All I can say is thank goodness for video cameras. Had he not been filming, he likely would have been arrested on charges of obstruction and attempted assault/manslaughter. It would have come down to the word of two officers versus some random guy.

I am thankful that this guy is out there, doing his bit.

*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Thursday, March 18th, 2010 11:39pm PDT - promote requested by BreaksTheEarth.

I knew Libertarians were good for something.

C'mon, he's carrying a firearm and and a camera while approaching a cop. That would be very threatening. He's harassing cops who are just trying to do their jobs.

you guys masturbate to this stuff, huh?

>> ^QuadraPixel:
C'mon, he's carrying a firearm and and a camera while approaching a cop. That would be very threatening. He's harassing cops who are just trying to do their jobs.



Heis carrying a gun in acordence with the law ( one that i personaly think is somewahat retarded)

He was not agressive , he was video taping for his GF ( if u belive thats what he was actualy doing)

Why not have people in the public be alowed to video the police to make sure they are doing there job properly especaily baring in mind that cops are just doing a job and have figures to hit inorder to get pay checks and promotoins.

If the police can film everyone and then arest you if you happen to do something wrong then it should be perfectly fine for the public to film the police and make sure they are not doing annything wrong , after all the police are ment to surve the populatoin and make the place safer.

The fact the cop was making such a big thing over this guys actoins was so BS especaily as the guy was 100% complaint calm and not a thret in anny way whatsoever.

Infact the govemment should employ people that ruteenly do this sort of stuff to cops out of the blue to make sure that cops are doing there jobs properly.

This is ridiculous, these aren't bad cops, they're just doing their jobs and likely trying to protect people from some nutball who is open carrying a gun. Keep in mind that they don't know who this moron is or what his motives are. He's harassing cops and making it harder for them to do their job.

is it actually his girlfriend? he tells the cop it was but the impersonal caption writes: 'the woman had been stopped...' and then she just drives off without the two ever conversing. i don't necessarily think he's lying, it's just the initial motive for him to rock up seems unclear to me.

As you well know New Mexico is a Gold Open Carry State.

If you would like to look at states and their carry laws please see.
http://www.opencarry.org/
Ignore the pretty woman, it's an appeal to beauty and is deplorable, I think.

Presenting a handgun is the act of placing the handgun in your hands, and scanning for targets. "Present Arms!" Which is separate from brandishing, because at that point you are no longer brandishing (misdemeanor) you have intent, and that could be assault with a deadly weapon (felony). Brandishing is the act of having a handgun on your person that causes someone else to feel as though their life is in danger. This is commonly counteracted by the open carry law, which means you would need to present the handgun in a threatening manner. So in open carry states if you would place a handgun in your hand at any time that would be brandishing.

From one lawful carrier to another; It is always ill advised to openly carry a weapon in a metropolitan district simply because of the fuss that can be caused. In short; don't

I am not a lawyer, my statements are opinion only.

>> ^sepatown:
is it actually his girlfriend? he tells the cop it was but the impersonal caption writes: 'the woman had been stopped...' and then she just drives off without the two ever conversing. i don't necessarily think he's lying, it's just the initial motive for him to rock up seems unclear to me.


Read the blog at the link in the video summary. That seems to corroborate the girlfriend bit.

I like the Jedi mind trick he does on them at the very end of the video.

In the US, firearm ownership is supposed to be a right. If something is a right, how can it ever be illegal?

One day soon some free speech will be outlawed... it starts with hate speech.

One day soon your religious rights will be regulated... it starts with the same sex marriages being outlawed.

One day soon your right to free press will be infringed... it starts with the outlawing of cameras.

One day soon your protection from quartered troops in your home will be abolished... it starts with the Patriot Act.

One day soon your right to due process will be done away with... it also starts with the Patriot Act.

One day soon your right to protection from cruel punishment will be replaced with routine "advanced interrogation techniques"... another one that starts with the Patriot Act.

Am I the only one that saw the camera holder as somebody just trying to make some trouble? And then when trouble found him he was sub-par at taking control. He stuttered...didn't seem to know the law...he didn't own the situation. Now, maybe his submissive approach helped him from being arrested, but it made for a less interesting video.

Plus why would you go up to a cop with a handgun? That's f*cking stupid. Even if you are within your rights...that's like walking up to a "tamed" lion then wondering why he bit your arm off. His idealism wrote a check that his balls couldn't cash.

@rottenseed. Yes, it's weird that he would approach the cop. Still, when the cop told him to step back, he complied. That's where the issue should had ended.

I think the guy handled the situation just fine. He didn't give in to fear and instead calmly repeated "am I required to do that"? The answer is no, but the cops lied. When he called them out on their lie, they tried to create some silly argument like, "well, you approached my scene, so I have a right to protect my scene and what if you're a felon?" That's ridiculous.

I think he won the moment he asked, "Do you stop everyone you see to check if they're felons."

Man that would scare the shit out of me too if I was the cop.
That open carry law is insane, but until it's changed, quit trying to bullshit and threaten dudes with video cameras.

Assorted thoughts...

I can understand the cop being startled and defensive if someone walks up to him with a camera and a gun. Not saying any action is justified, but it would have been stupid of him to not be on his toes.

Maybe the guy is being a little bit of a dick, but it's not illegal to be a dick.

I don't think you should expect to give the police a hard time and not get one back. If they had arrested him, that would have been inappropriate, but grilling him a little bit... not so much.

Just because you aren't required to present ID doesn't mean the cops can't ask for it. They also didn't do anything to prevent him from walking away.

If this guy hadn't instigated this I would feel negatively toward the cops, but he baited them. They inspected the bait but didn't bite.

I'm with overcast on this one a bit. It's perfectly legal to carry a camera around, film whatever and to open carry a gun (in that state). Just because you *can* doesn't mean you necessarily *should*.
Any cop on any beat in any state with any sense of self preservation and duty to protect the people is going to take notice and be suspicious of some dude walking around with a gun in open carry, whether its legal to do so or not. If he had an obvious purpose for the gun such as being at a gun show or near a shooting range or what have you, fine. Ready answer at hand. but he's in a rural area and from the cops point of view is a random person carrying a firearm with apparently no obvious reason for doing so.
Agreed the cop was a bit of a dick and lied about certain things but he was probably just about as nervous as the camera guy sounds, if anything he has a right be be more nervous from some random dude walking around with a gun. He may not have anything solid to make an arrest or anything serious but it IS his job to make sure this wasn't some nutjob walking around that might pull out the gun and start randomly shooting people the second he's out of sight.

Just because you can? It's a privilege(right) to carry. It should be exercised regularly at the peril of it's loss. But obviously not in this context, the man initiated contact with the police not the other way around.

He should have parked a safe distance away and taped from there.