I guess I’ll start with the latest incident. Our county fair is this week, August 31-September 5, and I had a brief encounter with the local police staff working the fair. Unfortunately I didn’t have my audio recorder on me as I just got it and it’s not habit for me to grab it yet. I’ll get there. But anyway, this is the email I sent to the Fair Committee’s President (it details the incident):
I am writing to you because according to the fairs website you are the
president of the fair committee, and I have not received a satisfactory
answer to my inquiry at any of the numbers I have called.
I would like the “Fair’s” policy on firearms on the fairgrounds.
I am requesting that this policy be provided to me in writing with a
majority of the voting members signatures in assent (either for or against
weapons on fair property).
I am asking for this because Open Carry is legal in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and I do Open Carry everywhere I go (with the exclusion of
work [because it’s prohibited by the owner] and when I am on the ambulance
[because that is currently the law, although I am working on that one]).
Having said that, I have been open carrying for a couple of years now,
including at the fair in previous years, and have never been approached
and told it was not permitted until last night. Last night I was at the
fair with my wife and kids and was looking for the “kid-safe” place (the
one that does the fingerprints and pictures, etc) and couldn’t find it.
We happened to be near where several “officers” were hanging out (by the
Meshoppen Fire Company building), so I asked them where it was. They saw
they weapon on my hip and asked me if I “was working”. It was pretty
obvious I was not as I was in no semblance of a uniform (jeans and a
t-shirt that said “Don’t Tread On Me”) and pushing a baby in a stroller.
They said nothing else about the firearm at that time (and they also had
no idea where the booth that I was looking for was… if the “officers”
know where anything is, shouldn’t they know where the child safety booth
is?) We walked away to continue our search and found the booth (about 30
yards from where they were sitting, in line-of-sight). Then they came
over and asked to speak with me “over here” (I was already out of the main
pathway). They told me that they just radioed up and were told weapons
were not permitted (they also spoke over me every time I tried to ask a
question). They told me that I should consider concealed carry (does that
mean that concealed carry is allowed on fairgrounds but open carry isn’t?)
They said that my gun “made people nervous”. When I told them that I had
carried on the fairgrounds before and no one had never said anything to
me, they said “you shouldn’t have gotten away with it”. These comments
from them bring up several questions in my mind:
1) If my gun makes people nervous, has anyone ever filed a complaint about
it? I had never been approached before, and I’m pretty sure that if
someone went to one of the “officers” about a “man with a gun”, and it is
not permitted, they would have been all over me, especially since I have
never hidden the fact that I was carrying one.
2) Why did they have to radio up to the office to see if it was allowed?
If it is the fairs policy that firearms are not permitted, shouldn’t the
people working “security” be informed of this policy? Shouldn’t this
policy be posted at the gates and shouldn’t everyone working at the gates
be aware of this policy so they could let people know before they entered?
(I know damn well the people at the gates saw it when I entered)
3) Why did he suggest I carry concealed? If only “officers” are allowed
to have firearms on the fairgrounds, then that wouldn’t be “allowed”
either, it would just be invisible.
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around the fair for several hours already, and I very clearly remember
walking past the same 2 “officers” that confronted me several times (along
with several others) prior to them confronting me about the weapon.
Obviously they didn’t notice it. If they didn’t notice me open carrying,
they are obviously not paying attention to detail and definitely would not
notice if I was carrying concealed.
Secondly, as we were on our way out the fair, a fist fight broke out after
a yelling match not far from us. The fight broke out not 2 minutes after
one of the “orange shirts” walked by the kids (they looked 18-21ish) that
were already in confrontational poses (yes, I know what that looks like as
I probably have more training than most of the “officers” in Wyoming
County) and with raised voices. No “orange shirts” arrived at the fight
before a girl broke them up (a couple minutes into it, it appeared to be a
girlfriend). How am I more of a threat than these kids?
I tried calling the office today, and the man that I spoke to gave me 3
different answers to the same question. His first answer was “I don’t
think it’s permitted”, his second answer was “it’s not permitted” and his
third answer was “to the best of my knowledge it’s not permitted”. You
can see how that is unsatisfactory to me when we are talking about the
fair refusing my right to self defense. If you can’t give me a solid yes
or no to something this important, then you obviously don’t know and I
therefore will not believe whatever answer you give me next.
Again, I would like the “Fair’s” policy on firearms on the fairgrounds, in
writing, with a majority of the voting members signatures to clear this up
for me. Anything less than a majority of signatures is simply personal
preference at this point because I have not gotten consistent answers from
anyone I’ve questioned.
I would appreciate a response as soon as possible because neither I nor my
wife and children will be returning to the fair until I have my answer.
And, to be honest, if the fair’s policy is that I must be unarmed, then my
family will not be returning to the fair again, this year or in the
future, until this policy is changed.
Also, since the “Fair” has not made this policy publicly available, I can
promise that I will, be it in my favor or against it.
I can be reached at this email address or at my cell (570)-xxx-xxxx.
Since there will be no more US postal service before the fair ends, call
me and I can come pick up the document (at the gate if necessary). If you
can’t or won’t answer before the fair ends, contact me for my mailing
address.
Thank you for your prompt reply,
Mark Roote
Now, before I wrote this email, I called the phone numbers given for the main office where I talked to the guy that had no clue, and then I called the number for the president and left a message. After 24 hours, no response was received, so I sent the email.
What is not included in this letter is that I live in a very rural community, it used to be mostly a farming community until the Marcellus Shale was discovered. This is not some city where people freak out about guns. Also, I know who the two cops are that approached me, but I don’t think they recognized me (I’m on the ambulance). Wait until the next time they try to enter my rig to “talk to” a patient… they will be told to get out because I can no longer focus on treating the patient while they are in there. They’ll remember me. I can’t wait until they try this crap on me in public after they remember who I am and what I drive.
Anyhow, I’ll keep you posted on how this turns out. Oh, It’s now been another 24 hours since I sent that email and I still haven’t gotten any response. I wonder how they’ll like the signs I plan to post about avoiding the fair because they prohibit your right to self defense?
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