Ham Arrested at NC Airport

You may have your "I'm not sures" but I know in this day and age of Oklahoma city, Waco, Columbine and on and on and on..........if you show up packing at a location where the prez is at or was a few minutes before, are not from that particular state/loc., you are packing and appear to be a bit 'strange'............you are going downtown.........and he did. Now you may not be sure or you may just be trying to play cute........but I think we have a pretty good idea why he slept on a cot for a couple of nites and will now have to appear in court to explain the who, what, why and where's in front of a Judge.

 

Going armed in terror of the public.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-258579.html

What a pathetic law.

 

And the forum discussion there pretty much confirms what I thought. Mere possession or carrying a non-concealed weapon should not be a problem. There has to be some intent to scare or terrify people before this law kicks in. The fact that some person may be afraid is not enough. The person being charged would have to have that as his intent or purpose.

Joe

 

Maybe it shows our licensing system needs some kind of filter.

I know! I know! How about a CW filter--a Cop Wannabe filter?

See? There IS a solution!

 

The horse is out of the barn

Obviously the barn door was left open (or thrown wide open by interested parties) and all sorts of critters managed to weasel in. I am pretty sure it is way to late to close the barn door and if you did how about the weasels that got in?

 

There have always been undesireables in the HR community. HR ops are just people, some good, some bad, some smart, some dumb.

 

Not sure if this has been posted

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS (AP) – 1 hour ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio sheriff suspended the concealed weapons permit of an armed man who authorities say told them he wanted to see the president in North Carolina, and a report given to The Associated Press said the sheriff's office recently lectured the man about proper gun handling.

Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers cited Joseph Sean McVey's arrest Sunday for the permit suspension. He described his action as a suspension pending the outcome of the North Carolina investigation.

McVey had a handgun at his side when he was spotted by police in an Asheville Regional Airport parking lot Sunday just after Air Force One departed, police said. His car was loaded with police equipment, including a siren and lights, and had a note with formulas used for firing a rifle with a scope, authorities said.

McVey, whose mother lives in Asheville, was being held Tuesday under a $100,000 secured bond on a misdemeanor charge of going armed in terror of the public. Rogers sent the letter to McVey at the Buncombe County, N.C., jail Monday.

The suspension was not the first time the sheriff's department had contact with McVey about his handling of a gun. A sheriff's office report released to the AP said deputies questioned McVey in January.

McVey, a member of a volunteer group that helps police and firefighters, stopped to see if a couple who had pulled to the side of the road needed help, according to the report.

After a man at the scene refused to respond, McVey went back to his car, retrieved a .40-caliber handgun and placed it in his holster so that it was visible, the report said. He walked back to the car, where the man was talking to the woman through her window, the report said.

"I asked if there had been a wreck or what had happened. He swore at me and came towards me," the report quotes McVey as saying.

McVey said he stepped back, called a dispatcher on the radio, explained the situation and was told he could go.

Shortly after McVey left the scene, sheriff's deputies pulled him over at gunpoint until the situation could be sorted out, the report said.

McVey was not arrested but was lectured on the proper way to handle a gun in a car, according to the report. Rogers said Tuesday it was the deputies' choice not to arrest him.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

 

That is a classic example of someone who should not have a gun.

 

"McVey said he stepped back, called a dispatcher on the radio, explained the situation and was told he could go."

What are the odds McVey made that call using a freeband- oops- i meant MARS modded radio???

KA1MDA

 

I questioned this in the earlier thread that got deleted. Not enough info to draw a conclusion. In some localities police dispatchers monitor a certain CB channel. At least I have seen roadside signs stating this. There have been cases in the past where HR operators have been prosecuted for using modified gear to transmit directly on public service frequencies. The "anything goes in an emergency" doesn't always fly, especially if you have other means at your disposal (cell phone, GMRS, Amateur Repeater, etc.). I would carefully consider doing it in a dire life or death situation, if I had NO OTHER MEANS at my disposal, but being cognizant of possible legal repercussions, and the knowledge that I would have to answer for my actions.

 

Even a marginal lawyer can disprove intent unless our ham in question said or did something to prove intent circumstantially or otherwise.

One whitens who says "he scared me" isn't enough.

 

Stupidity

This whole ordeal with McVey is plain stupid. I've spoken to McVey locally as have several other hams on the local repeaters. IMHO he was often rude entering and speaking in conversations. Friends among friends break into repeater conversation with tact, or others break in asking if they can make a call. McVey and a few other local hams were asked to leave a repeater and speak there no more due to their behavior and other factors involving the law with individuals other than McVey.

The stupid comes into play when a ham is (according to news reports) speaking on government frequencies and talking to dispatchers. If he were a county EMA director, he would not be on the same frequencies as police and dispatchers. It appears he has volunteered with his local ARES/EMA. No excuse for speaking on government frequencies (if he indeed was speaking on them, the media may have that mixed up or he may have told the people along side the road. More stupid comes with the gun. There is no mention that he has a conceal and carry (if he did have a CCF he would NOT need instruction on the proper handling of a hand gun). The media said the local law in NC let him go? The media has no clue, NC local law enforcement has no clue. I'm willing to wager that My fat cousin Charlie has no clue either.

KD8RAY

 

Here in the People's Republic of Kalifornia if you call for aid on a public safety frequency you will go to jail.

Actually;
I think that is a good law.

 

Instead of the bold/italic shouting, why not try color?

I certainly am no 'shrink,' but if this guy for some strange reason actually wanted notoriety by 'packing' as you call it, he got it. On the other hand, like I said, there are no pictures of him actually wearing a holster with weapon. "Beside him" could mean on the floor or in the passenger seat.

We know they searched the car, as how would they know he had a siren/PA under the dash? Did they check to see if his radio audio would play through it to an outside speaker? Probably not. Too techie for them. (They probably don't know they can switch their own siren box from wail to yelp to radio either.)

And, they found a table of some numbers in a cup holder. A repeater list? A football pool? Bingo? What else did he have? A table of frequencies for the Ashville Airport or the local PD? If he had a Gideon Bible, they could have charged him with petty theft of that.

I still think, based upon their dropped charge of impersonating a law enforcement officer, they had made that decision when they saw all of his antennas on his Pontiac. And, then searched his car, found the weapon, and bent the story to make an arrest...... after someone told them they couldn't on the other charge.

When I lived in CA years ago, LEOs had the option of taking folk into custody on suspicion and could hold them without a formal charge for at least 24 hours or until their attorney got some type of writ. Habeus Corpus, I think. Anyway, maybe they can't do that in NC. But, they can be sued for false arrest if he wasn't brandishing that weapon as they want us to believe. That will more than take care of the cost of his bail and his attorney, if he's successful. And, the tarnish to his reputation. I sure wish his attorney would do a press release so we could hear his side.

Seems to me that the NRA should challenge NC's arcane "terror to the public" law. His arrest presents an opportunity for them to do that. Maybe they will.

I don't love guns, but I love my rights under the Constitution.

 

Regardless of the carry law, McVey was arrested and paid a fine for illegal use of a blue light in Ohio County, WV. He had a light bar and siren. They could have fined and or imprisoned him for impersonating a police officer.