Know Your Rights! A Student Backs Down Cop After Being Unlawfully Stopped for Carrying a Gun in Portland, Maine

The video stopped right as they tazed him.

I love it when citizens know their legal rights in a world of law enforcement personnel who almost always rely on citizens being ignorant of such in order to do their jobs. I don't like that you have to be that knowledgeable in law in order to stand up for yourself though. I could never do that, don't have the time to learn and memorize it all, and really don't feel like anyone should have to.

Don't like Open-carry laws either way though. Not the world I want to live in, and I really feel like the people who participate in them are asking for trouble and trying to overcompensate for something else. And I don't mean that in a juvenile, derogatory way.

Mutual respect, I am pleased.

Still, it's a douche carrying a gun in public for no good reason.

I read something recently about the old West towns. Guess what -- in a lot of them, you had to surrender your guns before coming in to town. Because they knew that GUNS KILL.

Walking around with a gun is scary to unarmed bystanders. They had common sense in the good ole days....

No, see, I really don't like dickheads like this.

Smug little shit who has read up on one law and then has probably gone out carrying a gun PURELY to run into a cop and be able to spout off this shit.

What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.

"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?

He thinks he's being some righteous individual, standing up for the rights of citizens everywhere... IN WHAT WAY? Hurray sir, you've been able to walk around with a loaded firearm. You've improved our lives in what way?

If you want to improve our lives by railing against authority figures, why not do it by standing up for rights that actually IMPROVE our lives?

Just dangerous stupidity on this dick's part.

Open carry is an implied threat. It's like taking those retarded TAPOUT stickers to the next level.

>> ^spoco2:


What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.
"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?

1: On general principle, I support the idea that people should be allowed to carry guns, in the same way that I support the right to be drunk. Yes, it's not big or clever, and yes, it can lead to dangerous and/or criminal behaviour. But there are laws against driving drunk and laws against threatening/shooting people with a firearm. I don't really like the idea of legislating for potential outcomes.

2: On the other hand, stopping a person for carrying a gun seems like a completely reasonable position to take for a police officer. If you want to carry a gun, then you must be prepared to accept that consequence, in the same way as drivers must accept the requirement to produce a valid driving licence.

3: Finally, I'm fully in agreement that walking around carrying a gun is pretty much being a dick. Being a dick, however, is not illegal (see 1). Circumstances may arise one day, I might want to be a dick and it's important to know that my legal right to be a dick is protected.

This guy is just an asshole though.

WTF! Police carry guns openly. Statistically speaking a police officer is more likely to be a criminal than the rest of the population. Why do all you people think this guy shouldn't be allowed to carry a gun when he is LESS likely to be a threat than a police officer.

If this kid does this to have these encounters then he is actively standing up for his and everyone's rights and that makes him a hero like Fucking Ghandhi! Non-violent protest has to have an element of provocation and / or getting in the way of the status quo otherwise the status quo will just ignore the protest.

I have never even fired a real gun and don't care for them but I sure as fuck appreciate people who try to actively educate the police and the public about their rights. The stop and frisk behavior in New York is an official policy even though it is clearly an illegal policy. They stop and search people for ZERO reason with no complaint needed and it is an actual policy. If you aren't actively pushing back against criminal behavior of cops then at least praise the guy who is standing up against the bullies for you.

Maybe its a fashion accessory, why do you care if he isn't doing anything wrong? I am much more worried about the officer who is breaking the law and still gets to carry his gun. We know he is doing something illegal while packing. >> ^Engels:

Still, it's a douche carrying a gun in public for no good reason.

You would really get riled up about Gandhi and Martin Luther King then as they provoked the law as well. If the police can break the law openly and on film and still get to carry a loaded gun then maybe gun rights are kind of important. Or do you prefer to wait try to fight enslavement once only the police and the military have guns?
>> ^spoco2:

No, see, I really don't like dickheads like this.
Smug little shit who has read up on one law and then has probably gone out carrying a gun PURELY to run into a cop and be able to spout off this shit.
What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.
"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?
He thinks he's being some righteous individual, standing up for the rights of citizens everywhere... IN WHAT WAY? Hurray sir, you've been able to walk around with a loaded firearm. You've improved our lives in what way?
If you want to improve our lives by railing against authority figures, why not do it by standing up for rights that actually IMPROVE our lives?
Just dangerous stupidity on this dick's part.

