IMO This is why they call them Gun Nuts and why it scares the hell out of me that they are allowed to walk around society carrying rifles.
Army Master Sergeant C. J. Grisham is a serving American soldier and veteran of the the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sergeant Grisham is out hiking with his son carrying an AR-15 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol. They apparently walked near a home and the rifle alarmed the occupant who called police. Police arrived to investigate.
From related article
“‘Where you going with that rifle?’ he asked me. I said, ‘does it matter? Am I breaking any laws?’” Then, he says, the officer “grabbed the rifle without telling me – but it was attached to me. My immediate reaction as a combat veteran was to grab it back and then take a step back. I asked him what he was doing. So he pulled his gun on me. Then I thought about my son, so I put my hands off my gun and he told me to move over to the car. Luckily my son had the video camera to document the hike for his merit badge. I told him to turn it on.”
You'll get the gist if you only watch 30 seconds. He ends up getting arrested.
My observations:
- The cops initially wanted to know why he was carrying an rifle and whether he has the necessary permits. The Sergeant Grisham immediately escalated the incident.
- Sergeant Grisham did not follow instructions from the police. My understanding (I'm not a lawyer) is that even if you think they are legally wrong, you must follow police instructions or you are subject to arrest.
- Sergeant Grisham gets easily excited and agitated over Second Amendment rights. Personally, I would not feel safe handing a rifle back to anyone who is showing this level of agitation.
- Why the Army puts men like Grisham in leadership positions is perplexing. He didn't show good judgement in this situation IMO.
- I wouldn't want to encounter Sergeant Grisham in the back country alone with him carrying that weapon. Seems a bit to unstable to be carrying IMO. Just don't say the wrong thing to this guy.
- Perhaps this was staged so that Sergeant Grisham could get a Second Amendment video for his Youtube channel. I don't really care. I still think he is mentally unstable.
- I'm sure Sergeant Grisham would pass a background check which only makes me believe that background check are still necessary but not sufficient.
- How many 'Hot Heads' like Grisham are out there? An army of them I suspect.
Full disclosure: I don't own a gun and don't want one.