PAOC In The News - Articles published prior to forum launch

[Pa. Patriot]

Right to Carry Guns
Reported by: Dan Wells
Thursday, Jan 3, 2008 @11:12pm EST

http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=6170

[Pa. Patriot]

Dickson City gun carrier says motive was not to create a scene
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER
Published: Saturday, June 7, 2008 1:00 AM EDT
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles...754892.txt

WILKES-BARRE — Richard Banks had just returned from the buffet line and set his dish at the table when someone told him there was a situation.

Dickson City police had arrived at Old Country Buffet and wanted to speak to customers who were openly carrying guns.

The May 9 incident led to Mr. Banks being detained and his gun confiscated, but he said he and other customers openly carrying handguns were not looking to make a scene at the restaurant and were not trying to create an incident when police arrived.

Mr. Banks, 37, agreed to talk about the incident for the first time Wednesday. The Mountaintop man took issue with how police handled the situation, but his attorney, Brian Collins, declined to say if a lawsuit is planned.

After the group agreed to speak with officers in the vestibule of the restaurant, Mr. Banks said he soon realized police were going to ask him to cooperate past the level to which he was willing.

While other patrons complied with a request to produce a driver’s license, Mr. Banks refused. When police told him he would be arrested for refusing to provide a driver’s license, Mr. Banks said he initially thought they were just trying to persuade him to hand over the identification. People openly carrying guns are not required to show identification.

“I thought they were bluffing, to be honest with you,” Mr. Banks said.

He spent the next hour in a police car, hands cuffed behind his back, with his wife and two young children watching.

“I really just thought (police) were going to be, ‘Oh, yeah, you guys are OK,’?” he said. “Or maybe they would ask why we were carrying. ... I didn’t think it was going to go to this level.”

He retrieved his gun from police May 30.

Mr. Banks, 37, grew up in rural Sullivan County, N.Y., where his father was a hunter and he began handling guns at a young age. He moved to Pennsylvania in the 1990s and a decade later opened his own gunsmithing business, Frontline Armory, in Mountaintop.

With the rise of the Internet, he began using his interest and knowledge in state gun laws to answer questions on Web forums, specifically on the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association forums. He also started his own site, www.paopencarry.org

A group of friends from these forums, linked by an interest in gun rights, began meeting socially and openly carrying, Mr. Banks said. For the most part, “just like with model train collectors,” the meeting was just for fellowship.

“One of the reasons we like to do that (meet together) is because we found people came out of Internet nowhere and would say, ‘You know, I’d like to open carry, but I’d feel more comfortable doing it with someone else,’?” Mr. Banks said. “So it’s kind of an introduction ... but mostly, it’s just to get together. Fellowship.”

He denied any notion that the group targeted Dickson City. The meeting at Old Country Buffet was not the first — they had met at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Pittston before then, he said.

“They just can’t grasp that we didn’t come to Dickson City to start any trouble,” Mr. Banks said. “We came to Dickson City because one guy’s in Moscow, one guy’s in Scranton, I’m in Mountaintop and two guys are in Susquehanna County. It’s a central location.”

To the accusation that the group was meeting specifically to push an agenda, Mr. Banks said: “To say that’s true isn’t accurate, but to say it isn’t accurate isn’t true, either. As a personal matter, I do carry openly so that people see firearms in everyday life.”

Mr. Banks said he has openly carried throughout the area — at Wal-Mart, grocery stores, Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern and elsewhere — and never had an incident.

Instead of stopping every person on the street and explaining open-carry gun laws, Mr. Banks said he prefers to just wear his gun openly and let people see it’s legal.

“I think what I’m doing is a little more simple and little more powerful,” he said.

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com

[gnbrotz]

http://www.gunreports.com/news/handguns/...468-1.html

Quote:Pennsylvania Pro-Open-Carry Spokesman Detained by Police
Author: GR Staff
June 8, 2008

The Citizens Voice newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., has reported that the operator of the pro-open-carry site paopencarry.org. was detained by police after having his gun confiscated.

Richard Banks was eating at at Old Country Buffet when Dickson City (Penn.) Police arrived, detained Banks, and took his gun, which he was openly carrying.

While other patrons complied with a request to produce a driver’s license, Banks refused. When police told him he would be arrested for refusing to provide a driver’s license, Banks said he initially thought they were just trying to persuade him to hand over the identification. People openly carrying guns are not required to show identification.

He spent the next hour in a police car, his hands cuffed behind his back, and his wife and two young children watching. He was later released and retrieved his gun from police without incident a couple of days later.

Banks, a gunsmith, owns Frontline Armory in Mountain Top. Banks said he has openly carried throughout the area and never had an incident. Banks said he prefers to wear his gun openly and let people see it’s legal.

[gnbrotz]

http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/20...29_loc.txt

Quote:Gun advocates plan picnic with firearms in Hazle Twp.
BY MIA LIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, October 9, 2008 4:09 AM EDT

There is going to be a picnic at Hazle Township Community Park on the last Saturday in October.

The weather may be chilly, so bring a jacket. And, if you’d like, carry a handgun on your hip — the party is being thrown by the firearm open-carry activists who have been attending public meetings in Hazle Township since July.

Greg Rotz, a member of Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association and Paopencarry.org, who sought to rent a pavilion at the township park in July to hold a picnic for friends and members of firearms organizations, is organizing the late-October get-together.

Rotz said he sent to the township on Sept. 25 a pavilion rental application along with the $70 rental fee and a cover letter stating his intent of “refusing to agree to the firearms ban as a condition of use.”

