one roof and BAM...one very bad and expensive day. Our local constabulary has courts in one wing and police admin in the other. A sign stating "No Firearms Beyond This Point" is near a door with a combo pad on it, I have always presumed it was toward the jail/secure area.

[CainA]

I caught him outside the station and asked if we could speak, when he invited me in I said "just so you know, I am armed." His answer? "So?"

What a great response.

-Cain

[chasfm11]

I had a somewhat similar situation. Our daughter is a police dispatcher. After her car was hit and then repaired, she ended up on duty when it came time to return her rental and pick up her car. I had to go to her police station, (which also houses a jail) and pick up the rental. I locked my gun in our car in the front lot and met her in front of the station where she escorted me through the station to the employee lot where the rental was parked. I still had my holster and mag pouch (both empty) on when we went through. There were big signs inside the main entrance about concealed handguns and criminal trespass. I had been unwilling to leave my gun at home because the body shop isn't in the greatest area of the city and it was evening. I drove the rental around to the front lot,re-armed under a towel and then was off to make the car exchange. When I brought her car back, she was able to come out and pick up the keys from me so that we didn't have to go through the station again.

Because it is a jail, too, there were some "interesting" folks in the front lot, apparently waiting to visit some of the "guests".

To add a little humor to the situation, the body shop has a gun buster sign. I just smiled.

[gigag04]

I don't think we have any signs on ours...I don't go through the front much.

[Seabear]

People/LEO you encounter when you are carrying or transporting your firearm are typically going to feed of whatever energy you give them. I fly a great deal with my firearm (packed underneath the plane of course) and quickly learned that by instead of saying something like “I have a gun to check” , I now always just say causally say during check in “Could I get one of those firearms tags?” It seems like the less of a deal we make of it, the more normal those around us will see carrying a firearm. I would not tell an officer in a million years that “I am armed” or “I have a gun”, I think both of the statements have broad implication that can be taken in a wide variety of context. Thankfully I don’t interact with LEO’s often at all, but whenever it has come up I always say first “Just a heads up I have my CHL and I am carrying today.” By using this type of language you are (1) establishing you are carrying, and have a license to do so (2) establishing that you do indeed have a firearm on you. Like I said though…just an opinion.

I always teach my students to state that they have a CHL and are "carrying". The word GUN can be a GO word, and I am Armed sounds like a threat.

[terryg]

In a similar vein, I just received notice yesterday that our HOA annual meeting will take place this year inside the local police station. One of the directors is a local police officer. It doesn't say where in the police station, but I can only assume a meeting or training room somewhere in the secured area.

The last HOA meeting was before i got my CHL, but they have usually been held at a local elementary school cafeteria which would make them off limits anyway.

But even if I could carry behind the secured area, I can't think of anyway to discreetly let the PD know without also letting all of my neighbors know that I carry.

[PappaGun]

Just inform the officer that you are armed before you enter the secured area...

Thanks y'all.
tallmike,
that's a good point.
Until I read your post, my only conclusion to the sign was that they meant for you not to carry any where on the premises, secure or unsecure. Next time I get a chance I will ask them what they think the sign means.