Tornado Alley (PROG)

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I was kicked out of Pick 'N Save for legally carrying a firearm: column


Dereck Simonsmeier of Schofield poses for a photo at his apartment. Simonsmeier said he believes his rights were violated when he was asked to leave a local grocery store because he was openly carrying a gun.
T'xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media
[from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/14/1277521/--Open-Carry-poster-boy-arrested-on-gun-related-charges ; same as image in original, which isn't available for embedding here]

Don't demonize me because I carry a gun

By Dereck Simonsmeier
Feb. 8, 2014

I am an American citizen, a college graduate, an Iraq War veteran, a brother, a friend, a role model and very soon I will be an uncle. For each of these people that I am, there is always one constant: I carry a firearm, concealed or open, legally, for the protection of myself, my family and my friends.

I do not carry it to be tough or to start a fight; I carry it because it is my right and to protect the ones I love. Yet even with the welfare of others in mind, I am scrutinized and mocked for exercising my Second Amendment right.

I have become the target of unnecessary heckling and badgering; I know of others who have had similar experiences. My experience in late January at the Pick ’N Save grocery store in Weston is only the most recent example.

A friend and I had driven to Pick ’N Save for grocery shopping. I did not anticipate being inside the grocery store for very long, so I had left my jacket at home. I was wearing black pants, a short-sleeved shirt, a winter cap and my Remington 1911 chambered in .45 ACP in plain view on my belt.

I have no idea how long my friend and I were in the store before we were approached by a person whom identified himself as a manager. He asked me if I had a permit for the firearm on my hip. I told him that Wisconsin has open carry and does not require a permit for a person to carry a loaded firearm on his or her body in plain view. I did my best to cite the statutes for open carry, and pointed out that Pick ’N Save had not posted a sign banning firearms on their premises.

The manager asked me again if I had a permit for my weapon. I told him I had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The manager demanded that I cover the weapon because people in the store were becoming “uneasy” at the sight of me carrying it.

I respectfully told him that I was not breaking any laws and said that I could not cover my weapon. He then asked me to leave the store.

I asked him if he wanted to get law enforcement involved; he said that he would not have an issue if law enforcement showed up. I talked with my friend a little, asking her if she needed anything else from the store. She told me no, and I told her that I’d wait for her outside.

I started to walk out through the exit nearest to the liquor department, and I noticed the manager following closely behind me. I put on my winter cap and waited outside in the below zero weather, while he sat outside with me. Upon exiting the building, I began to text and call people I knew, telling them that I felt my rights had been violated and asking them about my options.

My friend exited the store sometime later, and the manager walked back inside. She and I went to the car and went home. The cold had numbed my arms and severely restricted the movement of my hands and fingers. If I had needed to draw my weapon in the Pick ’N Save parking lot, I would have been unsuccessful.

In hindsight, there are many things I believe I could have done differently. But I believe more strongly in the fact that the manager should have handled this event more delicately. The management of Pick ’N Save should be knowledgeable about their company’s policies around firearms before they confront people who are legally carrying them. I believe management in every company should be knowledgeable about weapons policies for the company and weapons laws for the state.

And on a personal note, I believe I should not be demonized for carrying my personal firearm for personal protection. I have spent time overseas carrying firearms every day, but when I come home, it’s as if I’m suddenly no longer qualified to use the very tools I’ve been using in a combat zone. That does not sit right at all. In fact, it has only made me more determined to familiarize myself with state laws and company policies, so that I will be prepared to confront those who would violate my Second Amendment rights.

Dereck Simonsmeier is an Iraq War veteran who lives in Schofield.

*

Roundy’s responds

Daily Herald Media received the following response from James Hyland, spokesman for Roundy’s Inc., which owns Pick ’N Save grocery stores:

Roundy’s abides by all laws. Our longstanding practice has been that if a store director receives a complaint or encounters a situation that he or she feels uncomfortable addressing directly with a customer, the store director is to defer to the expertise of the police to assess and handle the situation. If a customer chooses to enter one of our stones openly carrying a weapon, it is not without reason that certain of our customers, as well as certain of our employees, may feel uneasy.