So if the cops are constantly threatening people then are they always breaking the law? Why do you think tapout stickers are an implied threat? You seem way to scared for no particular reason, especially of a word that implies self-defense and cooperation in training.

>> ^KnivesOut:

Open carry is an implied threat. It's like taking those retarded TAPOUT stickers to the next level.

>> ^swedishfriend:

You would really get riled up about Gandhi and Martin Luther King then as they provoked the law as well. If the police can break the law openly and on film and still get to carry a loaded gun then maybe gun rights are kind of important. Or do you prefer to wait try to fight enslavement once only the police and the military have guns?
>> ^spoco2:
No, see, I really don't like dickheads like this.
Smug little shit who has read up on one law and then has probably gone out carrying a gun PURELY to run into a cop and be able to spout off this shit.
What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.
"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?
He thinks he's being some righteous individual, standing up for the rights of citizens everywhere... IN WHAT WAY? Hurray sir, you've been able to walk around with a loaded firearm. You've improved our lives in what way?
If you want to improve our lives by railing against authority figures, why not do it by standing up for rights that actually IMPROVE our lives?
Just dangerous stupidity on this dick's part.



You are the exact type of person I refer to in paragraph 3 of my post.

Trying to say that this guy is in ANY WAY like MLK or Gandhi just demonstrates how utterly you have failed to grasp this.

Him having a gun on his person makes everyone less safe (including him), not moreso. He's a dick who loves guns and feels like a big man by walking around with one on his hip. He's discovered he's within his rights to walk around like that, and likes to wave that right in people's faces, no matter how scared he makes people or anything else.

The LAW may be on his side, but that doesn't make him 'right'...

I for one sure as shit don't want people walking around on the street with sidearms.

The police is more likely to be a threat so if you don't want citizens to carry guns then we have to get rid of armed officers too. I don't want anyone to have a gun but if you read what I said you might have noticed that I specified that gun rights are important in the situation we are in where known criminals in the police like the officer doing the detaining in this video are allowed to carry guns.

>> ^spoco2:

>> ^swedishfriend:
You would really get riled up about Gandhi and Martin Luther King then as they provoked the law as well. If the police can break the law openly and on film and still get to carry a loaded gun then maybe gun rights are kind of important. Or do you prefer to wait try to fight enslavement once only the police and the military have guns?
>> ^spoco2:
No, see, I really don't like dickheads like this.
Smug little shit who has read up on one law and then has probably gone out carrying a gun PURELY to run into a cop and be able to spout off this shit.
What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.
"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?
He thinks he's being some righteous individual, standing up for the rights of citizens everywhere... IN WHAT WAY? Hurray sir, you've been able to walk around with a loaded firearm. You've improved our lives in what way?
If you want to improve our lives by railing against authority figures, why not do it by standing up for rights that actually IMPROVE our lives?
Just dangerous stupidity on this dick's part.


You are the exact type of person I refer to in paragraph 3 of my post.
Trying to say that this guy is in ANY WAY like MLK or Gandhi just demonstrates how utterly you have failed to grasp this.
Him having a gun on his person makes everyone less safe (including him), not moreso. He's a dick who loves guns and feels like a big man by walking around with one on his hip. He's discovered he's within his rights to walk around like that, and likes to wave that right in people's faces, no matter how scared he makes people or anything else.
The LAW may be on his side, but that doesn't make him 'right'...
I for one sure as shit don't want people walking around on the street with sidearms.

