Northbay Shooters

Hi everyone,

Due to all the recent coverage about open carry, I've been looking into the idea of open carrying in Santa Rosa. Some extremely liberal counties (mostly Bay Area LA area) have issued explicit instructions to their officers regarding how to deal with Open Carry. I called and left a message for a Sheriff in the Violent Crimes division of SRPD (no response as of yet.) I'm wondering if anyone has had experience open carrying in Santa Rosa or Sonoma County.

Thanks!

I have no experience with the locals. In Healdsburg they gave a look see to a costumed frontiersman in buckskins at the annual FFA fair. He was reported as a man with a gun. Up here the police have no humor and are not worried about any ones rights.

Have been thinking about this and what they would do if you sat in the plaza and had a lunch. Of course if you were smoking then you would get arrested.

jerry

Be very, very thorough in your research before you start trying to open carry. At least one city, Petaluma, has a city ordinance which forbids carry of a firearm in public by anyone but a peace officer, or a person with some type of permit (CCW, security guard, etc). You will also need to know exactly where each and every school zone is and the extent of the 1000 foot limit that one may not carry a firearm within, which includes SRJC. If you inadvertently stray within 1000 feet of any school and you are carrying, you will be arrestable.

All of the municipal codes, except Healdsburg's, are on line. You need to do a whole bunch of due diligence before you start OC, and have a good lawyer on speed dial. I can practically guarantee that you will be called in as a "man with a gun", and even though all they really can do is a check for unloaded, you may well be put at gun point, be handcuffed and perhaps treated quite roughly if you are by yourself.

While OC is permitted under state law, it's not a really good idea to push it right at the moment... in my opinion, anyway. There are a number of suits moving forward which will help us and a couple of negative stories in the PeeDee, as well as the cities rushing to outlaw OC by ordinance (which the law allows them to do) could set us back.

I agree to the above. If you do decide on OC (after research mentioned above), do not do it alone! Without others as witnesses and risk sharers you are inviting mistreatment by police. Others OCers have said bring a cell phone and a camera (video better) to log the action when the police arrive. I think we should wait until McDonald is settled (May or June) so that Federal RKBA can be used as a defense, just in case.

i just got off the phone with the sonoma county sheriff dept the guy was shocked that i would even ask about such a thing and assured me that there was no open carrying allowed in ca. what can happen to bring 2nd ammendment awareness to ca. i think when everyone voted yes on prop 8 it showed who's the majority of the pop. ca isnt all hippies after all

You need to ask him why they are passing a law to ban open carry if there is no open carry.

jerry

I would like to see an open carry at the Santa Rosa plaza , with 100+ armed citizens . we could all go to get lemon aid at corn dog on A stick , then shop for some tools at Sears.

Count me in for the SR Plaza Open Cary Day....

Hey everyone! I'm new to the board. I open carry in this county quite frequently. Before I ever open carried in SR, I spoke with the Santa Rosa PD to inform them of my intent to carry openly in the downtown area. The first person who I talked to about it didn't know the law. She transferred me to someone in another department who knew the law up and down. He said that as long as it isn't loaded and I'm not within 1000 feet of a school or trying to go into any government buildings, then I am within my legal rights. He did advise me that although memos have gone out to the force to explain the legality of open carry, not all officers agree with it and you will be hassled to some extent. NEVER EVER EVER OPEN CARRY BY YOURSELF. I can't stress that enough!

You should also become well versed in the 4th and 5th amendments to the US constitution. If you do make contact with an officer, be polite but don't answer questions that you don't have to answer! Most of my police encounters while open carrying in Santa Rosa have gone like this: "Sir, we received a call about a man with a gun. Would you place your hands on your head and walk over here please? I need to check if the gun is loaded is that okay?" I don't answer this question with a yes or no. I usually just say "I don't consent to any searches or seizures." Then they usually perform a PC 12031(e) "Empty Check" where they pull your gun, check if it's loaded or not and then put it back in the holster. Never refuse an officer's request to check if your gun is loaded though. It's written quite clearly in the law that refusing to allow them to check the gun is grounds for probable cause and could lead to arrest and further searches. The encounters almost ALWAYS end with the cop saying something along the lines of "I know you're within your rights, but you could really scare someone, blah blah blah."

I always get a business card with a badge number from every cop that I encounter.

I would love to do an open carry meet up in the downtown square sometime. How about this weekend? Is anyone available for this on Sunday afternoon? I could print up some informational flyers with info on open carry laws that we can pass out to curious onlookers!

Is anyone still willing to do this? Let's set up a day! I'm ready and willing! The lawyer in my office building wants to go as well to document any encounters we have with law enforcement.

I get the impression that nobody is reading this thread anymore. Well, I'll just throw this out there then:

When: Canceled
Where: Santa Rosa, downtown square
What: at least an open carry meetup. Hopefully a full on rally!

Please send an email to tr1 (at) sonic (dot) net if you have any questions.

Unless some other people let me know that they'll be there, this event will have to be canceled.