In this particular instance, a customer advised the manager on duty that he or she felt uncomfortable with a customer carrying a gun in the store. The manager felt comfortable addressing the situation with the customer, Dereck Simonsmeier, and politely asked him if he would cover it up. Simonsmeier replied that he did not have a jacket. The manager requested he leave the store and escorted him outside and waited with him until his friend finished shopping. Our loss prevention security/manager did speak with Simonsmeier and he seemed understanding of her explanation as to why we requested he leave the store.

*

Copyright © 2014 www.wausaudailyherald.com (emphasis in original)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20140208/WDH06/302080185/I-kicked-out-Pick-N-Save-legally-carrying-firearm-column [with comments]


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Updated: Schofield man who advocated for open carry jailed, accused of making gun threats


Dereck J. Simonsmeier
Marathon County Sheriff's Department
[from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/14/1277521/--Open-Carry-poster-boy-arrested-on-gun-related-charges ; same as image in original, which isn't available for embedding here]


Amanda M. Zastrow
Marathon County Sheriff's Department
[from http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20140213/FON0101/302130371/Schofield-man-who-advocated-open-carry-jailed-accused-making-gun-threats ; same as image in original, which isn't available for embedding here]

By Keith Uhlig and Shereen Siewert
Daily Herald Media
Feb. 13, 2014

WAUSAU — A Schofield man who wrote a guest column for Daily Herald Media after he was asked to leave a grocery store for openly carrying a pistol in his holster could temporarily lose his concealed carry permit after an arrest on gun-related charges.

Dereck Simonsmeier, 24, is now in Marathon County Jail, one of four people arrested in the 600 block of Turner Street in Wausau after a man was threatened at gunpoint Wednesday. Simonsmeier is being held in the Marathon County Jail pending an initial appearance Friday in Marathon County Circuit Court.

Simonsmeier; Danny Price, 32; Shannon Wheeler, 25; and Amanda Zastrow, 26, were arrested at a Turner Street home after they were called to help with a dispute between roommates, said Capt. Greg Hagenbucher of the Wausau Police Department. The incident began when a woman living in the home asked a man, also living in the home, to leave, Hagenbucher said. When he refused, the woman called friends to help.

Police were called to the home at about 6:30 p.m., according to a Wausau police report. The men were arrested on preliminary charges of endangering safety and Zastrow was arrested on a preliminary charge of being a party to a crime.

Simonsmeier, Price and Wheeler all carried firearms, Hagenbucher said. Police recovered a .40-caliber Glock handgun; a 1300 Winchester 12-gauge shotgun and a Remington 1911 handgun. In his Feb. 9 guest column [ http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20140208/WDH06/302080185/I-kicked-out-Pick-N-Save-legally-carrying-firearm-column (above)], Simonsmeier said he was carrying a Remington 1911 “in plain view on my belt” when he was asked to leave Pick ’N Save.

The column attracted national attention from gun-rights activists and sparked a passionate debate among online readers over Wisconsin firearm laws and businesses’ rights to prohibit guns.

No shots were fired Wednesday evening, Hagenbucher said, but the weapons were used to threaten the man. The woman who lived in the home was not arrested, Hagenbucher said, because she told police she didn’t know the men would be bringing firearms.

Zastrow drove the men to the home, according to police. Although she was not carrying a gun, she was arrested for her role because she knew the men were carrying firearms, Hagenbucher said.

Simonsmeier, who said he is an Iraq War veteran, wrote in his column that he constantly carries a firearm “concealed or open, legally, for the protection of myself, my family and my friends.”

Police did not say whether Price or Wheeler hold concealed carry permits.

Simonsmeier could lose his right to carry a firearm legally when charges are filed, at least temporarily. If a judge orders Simonsmeier not to possess any firearms until his case concludes — a typical bond restriction — that order will trigger an automatic suspension of Simonsmeier’s permit, said Wisconsin Department of Justice Deputy Administrator David Zibolski. The DOJ checks court records daily for convictions or bail conditions that can result in license suspension or revocation, Zibolski said.

A conviction on charges of endangering safety is unlikely to trigger a permanent revocation of Simonsmeier’s permit because the crime is a misdemeanor; it is unclear whether additional charges could be filed against Simonsmeier in connection with the incident.