Good job at attacking me and not my actual statement BTW.
>> ^spoco2:

>> ^swedishfriend:
You would really get riled up about Gandhi and Martin Luther King then as they provoked the law as well. If the police can break the law openly and on film and still get to carry a loaded gun then maybe gun rights are kind of important. Or do you prefer to wait try to fight enslavement once only the police and the military have guns?
>> ^spoco2:
No, see, I really don't like dickheads like this.
Smug little shit who has read up on one law and then has probably gone out carrying a gun PURELY to run into a cop and be able to spout off this shit.
What fucking reason does he have for walking around with a fucking gun? Really, this is shit, and people who go 'YEAH MAN, STICK IT TO THE MAN' are so full of shit too.
"Is that the only reason you stopped me? Because I'm carrying a gun?" YES! Why the fuck is that not a correct course of action? Why does this dick think that it's a GOOD thing for people to just be able to walk around with loaded guns?
He thinks he's being some righteous individual, standing up for the rights of citizens everywhere... IN WHAT WAY? Hurray sir, you've been able to walk around with a loaded firearm. You've improved our lives in what way?
If you want to improve our lives by railing against authority figures, why not do it by standing up for rights that actually IMPROVE our lives?
Just dangerous stupidity on this dick's part.


You are the exact type of person I refer to in paragraph 3 of my post.
Trying to say that this guy is in ANY WAY like MLK or Gandhi just demonstrates how utterly you have failed to grasp this.
Him having a gun on his person makes everyone less safe (including him), not moreso. He's a dick who loves guns and feels like a big man by walking around with one on his hip. He's discovered he's within his rights to walk around like that, and likes to wave that right in people's faces, no matter how scared he makes people or anything else.
The LAW may be on his side, but that doesn't make him 'right'...
I for one sure as shit don't want people walking around on the street with sidearms.

@swedishfriend *sigh* I was commenting on your statement, not you. Also, you branding this policeman a 'criminal' is exactly the sort of shit that helps fricken no-one.

This cop was SUPER professional. Handled this REALLY well. Was reacting to people being concerned that there was a man walking along their street with a fucking gun on his hip.

What about this? Rather than being an enormous dickhead and walking around with a loaded fricken gun for whatever self righteous reason is in this guy's head, what about he does some fucking good for the community? What about he helps other people rather than making everyone around there feel endangered? What about he helps those in need?

He has done NOTHING to deserve any sort of respect AT ALL.

Good day to you sir.

*Door slams, footsteps fade to distance*

I didn't say anything about breaking the law. Open carry is just douchey even if it's legal. So is wearing clothing that alludes to you being "a badass". It's very eighth grade. You fight for fun? Nobody fucking cares. No one is impressed.
>> ^swedishfriend:

So if the cops are constantly threatening people then are they always breaking the law? Why do you think tapout stickers are an implied threat? You seem way to scared for no particular reason, especially of a word that implies self-defense and cooperation in training.
>> ^KnivesOut:
Open carry is an implied threat. It's like taking those retarded TAPOUT stickers to the next level.

This argument has now entered the shinyblurry zone.

What the police officer did was against the law. What the other guy did isn't.

Saying that I was the type of person you were talking about isn't an attack on me? You ignoring half of what I said is commenting on my statement?

The beginning of your third paragraph could just as easily apply to police officers. The last part misses the fact that he is helping people by doing this. Even you are helped by this. Whether you like it or not the country is better off if cops don't have carte blanche to bully whomever they want. Even police officers decent or not are safer because of people who assert their rights. Crazy as it seems this guy and his actions will make people less threatened by the police which will make it safer for the police along with everyone else.

>> ^spoco2:

@swedishfriend sigh I was commenting on your statement, not you. Also, you branding this policeman a 'criminal' is exactly the sort of shit that helps fricken no-one.
This cop was SUPER professional. Handled this REALLY well. Was reacting to people being concerned that there was a man walking along their street with a fucking gun on his hip.
What about this? Rather than being an enormous dickhead and walking around with a loaded fricken gun for whatever self righteous reason is in this guy's head, what about he does some fucking good for the community? What about he helps other people rather than making everyone around there feel endangered? What about he helps those in need?
He has done NOTHING to deserve any sort of respect AT ALL.
Good day to you sir.
Door slams, footsteps fade to distance

Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass? Football is far more violent for example. Are people trying to look like a badass if they wear football related clothing? I don't fight for fun, I calm people down so they don't fight. You are imagining a whole story out of very little information when it comes to me and when it comes to people's fashion choices. It pays to get to know people rather than just assuming shit based on nothing.

(edit) PS. oh, and threatening people is against the law. That is where breaking the law comes in...

