So this just happened a bit ago

[dennishoddy]

Mostly serving in the military, but doing other things, too. I am not sure what your comment is about.

No one wants to answer my question...WHY DID HE FEEL THE NEED TO CLEAR THE WEAPON?!?

I'll try to answer that question.
The officer had no legal right to "force" the person to allow him to clear the gun. During a traffic stop, the officer is not allowed to force the driver do anything other than report he has a weapon. The Officer is not allowed to do anything past that point unless he feels legitimately threatened.
The jogger, no matter what he was wearing is anecdotal and is not due cause to stop or interrogate no matter if the person was wearing combat gear or a bunny costume.
Past incidents of crimes committed by others in combat gear or bunny costumes do not imply to LEO that they can stop and interrogate no more than they can stop a person of color because they are not of the same color or a caller doesn't like what they see.
Maybe the guy was doing a practice for a run and gun where some military gear like chest rigs are possibly the best for competing in that event?
IT's NOT ILLEGAL to run down a street with a long gun.
No matter if we think he is an attention hog or whatever like some are. I'm not an attorney but I don't see where the officer had any right to stop and interrogate much less force an inspection of the weapon.
If every person open carrying a weapon got a call from someone about a M(or woman)WIG, there would be a whole lot of folks on this forum that would have to confront this situation.
If there is no crime being committed, suspicion doesn't carry a lot of water by a persons clothing.

 

[Shadowrider]

Maybe he was training for run-n-gun? Fixing to ship out to Ranger school? One of those dudes that thinks God appointed them to train the public and the popo. Who knows? And who knows if this trooper wasn't responding to a call as he's required to? No way to know.

 

[RickN]

I am VERY happy the way it went down. It showed a great level of maturity from both people. The cop who checked out what could have been some nut job heading for his very own mass murder, and a grown up that realized the cop was just doing his job.
Funny thing is, if the cop had not checked but waved, and the guy had run down the road a bit and killed a bunch of people, many of those whining about the stop would have been blaming the cop for the murders.

 

[ssgrock3]

Outside my office a guy goes jogging by in his combat gear carrying an AR down a busy road in MWC. A State Trooper rolls up. He gets out and the guy puts his weapon on the ground. The Trooper goes over and clears the AR. They briefly exchange pleasantries and the guy jogs off with his rifle in tow. You just never know what you’re going to see. Very happy to see it was a civil engagement.


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I think the part most folks May not get is the fact the jogger should respect for the officers and his own safety by setting the weapon down. I think it is common sense, do you have to, no. But does it hurt, no and it ends safely without issue. Good on both folks there. Thanks for posting

 

[THAT Gurl]

Some of you guys are gonna break your arms reaching for that righteous indignation. It's an awful long stretch. But HEY!! You do you!!

 

[tRidiot]

Some of you guys are gonna break your arms reaching for that righteous indignation. It's an awful long stretch. But HEY!! You do you!!

I got nothing else anymore. Might as well.

Whole country's going to hell, why not?

 

[THAT Gurl]

I got nothing else anymore. Might as well.

Whole country's going to hell, why not?

Ok ... I'll give ya that! Lol

 

[TeamTomlyn]

I would bet there would be a similar and civil interaction had the man been wearing a prom dress and a chain saw. You go out wearing something that you know is out of the norm and will get peoples attention. He got it, recognized the potential for a misunderstanding and put the gun down. The officer not wanting to leave a firearm (because you treat every firearm as if it was loaded) cleared it real quick. Thus eliminating any opportunity for any misunderstanding. Seems civil, understandable and how I would want to be treated on either side of the situation.
As far as this ushering in of a new world order of militant cops trampling your rights, well if you aren't out wearing full battle rattle and being harassed by the 5-0 on a constant basis; please just sit on your hands. You are looking a little desperate trying to find something to complain about.

 

[saltydog]

But what if? What does this statement ever led to? Only if we had? On the other hand, What if not.....

 

[doctorjj]

The more I think about this, the more ridiculous it seems. I mean, "some guy goes jogging in his combat gear carrying an AR down a busy road in MWC". Why? Doesn't he realize his actions are going to draw attention to himself? Of course he does, unless he has the intellect and sense of an idiot. Reminds me of the clown carrying his AR in the park while moms were there with their little kids. What's the point? In the world we live in today, doing something like this makes no sense to me; none; zippo; zero. There is no reason I can see other than maybe he wants to do "a 2A audit" of the cops or some such silliness. Or maybe he wanted to show the good citizens of MWC that there is a real badass in town, showing off his badassness amongst them, and that it be himself. Sounds to me like Rambo was doing something just because he can. Well, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If he wants to promote the 2A, don't you think there are better ways to do that than alarming citizens by jogging down a busy road in full kit, alone, with an AR? If I saw some fool doing that, I'd sure question it too. Knowing what little I know about the whole thing, I think what he did was irresponsible, unnecessary, and maybe even stoopid. Remember the thug ambushing the police in LA a week or so ago? So what should they do if they see some guy running down the road in full gear with an AR? Smile and wave? Give him the thumbs up and go have a donut? Nah, I gotta back the Po-Po on this one and question Rambo for his poor judgment.

There is no law against poor judgement.