The incident is the third Marathon County case during the past year in which a man with a concealed carry permit was accused of a gun-related crime. In January, 30-year-old Thomas Krautkramer of Wausau was arrested on charges of making threats to injure after he was accused of pulling a gun on a town of Cleveland business owner. Krautkramer’s case is pending in Marathon County Circuit Court.

In July, 26-year-old Carl Follie of Wausau was found guilty in Marathon County Circuit Court on two felony charges of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and spent nine months in jail. Follie, an Iraq War veteran, had a concealed carry permit during a March 23 shooting incident that endangered the lives of at least two children and damaged two homes in the 1300 block of North Third Street, according to court documents.

Follie was ordered to surrender his firearm and is now disqualified from holding a permit because he is a convicted felon.

In 2012, DOJ officials issued 101 suspensions and 329 revocations for concealed carry permits; figures for 2013 were not available.

Related Link

Pro-gun columnist released from jail
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/relart/20140216/FON0101/302160286

Copyright © 2014 www.wausaudailyherald.com

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20140213/WDH01/302130264/Updated-Schofield-man-who-advocated-open-carry-jailed-accused-making-gun-threats [with comments]


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"Open-Carry" poster boy arrested on gun-related charges



by Sharon Wraight
Fri Feb 14, 2014 at 05:14 AM PST

Four days ago, Dereck J. Simonsmeier, 24 (pictured left, wearing grey-black), of Wisconsin whined in an op-ed [ http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dl/article?AID=2014302100192 (first item above)] that he was asked to leave a Pick 'N Save store (owned by Roundy’s Inc.) for openly carrying a .45 caliber pistol on his belt. Another customer felt uncomfortable by him and complained to the manager, who asked him to cover up the gun. He refused, even though he does have a concealed carry permit, and was escorted outside. His op-ed repeated some of the usual GOA [ http://gunowners.org/ ]/SAF [ http://saf.org/ ] talking-points, e.g.:

I carry it because it is my right and to protect the ones I love. Yet even with the welfare of others in mind, I am scrutinized and mocked for exercising my Second Amendment right. [...]

[The experience] has only made me more determined to familiarize myself with state laws and company policies, so that I will be prepared to confront those who would violate my Second Amendment rights.

He sounds like an upright "good guy with a gun," well trained with his weapon:

I am an American citizen, a college graduate, an Iraq War veteran, a brother, a friend, a role model and very soon I will be an uncle. For each of these people that I am, there is always one constant: I carry a firearm, concealed or open, legally, for the protection of myself, my family and my friends.

His op-ed was picked up and linked to by many thousands of pro-gun sites across the country. Maybe 100,000 or so such links: https://www.google.com/search?lr=&as_qdr=all&q=Pick+'N+Save++~firearm+OR+%22open+carry%22+-jailed+-arrested&oq=Pick+'N+Save++~firearm+OR+%22open+carry%22+-jailed+-arrested

For several days he was something of a poster-boy for open-carry advocates.

Well, guess what? ...



[...]

© Kos Media, LLC

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/14/1277521/--Open-Carry-poster-boy-arrested-on-gun-related-charges [with comments]


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Republican Texas Lt. Governor hopeful to President Obama: 'Come and take it.'

Not a King

Published on Feb 16, 2014 by ToddStaplesforltGov [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ToddStaplesforltGov ]

As Lt. Governor, Todd Staples will fight Obama's liberal agenda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhSlQOjqiNU [comments disabled]

by Hunter
Mon Feb 17, 2014 at 10:17 AM PST

Those of you unfamiliar with the myriad roles of the Texas Lootenant Gubbinor might not be aware that first and formost in his duties is to defend the state from the predations of the president of the United States. Todd Staples, one of the several equally silly and terrible choices for that office on the Republican ticket, has put out an ad clarifying that. It shows him pointing guns, hating the EPA and generally being a Texas fertilizer plant of talking points. That last line, though:

So Mr. President, if you still want to mess with Texas, we've got a saying for you. Come and take it.

Hmm.

© Kos Media, LLC (emphasis in original)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/17/1278269/-Republican-Texas-Lt-Governor-hopeful-to-President-Obama-Come-and-take-it [with the YouTube embedded, and comments]


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