U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- In early November 2021, this correspondent was doing some target shooting and chronograph work on public land, in an unused sand and gravel pit with a good backstop, off a dirt track north of the Foothills/I8 interchange. The weather was clear and calm, about 72 degrees.
I had just fired my last shot when a Yuma County deputy pulled up behind my vehicle. It was about 0940. I put down the pistol I was shooting. It was suppressed. I waited for the deputy to advance about 50 feet. The pistol was in full view.
The deputy asked if I knew how far I was from houses, I said it was more than a quarter-mile. A quarter-mile distance from occupied dwellings is required to shoot on public land in Arizona. The deputy said that I was an adequate distance from any buildings.
I was carrying my old Glock17, concealed. He asked if I had a firearm on me. I said I did. He asked if I would please refrain from touching it while we talked. I said that was fine.
He indicated someone had called in about someone shooting in the area, and, while what I was doing was legal, I might consider changing the location or geometry a bit.
He asked for ID and I handed mine to him. It was my Arizona driver’s license, with the option of not having the Social Security number on it.
Was that necessary? Probably not. I believe you pick your battles and choose your ground. This ground was about legal shooting, not whether the deputy had the authority to demand to check my ID.
This correspondent has been in his shoes. I knew he was following protocol. It doesn’t hurt that I am known in the county. There have been other incidents where deputies have contacted me during Second Amendment activism.
He checked it out with dispatch. The acoustics were very good on his earpiece. I could not hear anything of the reply. He asked if I lived in the area. I said, yes, then corrected myself and said, I have a place in the area. I asked if he minded if I retrieved my target (25 yards away). He did not have a problem with that.
He reiterated that many people walk in the area, so I should be very careful. He said more winter visitors (snowbirds) were showing up, now that the weather was cooler. He mentioned there was traffic in the area, and I had to be sure of my backstop.
He recorded my information, made a mild suggestion that I orient to obtain a better backstop, and wished me a good day.
It was about 09:56 when we finished. He went back to his vehicle. I loaded up my vehicle. He backed up from blocking me in and drove off. I followed.
He did not ask for any permits. Arizona does not require permits. He immediately recognized I was acting legally, said so, and shifted to promoting firearms safety. He let me know we want to accommodate our winter visitors. (They support many local businesses.)
My suspicion is a winter visitor called. It has happened to this correspondent while open carrying. In a previous case, one deputy opined it was likely someone from Canada. With the current border restrictions, the Canadian possibility was less likely than other visitors.
Most states are not as free as Arizona. In some states, target shooting on public land is rigorously restricted. In other states, there is very little public land. Visitors from those areas are sometimes startled by the freedom we have in Arizona.
One interesting aspect of this encounter was that while I had all the paperwork necessary to prevent legal hassles, the deputy never asked about the suppressor on my pistol.
It would be an improvement to see Arizona emulate Texas with the silencer/suppressor law passed there in the last legislative session.
If Arizona would pass such a law, the deputy would be forbidden from any legal hassle about silencers/suppressors. They would be specifically protected.
The incident shows the importance of selecting sheriffs who are sensitive to Constitutional issues, especially Second Amendment rights.
Most contact with peace officers will be with local peace officers. If the local jurisdiction is administered by peace officers who are Constitutionally sensitive, the chances of problems with exercising your rights are much less likely.
Knowledge of the local laws is useful in preventing problems with deputies and other peace officers.
The Internet makes information about local laws fairly easy to find.
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 retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
I had a similar thing happen at my home in North Georgia. A nearby weekend renter had called to report “gunshots”.
It ended with the deputy, who lives nearby, asking me to call him personally before shooting because he’d like to join me. He even offered to bring targets.
I attended some law enforcement training that one of the scenarios was how to deal with people shooting after hours on a public range.
The rural LEO’s just walked up and told the people shooting the range hours and would they please follow them.
The big city LEO’s want to call out the SWAT team.
There is a huge different in where and how one was brought up and life experience.
Then there is the whole law enforcement management problem.
The more anti gun the management the more anti gun the patrol officers.
Some how, treating an officer differently from any other person when you are in your normal life’s passage is not intuitive to me. To start addressing officer’s safety concerns just because their job is dangerous would be starting the drift to subservience. For the officer to expect that from non-officers would be starting the drift to dominance. Since we know both of these drifts are occurring in our society, because there are many places where I will be treated roughly should I exercise my constitutional rights, to accept that would not enhance the future of my rights. Now how does… Read more »
Just for area comparison, I live in Oklahoma, which is relatively pro-gun, but my city is very liberal. I also live about a mile from the city’s outdoor police firing range, so we hear gunfire most of the day and some of the night. Some visitors freak out, but my neighbors and I mostly tune the sounds out. I’ve shot at that range, and I am glad it’s oriented so that targets are 90 degrees away from my house. I find courtesy goes a long way. I’ve often stopped while plain-clothed/concealed to help officers with accidents/stalled cars, etc., and sometimes… Read more »
My wife and I moved from Chicago to Arizona this past summer. Arizona feels like freedom. We’re happy to be here. Seemed like a decent interaction between you and the deputy.
I have had similar interactions with local and state officers in Tennessee. I do not have to let them know that I am armed unless they ask me, but I always let them know that I am and where it is so they can be a little more at ease. All, that is 100%, of them have been courteous and did not react negatively to my firearm. In one instance, I was on my way to a competition and had several firearms with me. Not only die the local officer not react negatively, he started a conversation about competition and… Read more »
No reason for him to ask you about the suppresor. Feds want it checked they can send someone out.
0940 – 1056???? He kept you detained for over an hour on a bs contact/complaint? That sounds a bit problematic to me.
Legal suppressor. 1/4 mile from a sandpit.
Somebody has no hearing problem. Somebody from Chicago or NYC?
Sounds like 2 reasonable people having a conversation about safe gun usage. A well trained LEO and a citizen with common sense. This went exactly how it should. Too bad there was a pansy ass that reported you in the first place, they certainly must have known you were no threat, and just wanted to rattle your cage because they most likely don’t like guns.