WI:Update on Arrest for Open Carry on ‘Disorderly Conduct’ & ‘Obstructing’

By Dean Weingarten

Mark Hoffman
On 23 July, 2013, Mark J. Hoffman of Somerset, Wisconsin, was arrested for legally openly carrying firearms, for which all charges were later dropped…
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Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-  On 23 July, 2013, Mark J. Hoffman of Somerset, Wisconsin, was arrested for legally openly carrying firearms.

The charges were disorderly conduct (DC) and obstructing. Here is the original Gun Watch article. Now it is reported that the charges were dropped by the DA.

A blogger was able to get an interview with the police chief. Here is the report:

On July 24th, 2013, a Somerset Wisconsin man narrowly avoided becoming case law after being stopped by police while openly carrying an AR-15 slung over his shoulder and a handgun in a hip holster. I spoke to Chief Doug Briggs, of the Somerset Police Department who declined to identify the subject, later identified as Mark J. Hoffman, stated that he [Mr. Hoffman] was very respectful to officers, invoked his fifth amendment rights and refused to answer any questions, only telling the responding officers only that he was “within his rights.” Chief Briggs also identified Mr. Hoffman as a graduate of Somerset High School. Because the officers could not verify that he was permitted under law to possess weapons within the 1000′ radius, he was subsequently arrested for obstruction and disorderly conduct. His case was then deferred to the St. Croix County District Attorney’s office, which declined to press charges, citing Mr. Hoffman’s right against self-incrimination. No word yet on the outcome of the obstruction charge or whether Mr. Hoffman’s weapons were confiscated.

My own thoughts on this? That irony of that shirt cracks me up! But if one is knowingly, as Mr. Hoffman must have been, within a school zone, the police have probable cause to demand ID and inquire about a CCL, and that Mr. Hoffman is very fortunate to have an ethical prosecutor review his case.

My thoughts about this case are a little different. If the charges were dropped by the DA, then they were dropped. No obstruction charge exists. It appears to me that the police had no probable cause, not even a reasonably articulable suspicion that a crime was being committed. It is far from clear that Mark Hoffman “knowingly” was within 1,000 feet of a school, and Wisconsin law does not require Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit holders to show ID (or the permit to police if they are not carrying a concealed weapon). To violate the 1,000 foot school zone, it must be done “knowingly“. In any case, the firearms were being carried openly, not concealed.

A licensee or out-of-state licensee who is carrying a concealed weapon must display the license and photo identification to a law enforcement officer upon the request of the law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is acting in an official capacity and with lawful authority.  Wis. Stat. § 175.60(2g)(c).

Failure to display the license to a law enforcement officer is a $25 forfeiture.  Wis. Stat.  § 175.60(17)(a).

Wisconsin law specifically states that openly carrying firearms is not disorderly conduct. The law was changed because of numerous instances of law enforcement agencies harassing people openly carrying firearms, charging them with disorderly conduct.

At best, they saw someone doing an activity that required a license. A CCW permit is an exception to the law that makes it illegal to knowingly carry firearms within 1,000 feet of a school. The police are not allowed to assume that someone does not have a license, unless that is part of the law in question. There is no such assumption in Wisconsin CCW law. Just because you are driving, which requires a license, the police do not have cause to stop you and see if you have a license.

If the police refuse to return the firearms, a lawsuit may be required. Police should never be allowed to get away with legalized theft in these cases.

I will continue to work at finding out more about this case and the outcome. If there is litigation involved, it could take quite a while.

People such as Mark Hoffman should be applauded for taking the risks that others are not willing to take, in order to uphold our constitutional rights. If we are afraid of exercising our rights for fear of arrest, we have already lost those rights. Others have done as Mark has, and Police have been required to retrain and to pay out settlements. For a hundred years, the public has been propagandized into believing that it is not socially acceptable to exercise your second amendment rights. It will take some years of education to remove that conditioning.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.  Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973.  He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Christopher P

The appeals court has overturned Mark’s conviction for loitering. The appellate court found the only reason Mark was cited was because he was engaged in the LAWFUL activity of open carrying a firearm and that Wisconsin’s preemption statute 66.0409(6) prohibits one from being convicted of loitering if the sole cause of alarm is carrying a firearm without evidence of criminal or malicious intent.

A copy of the District III court of appeals ruling is available here:
/media/14540/Hoffman_Ct_App_Opinion.pdf

Eric

Dismissed with prejudice. 5/17/16

Nathan Pieters

Wow. Looks like I made a splash in my first week of blogging! Again, Dean, thanks for citing me!

Nathan Pieters

Michael, your opinion is just that. If we simply stop openly carrying our rifles and shotguns to be politically correct, we are forfeiting a RIGHT. Keep forfeiting it lonng enough and the government will assume that we don’t want it. Coming off a hundred years of being unable to defend onesself against criminals who do not obey laws, I choose to carry and LIVE. You go ahead and surrender what is your birthright as an American. I will not. Oh yeah, I AM THAT BLOGGER! lol thanks for the props Dean Weingarten! Most bloggers would just steal the story, I… Read more »

Irv

“Worth it to make a point”…. Wasn’t that what meeting the British at Concord was all about..????? Making a point…?? We were tired of being slaves for the red coats.!!!!!

Michael

While I am please this guy for beat the chargers,and is getting a payday courtesy of the Madison tax payers.

But would the open carry folks please stop carrying rifles and shotguns. You are not going to war, and it really doesn’t help the cause. But please ignore and ridicule my opinion. Cause one day one of you jack-wagons will get shot, which will be tragic,by a police officer who reads the situation wrong.

Sure your family will or might bet payed, but you will be dead, so ask your self if its worth it to make a point.