The Philadelphia Open Carry Debacle

All of the readers have probably heard of the incident, where a young man was detained and harassed for open carry in Philadelphia. It turned out that everything he was doing was legal, and they had to let him go. He posted the audio file of the arrest on youtube, and now they want to get him on other additional charges after the fact. If you click here, you will get a more detailed view of what transpired.

Now if you click here, you will find a commentary about an earlier similar incidence to what happened in Pennsylvania, where the city of Allentown ended up paying a settlement for their disregard of the law and the Constitution.

quote:

Now, some states and municipalities within those states have more restrictive laws so things obviously aren't the same across the nation. But in Allentown, PA citizens are guaranteed by their state constitution that they are able to carry a firearm either concealed or openly legally. Section 21 of the Pennsylvania constitution clearly states "The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."

So why did officer Dale Stokes of the Allentown PD stop, search, detain and confiscate the firearm of gun owner Jerry Corliss who was legally carrying his Glock pistol openly while visiting a Home Depot on October 6th, 2008?

Only officer Dale Stokes knows.

But officer Stokes ignorance of the law cost the tax payers $23,500 when the city settled out of court for violating Jerry Corliss' rights.