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Someone open carrying a side arm without a badge?

A friend saw someone carrying openly and did not say anything. My first reaction was why didn't you tell him it's not legal yet?! He said he'd rather mind his own business and carry on with his own...

What would you do?

CHLLady wrote:Someone open carrying a side arm without a badge?

A friend saw someone carrying openly and did not say anything. My first reaction was why didn't you tell him it's not legal yet?! He said he'd rather mind his own business and carry on with his own...

What would you do?

Nothing.

If the individual is not acting in a threatening manner why care?

I'm not going to freak out over seeing a gun I just hate to see someone go down for an honest mistake. Maybe they're from Arizona or something...

CHLLady wrote:I'm not going to freak out over seeing a gun I just hate to see someone go down for an honest mistake. Maybe they're from Arizona or something...

It's the responsibility of the license holder to know the laws of the state in which they are carrying.

I would probably laugh out load. And before anyone says anything if I thought I couldn't handle the response I wouldn't laugh.

If I were to say anything at all, I would say I can't wait until January so I can open carry.

glock27 wrote:Mind my own business...

Do you flag drivers down to let them know they are speeding?

Your not a cop. Theyre not hurting anyone. Mind your business.

Another way to look at it is to ask whether or not you would flash your headlights to someone to let them know that they might want to slow down up ahead? If so, then maybe it's not playing cop or minding their business just to casually mention that it might be worthwhile being careful about OC, because there are those who might place a MWAG call since OC isn't legal in TX yet.

I would assume I missed the badge.

If he wasn't doing anything suspicious or acting nervous, I'd assume he was a cop and move on.

TxRVer wrote:I would assume I missed the badge.

Yep. Same here.

I have encountered this a couple of times. I saw two men in a restaurant and both had holstered revolvers on there belts. I wondered if they were law enforcement so I watched them to see if they had badges displayed and saw none. From their dress and demeanor I was fairly positive there were LEO's . Even so I kept my eye on them. After they sat down and were they for a short time they were joined by a couple of uniformed officers confirming my intuition.
The second time was in an small town café. I looked over at the table next to me and notice an "elderly" ( that sounds strange since I am elderly, just means he looked a older than me) looking guy with a basket weave holster showing. I watched for a while and several times the weapon was exposed ( looked like an "L' framed S&W, maybe Model 19). He was with were several other "locals" and I wasn't overly concerned but kept my antenna slightly raised any way. After they left I inquired of the waitress if she knew the people at the table and told her one was armed. She told me he was the sheriff. Never saw a badge though.
Strangely in both encounters I never considered them a threat even though it wasn't initially apparent they were LEO's. I think if I had encountered them close to my personal space I might have respectfully inquired if the were law enforcement.

puma guy wrote:I have encountered this a couple of times. I saw two men in a restaurant and both had holstered revolvers on there belts. I wondered if they were law enforcement so I watched them to see if they had badges displayed and saw none. From their dress and demeanor I was fairly positive there were LEO's . Even so I kept my eye on them. After they sat down and were they for a short time they were joined by a couple of uniformed officers confirming my intuition.
The second time was in an small town café. I looked over at the table next to me and notice an "elderly" ( that sounds strange since I am elderly, just means he looked a older than me) looking guy with a basket weave holster showing. I watched for a while and several times the weapon was exposed ( looked like an "L' framed S&W, maybe Model 19). He was with were several other "locals" and I wasn't overly concerned but kept my antenna slightly raised any way. After they left I inquired of the waitress if she knew the people at the table and told her one was armed. She told me he was the sheriff. Never saw a badge though.
Strangely in both encounters I never considered them a threat even though it wasn't initially apparent they were LEO's. I think if I had encountered them close to my personal space I might have respectfully inquired if the were law enforcement.

Interesting experiences! So a Leo doesn't have to have a badge showing to open carry?

CHLLady wrote:
Interesting experiences! So a Leo doesn't have to have a badge showing to open carry?

Not by law, but most departments require it to be displayed.

Thank you Keith!