http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/34 ... cj-grisham" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The video is worth a watch, but I'll warn you, the level of herp derp is high with everyone involved. The police were obviously ignorant of the law, but unfortunately, it gets overshadowed by the poor behavior of the guy who was merely exercising his rights and is so willing to prove it that he engages in a heated argument with the police which only gets him more trouble (right or wrong). He tells an officer to "Shut up!" at one point, whips his wallet out of his pocket so quickly that I'm surprised he wasn't shot as nervous as the police were at his obviously heated behavior.“‘Where you going with that rifle?’ he asked me. I said, ‘does it matter? Am I breaking any laws?’” Then, he says, the officer “grabbed the rifle without telling me – but it was attached to me. My immediate reaction as a combat veteran was to grab it back and then take a step back. I asked him what he was doing. So he pulled his gun on me. Then I thought about my son, so I put my hands off my gun and he told me to move over to the car. Luckily my son had the video camera to document the hike for his merit badge. I told him to turn it on.”
While I don't think the police were initially in the right, this guy's behavior made things more difficult for himself and everyone who supports open carry, and it could have ended far worse due to his unpredictable movements.
Please, if you open carry, do us all a favor and try not to emulate this guy's behavior. We should all act as ambassadors when exercising our rights. Even when violated, there is a time and place to seek recourse, and at the side of the road with a gun to your head is probably not it.
One last thought, what are his chances for a civil suit for LEO violating his rights? Will this video hurt or help him with this?