Open Carry PSH

This is quite the story of an open-carry arrest.

A man accused of causing a panic at a family fun center by carrying a semi-automatic rifle while walking nearby says he’s on a Second Amendment mission to educate the public about gun rights.

Mack Worley was arrested Saturday night in Southeast Vancouver. Police said he crossed the line when he decided to openly carry his gun on private property.

“I was breaking no law and I was arrested for trespassing on a public sidewalk,” said Worley. “Whether or not you agree with open carry of a firearm or not, it’s not illegal.”

Tuesday morning, Worley pleaded not guilty to a charge of trespassing with a weapon capable of producing bodily harm. Police said he first went to a Burgerville restaurant with a rifle slung over his shoulder. An employee called 911.

Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said a security guard told Worley to leave and called police when he didn’t.

By the time police arrived, Kapp said Worley had walked to a fireworks stand in the Big Al’s parking lot. Employees closed the stand because they were worried about what Worley was up to. An employee at Big Al’s called 911 while the business went into lockdown.

Coffee barista Dominick Harris watched as panicked parents grabbed their children and ran into the restaurant while police officers swarmed around Worley.

“I saw this guy underneath this tree over there with hands up,” Harris said.

Officers took Worley’s rifle but returned it after they determined it was not stolen. Police said Worley was on private property, and when they stopped him they told him Big Al’s has a no-weapons policy unless the gun owner has a concealed weapons permit.

Worley refused to leave, according to police.

Agree or not with the message this guy was making, it appears no laws were broken, and no malevolent behavior was observed, but he was arrested anyway.

Good for them!

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5 Responses to Open Carry PSH

  1. Joel says:

    Sounds like a clear case of “please stop being on my side.”

    Yes, PSH is contemptible. No, he probably didn’t break any laws. Sounds like he was arrested for being a dick, and when you’re trying to spread the good word about how guns are not scary, publicly being a dick is altogether the wrong way to go about it. He’s lucky he got away so lightly and I have no sympathy.

  2. Will Brown says:

    Gotta quibble with you here, Weer’d. What part of “… a security guard told Worley to leave and called police when he didn’t.” equates with “… it appears no laws were broken …”?

    Washington state or the city of Vancouver may have an explicit legislative exception in place, but this reads as a pretty straight-forward example of trespass (failure to comply with a legitimate request to vacate the premises/property) in the Burgerville restaurant. I admit this police statement doesn’t square very well with Worley not being in the restaurant when the fuzz showed up to brace him.

    Then there’s the whole: “Police said Worley was on private property, and when they stopped him they told him Big Al’s has a no-weapons policy unless the gun owner has a concealed weapons permit.

    Worley refused to leave, according to police.”

    Not sure of the signage requirements for businesses wishing to bar or restrict firearms carriage by their clientele, so I will only point out that the Big Al’s business policy seems poorly thought out when it comes to customer relations and security.

    If a public demonstration in support of gun ownership rights (or pretty much any contentious social/political issue really) is how you want to spend your weekend, maybe going it solo isn’t the best considered approach. A pack not a herd, safety in numbers; however you want to term it, a peaceful obvious group event excites a different reaction in observers than does that by a lone individual.

    Best wishes to Friend Worley, but I hope he finds a better way of helping in future.

  3. PaulB says:

    If I’m not mistaken, the man in question refused to leave private property on two occasions when asked to do so by either the property owner or an empowered manager of the owners’ property.

    For my part, I don’t give a good goddamn whether it’s wanting to remove an armed visitor, a pack of nuns or Mr. Rogers- if I ask someone to leave my property, I’d expect to be obeyed without argument as to my rationale. It’s my goddamned property. For that reason, I feel that the misguided man in question can go to hell for cherrypicking which laws he chooses to obey for the purposes of advancing his own agenda. Property rights are of equal importance to most any other.

  4. Ratus says:

    PHS?

    Uhmmm… dyslexic, Weer’d?

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