>> ^KnivesOut:

I didn't say anything about breaking the law. Open carry is just douchey even if it's legal. So is wearing clothing that alludes to you being "a badass". It's very eighth grade. You fight for fun? Nobody fucking cares. No one is impressed.
>> ^swedishfriend:
So if the cops are constantly threatening people then are they always breaking the law? Why do you think tapout stickers are an implied threat? You seem way to scared for no particular reason, especially of a word that implies self-defense and cooperation in training.
>> ^KnivesOut:
Open carry is an implied threat. It's like taking those retarded TAPOUT stickers to the next level.

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Pretty open and shut...

It's legal to openly carry a gun where he is.

It's illegal to stop him without consent unless the officer reasonably suspects he is a felon. It's illegal to search him unless the officer reasonably suspects he is a felon. It is illegal to confiscate his firearm unless the officer reasonably suspects he is a felon.

It most certainly violates standard gun safety to point any firearm, where you don't know if the firearm is loaded, at another person.

Public safety is irrelevant at this point as the law obviously has zero provisions in this case to invoke public safety concerns as a legal pretext for stopping, searching or seizing. Adding that in to the debate is a red herring because if there was a legal way to invoke public safety as a pretext, the officer or supervisor would have done it.

Personally, I tend to agree that little is served wearing the gun openly and the guy seems to be more interested in baiting cops for his video, but he is not breaking any laws or infringing on anyone else rights. As soon as you start condoning the law fudging the edges here and there for the "greater good" (rather than pursuing changes to the law to legally protect the greater good), you are condoning illegal activity by the police.

So the ensuing argument is pointless, if the cops weren't able to arrest him on some charge he has done NOTHING wrong under the law. Last time I checked, innocent people are innocent regardless of public opinion.

"Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass?" LOL look at these role models! And no, wearing football clothing isn't the same thing, because just wearing your team's jersey isn't a statement to the world that you might tackle them at any minute.

FWIW, I've seen my share of guido douchebags adorned in TAPOUT gear posturing like schoolyard bullies.

Going out in your TAPOUT hoodie is telling the world "I fight, so watch out for me." In my book, it's basically equivalent to putting martial arts patches on your jeans jacket in 1988.

So what's up, are you training to be a cage figher?>> ^swedishfriend:

Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass? Football is far more violent for example. Are people trying to look like a badass if they wear football related clothing? I don't fight for fun, I calm people down so they don't fight. You are imagining a whole story out of very little information when it comes to me and when it comes to people's fashion choices. It pays to get to know people rather than just assuming shit based on nothing.
(edit) PS. oh, and threatening people is against the law. That is where breaking the law comes in...

Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass? Football is far more violent for example. Are people trying to look like a badass if they wear football related clothing? I don't fight for fun, I calm people down so they don't fight. You are imagining a whole story out of very little information when it comes to me and when it comes to people's fashion choices. It pays to get to know people rather than just assuming shit based on nothing.

(edit) PS. oh, and threatening people is against the law. That is where breaking the law comes in...

>> ^KnivesOut:

"Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass?" LOL look at these role models! And no, wearing football clothing isn't the same thing, because just wearing your team's jersey isn't a statement to the world that you might tackle them at any minute.
FWIW, I've seen my share of guido douchebags adorned in TAPOUT gear posturing like schoolyard bullies.
Going out in your TAPOUT hoodie is telling the world "I fight, so watch out for me." In my book, it's basically equivalent to putting martial arts patches on your jeans jacket in 1988.
So what's up, are you training to be a cage figher?>> ^swedishfriend:
Why is self defense or MMA about being a badass? Football is far more violent for example. Are people trying to look like a badass if they wear football related clothing? I don't fight for fun, I calm people down so they don't fight. You are imagining a whole story out of very little information when it comes to me and when it comes to people's fashion choices. It pays to get to know people rather than just assuming shit based on nothing.
(edit) PS. oh, and threatening people is against the law. That is where breaking the law comes in...

If you conceal your weapon, you're limiting the weapon's usefulness as a threat and as a deterrent.

Statistically, criminals usually conceal their weapons. If you're a criminal, would you rather take your chances with someone who is carrying? Would you pick a fight with someone carrying a gun?