Dex Sinister
Member
Recently, I happened to have to go into the local Social Security office – a tiny, maybe 1000 sq ft building, with an even tinier 10’x20’ lobby and reception room, with a total of four customer service windows, at least two of which are always closed.
The lobby features an armed private security guard, who alertly noticed that I was [horrors!] carrying a Buck-tool multi-tool on my belt. The exchange went: “Excuse me Sir, does that have a knife in it?†“Yup, it’s a multi-tool.†“I’m going to have to ask you to step outside with me.†“That’s okay, I’ll go put it in my car.†“Oh, okay.â€
So, I went and put the knife in my car, while my wife chatted with him, pointing out that metal pens and almost anything else are also “dangerous weapons†in the hands of anyone who wishes to use them as such. We spent the rest of the waiting time with him joking about purses as dangerous weapons.
There were a couple of amusing things about this exchange:
Now, while the question of lawful CCW carry in the S.S. office certainly is tangential here, two things really stood out in my mind about this interaction:
The lobby features an armed private security guard, who alertly noticed that I was [horrors!] carrying a Buck-tool multi-tool on my belt. The exchange went: “Excuse me Sir, does that have a knife in it?†“Yup, it’s a multi-tool.†“I’m going to have to ask you to step outside with me.†“That’s okay, I’ll go put it in my car.†“Oh, okay.â€
So, I went and put the knife in my car, while my wife chatted with him, pointing out that metal pens and almost anything else are also “dangerous weapons†in the hands of anyone who wishes to use them as such. We spent the rest of the waiting time with him joking about purses as dangerous weapons.
There were a couple of amusing things about this exchange:
- The building, though it has several “no firearms or dangerous weapons†signs, doesn’t correctly cite 18 USC Sec. 930 as required by subsection (h) “Notice of the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) shall be posted conspicuously at each public entrance to each Federal facility, […] and no person shall be convicted of an offense under subsection (a) or (e) with respect to a Federal facility if such notice is not so posted….â€
- The knife in question has blades less than 2.5†long, specifically exempted by definition from classification as a “dangerous weapon†by subsection (g)(2) “ (g) As used in this section: (2) The term 'dangerous weapon' means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2 1/2 inches in length.â€
- Other knives above 2.5†lawfully carried under California law would seem to be exempted under subsection (d)(3) (d) Subsection (a) shall not apply to - (3) the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes.â€
- Oddly, he didn’t seem interested at all in the horizontal knife sheath on my other side, where my spare magazine rides.
Now, while the question of lawful CCW carry in the S.S. office certainly is tangential here, two things really stood out in my mind about this interaction:
- The incredible arrogance of our public servants, who now seem to think that they can demand that their employees, the taxpayers, strip themselves of all pointy objects before seeking audience with them, in vast excess of the law, and
- I can't, for the life of me, see how an armed private security guard can be present in the building, because 18 USC Sec. 930 doesn’t have an exception for armed guards, whose only authority to carry firearms comes from CA, not Federal law, and who are not directly employed by either. [/list=1](d) Subsection (a) shall not apply to -
(1) the lawful performance of official duties by an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof, who is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of law;
(2) the possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon by a Federal official or a member of the Armed Forces if such possession is authorized by law; or
(3) the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes.
Thoughts?
Dex }:>=-