Great encounter with Grapevine PD
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:30 pm
I had a nice conversation with a couple of Grapevine's finest this afternoon. I was at Buon Giorno, a coffee shop on Hall Johnson Road, when I noticed a couple of GVPD standing there waiting for their coffee. I found myself staring at them because both were young, bearded (first GVPD cops with beards I've seen yet), and quite tall. The shorter one of the two was at least 6'2" but I didn't realize at first that he was tall, because his partner was GIGANTIC...... I mean, like, professional Ukrainian basketball player tall. Maybe 6'10" or thereabouts. (Turns out he is eastern european, and has the accent to prove it).
Anyway, they were chatting up anybody who came near them, in a very friendly and approachable way. They grabbed an outside table and sat down, and if you came up to talk to them (like I did), they'd offer you a chair and ask if you wanted to join them. It was almost like a deliberate outreach to connect with the community and patrons of the shop. They were shaking hands with people, joking around, etc.
So before leaving with my wife's and my coffees, I tarried a bit to chat. They asked if I wanted to join them, and I said normally I would, but that if I didn't get back with my wife's coffee, they were going to have to take me into police protection. I asked them if they had experienced any reactions or fallout from passage of HB910. They both gave me a blank look, and one of them said I was going to have to tell them what HB910 was. I said "Open carry". One of them said that the GVPD department hadn't received a single MWAG call yet, and one of them said, "...and frankly, I don't CARE. As long as it's legal, I don't care". The other one agreed, and the first one said that he doesn't even look for or notice if someone has a gun on their hip. They also said that the department has received no calls regarding anyone violating a 30.07 sign. I said that was great, but that I was surprised as I had personally had conversations with people who said stuff like if they saw someone open carrying they were going to call the police. Both officers said they hope that nobody does that because it was a waste of time and resources, and they had better things to do with their time.
Given the department's previous policy of enforcing non-compliant 30.06 signs, and the city's policy of posting public festivals on public streets with 30.06 signs (and I'm sure 30.07 going forward), I was pleased to see that individual officers are taking a much more libertarian approach to open carry than expected, just like they have always seemed to have toward concealed carry.
It was encouraging, and I came away thinking that we've got some pretty cool cops policing our neighborhoods.
Anyway, they were chatting up anybody who came near them, in a very friendly and approachable way. They grabbed an outside table and sat down, and if you came up to talk to them (like I did), they'd offer you a chair and ask if you wanted to join them. It was almost like a deliberate outreach to connect with the community and patrons of the shop. They were shaking hands with people, joking around, etc.
So before leaving with my wife's and my coffees, I tarried a bit to chat. They asked if I wanted to join them, and I said normally I would, but that if I didn't get back with my wife's coffee, they were going to have to take me into police protection. I asked them if they had experienced any reactions or fallout from passage of HB910. They both gave me a blank look, and one of them said I was going to have to tell them what HB910 was. I said "Open carry". One of them said that the GVPD department hadn't received a single MWAG call yet, and one of them said, "...and frankly, I don't CARE. As long as it's legal, I don't care". The other one agreed, and the first one said that he doesn't even look for or notice if someone has a gun on their hip. They also said that the department has received no calls regarding anyone violating a 30.07 sign. I said that was great, but that I was surprised as I had personally had conversations with people who said stuff like if they saw someone open carrying they were going to call the police. Both officers said they hope that nobody does that because it was a waste of time and resources, and they had better things to do with their time.
Given the department's previous policy of enforcing non-compliant 30.06 signs, and the city's policy of posting public festivals on public streets with 30.06 signs (and I'm sure 30.07 going forward), I was pleased to see that individual officers are taking a much more libertarian approach to open carry than expected, just like they have always seemed to have toward concealed carry.
It was encouraging, and I came away thinking that we've got some pretty cool cops policing our neighborhoods.