My wife and I are staying with a 60 year old woman until we can find a place of our own. I do not know her position on firearms and I do not want to make her uncomfortable about me having a couple of pistols in the house. They stay hidden in our bedroom.

I took my wife grocery shopping and decided to load some mags for a steel challenge shoot tomorrow. I found a cozy place surrounded by trees in the store parking lot. I loaded 3 mags with 9mm ammo from my tailgate and I put everything away and went to my front seat.

About a minute later, I was surrounded by 5 of Miami Dade PD's finest. All with weapons drawn and trained on me. Including an AR15. They asked me if I had any guns in the car. I told them about the j-frame on my hip. They asked me again. One officer disarmed me while I was still seated and asked me to get out of the car. I was asked to explain what I was doing. And I told them. They put me on the curb but did not cuff me. They searched the car and ran my serial number on my 649.

All of them were totally polite and professional. I picked a good day to wear one of my thin blue line shirts. And they noticed the thin blue line front tag.

They told me that someone saw a man with a gun in his car. No gun, just magazines. Their response time was quick. My came to the car to see all of the commotion. They checked her purse and asked her to go back to the front of the store and wait for me. They put my revolver under my seat and put the live ammo in the center console.

All in all it was a good experience. They were real nice and thanked me for my compliance.

Never again will I load magazines in a public place.

Holy shit

That's definitely a good lesson learned there. Glad it worked out for you and everything remained professional.

quote:

Never again will I load magazines in a public place.

The Leftists have so stigmatized gun ownership with their propaganda - this is the result.

My neighbor falls for much of the BS he sees on television. The other day he was explaining how "times have changed" and there's no point in having the NRA any more.

I responded by saying, "Times HAVE changed - now there's more need for the NRA than ever before. When you have a whole Party dedicated to stripping the people of their God-given right to self defense, the NRA becomes that much more necessary!"

One of the officers told me that I picked the wrong day to do this - because of all the protests.

And just Thursday night I walked through TWO hotel lobbies with an M1 Garand in my right hand (no case, wide open).

No one blinked an eye.

Jesus...

So no one actually saw a gun.

Though I suppose a man loading up multiple magazines on his tailgate in the parking lot of a store might arouse someone's concern.

I actually thought about this. That is why I had my tailgate facing away from the store in a treeline. I guess "see something, say something" is getting more common, as it should.

Though I suppose a man loading up multiple magazines on his tailgate in the parking lot of a store might arouse someone's concern.[/QUOTE]

Over the years I’ve met the type who loaded cased rifles in the car while the garage door was shut, range or hunting trip.

The same with skinning a deer, just more the way it is. Glad it turned out alright. Yeah, I would never load magazines in public with anything in sight, ammo boxes, whatever.

Jeez Mike, I'm glad all worked out well for you.Somebody thought you were gonna go on a rampage apparently.

Hey Mark, I usually have my shoulder bag with my G17 and thirteen magazines with me. Glad I left it hidden away today!

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Jeez Mike, I'm glad all worked out well for you.Somebody thought you were gonna go on a rampage apparently.

I would write a blistering letter to the chief, I would bitch to my legislators, both state and federal, and I would have my lawyer write them a forcefully worded letter about my rights.

Fuck them. They approached you with guns drawn. That means they were prepared to kill you simply for existing. That is simply unacceptable, and I would make that fact very clear to them.

It's formal complaint time. If a cop draws a gun on you, and searches you, they had better fucking have PC that you committed a crime.

Obviously, without more, I can't give a full opinion about this, but I would seriously consider suing the shit out of them.

Guns are legal in Florida. No gun was seen. You have a permit for the gun on your hip. Where is the PC for searching your car?

I've gotten a lot more discrete over the years doing FTF deals involving ANYTHING firearm related even here in rural New Hampshire.

Did you give permission for the car search or did they just do it?

America, guilty til proven innocent. Glad it all went well for you.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I would write a blistering letter to the chief, I would bitch to my legislators, both state and federal, and I would have my lawyer write them a forcefully worded letter about my rights.

Fuck them. They approached you with guns drawn. That means they were prepared to kill you simply for existing. That is simply unacceptable, and I would make that fact very clear to them.

It's formal complaint time. If a cop draws a gun on you, and searches you, they had better fucking have PC that you committed a crime.

Obviously, without more, I can't give a full opinion about this, but I would seriously consider suing the shit out of them.

Guns are legal in Florida. No gun was seen. You have a permit for the gun on your hip. Where is the PC for searching your car?

+1.
Jumpy because of all the BS protests is just no excuses for their actions. That was no "professional" action.

I'm with Artie on this one. Fuck them.

I was once the victim of a felony stop with guns drawn simply because my white car looked similar to another white car they were looking for. I was in a holding cell for an hour before they figured out I had done nothing but drive through town on my way home.

To say that I was displeased would be the understatement of the century. I have no tolerance for this kind of shit.

I was waiting in my truck for my wife to finish up in the yarn store on Main St, so I decided to load some magazines while waiting. I had the P226 on top of the center console, 5 or 6 magazines too, and a couple of boxes of 357 Sig ammo. A local city LEO knocked on the driver's window and asked what I was doing. I explained I was waiting for her to finish buying more yarn, and was just killing time. After a quick check of my DL & CWP, he was gone in a minute with a polite thank you. Montana vs Florida....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aileron,

^^^^ Would you believe that my incident happened in Polson?

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I would write a blistering letter to the chief, I would bitch to my legislators, both state and federal, and I would have my lawyer write them a forcefully worded letter about my rights.

Fuck them. They approached you with guns drawn. That means they were prepared to kill you simply for existing. That is simply unacceptable, and I would make that fact very clear to them.

It's formal complaint time. If a cop draws a gun on you, and searches you, they had better fucking have PC that you committed a crime.

Obviously, without more, I can't give a full opinion about this, but I would seriously consider suing the shit out of them.

Guns are legal in Florida. No gun was seen. You have a permit for the gun on your hip. Where is the PC for searching your car?

Leaning towards this. They endangered your life, and for what reason?