Township planning commission secretary Lee Ann Kasha said this week Rotz’s application package was received but returned to him with a letter explaining the township discontinues pavilion rentals on Sept. 30 to winterize the park facilities.

“We don’t close the park, but we discontinue pavilion rentals, so we can drain the water pipes, winterize the rest rooms and get the place ready for winter,” Kasha said.

Rotz confirmed this week that his rental application was returned with a letter explaining the winterization process. But as long as the park is open, the picnic will go on, he said.

“Our picnic will be taking place regardless of the final determination in regard to the pavilions,” Rotz said this week.

The PAFOA Web site lists a tentative head-count of 50 picnic attendees.

William Gallagher, chairman of the township supervisors, said Monday he is unmoved by the group’s picnic plans. “They can show up at the park and walk around if they want to. There isn’t going to be anybody there. Anybody can go to the park and walk around if they want to, but the pavilions are closed for the season,” he said.

The supervisors first became acquainted with Rotz and other members of the pro-open-carry organizations after Rotz decided not to rent the park pavilion in July because, he said, he did not wish to choose between openly carrying his handgun and abiding by park rules.

The park rule, Rotz said, is a violation of Pennsylvania law.

Rotz said anyone who attends is invited to openly carry their handguns if they are not prohibited under Pennsylvania law to possess firearms.

Rotz said he plans to be at the park around 10:30 a.m. Oct. 25 to set up for the picnic.

mlight@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636

[gnbrotz]

http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/1008/561479.html (video clip available at link)

Quote:Crowd Rallies Behind Gun-Toting Mom
posted 10:06 pm Tue October 14, 2008
reporter: Amy Kehm posted by: Myles Snyder

Lebanon, Pa. - When Meleanie Hain went through a metal detector on Tuesday, so did her supporters. When Hain checked her gun into security for safe lock-up, so did they.

"I am here to support Meleanie and her revocation hearing and to witness the return of her license to carry firearms," said Greg Rotz of paopencarry.org.

Hain’s supporters said her rights were violated when Lebanon County Sheriff Michael DeLeo revoked her concealed weapons permit in September - after parents complained that Hain had a holstered handgun at her daughter’s soccer game.

"The sheriff expressed in his letter, that because her weapon was not concealed, some folks were afraid,” Rotz said. “And that was his justification for revoking the license, which is not a valid reason under the law."

Rotz, of Chambersburg, had his own concealed weapons permit revoked last year after he took a gun to a polling place. The permit was later restored. Rotz says his case is similar to Hain’s.

"He did not really accomplish anything by revoking her license because she is still permitted to open carry,” he said. “As a matter of fact, she can only open carry."

Andrew Koch, a member of the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association, traveled from Pittsburgh to support Hain.

"Her illegal revocation really worries me,” he said. “Every little bit of our freedoms that is eroded worries me."

[gnbrotz]

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/local...i_10731673

Quote:Rotz leads gun-rights activists in support of Hain
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Lebanon Daily News staff writer

Gun-rights activists who traveled to Lebanon Tuesday from as far away as Pittsburgh in support of Second Amendment poster girl Meleanie Hain said it was worth the trip.

A group of two dozen supporters applauded and cheered when Lebanon County President Judge Robert J. Eby announced Tuesday his decision to restore Meleanie Hain's concealed-weapons permit during a hearing at the Lebanon municipal building.

"I wasn't surprised," 37-year-old Greg Rotz of Chambersburg said of Eby's ruling.

Rotz organized the gathering of advocates who support the open carrying of handguns as a peaceful show of support for Hain.

Rotz faced similar charges after he wore a sidearm to his voting precinct on Election Day last November, later receiving a letter from the Franklin County sheriff demanding that he turn over his handgun.

He appealed the decision and was vindicated in January when a judge threw out the case.

On Tuesday in support of Hain, there were no signs or loud protests outside the courthouse. Instead, supporters merely carried their guns openly as the law permits. Dozens of people wore pins that read: "I support Meleanie Hain. Enforce the law, not personal opinion."

County Sheriff Mike DeLeo revoked Hain's concealed-weapons permit after parents complained about her openly wearing her gun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game last month. Hain appealed, prompting Tuesday's hearing.

During Tuesday's testimony, Rotz said that when DeLeo was asked at what point he thought Hain was dangerous while wearing the gun at the soccer game, he "didn't seem to want to answer questions directly. ... It seemed like the sheriff didn't want to commit to facts that justified his actions."

Rotz, who carries a .45-caliber handgun "over 90 percent of the time," was joined by Rich Banks, founder of the Web site paopencarry.org, who traveled to Lebanon from Mountaintop in Luzerne County.

"I see a lot of people who react to open carry the way they'd react to anything that's new," Banks said. "I think that was what we were dealing with at the soccer game. Hopefully, people have a better understanding of it."

Banks said Eby concluded that the case wasn't an issue of what is legal, but whether Hain posed a safety risk to the public.

"He didn't think Hain was a danger to the public safety," Banks said.

Erik Paul of North Lebanon Township said he was happy with the judge's ruling.

"Eby could not have put it better," Paul said. "I wouldn't personally have carried it openly to a kids' soccer game, but the law doesn't differentiate where you can and can't carry. It just says the rights of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves shall not be questioned. ... I like when he (Eby) said 'we are not enemies.'"

Another open-carry advocate, Jim Fellner of Hanover, said there was no due process for revocation of Hain's permit.

"I think (DeLeo) was just trying to make a statement. I think he was trying to make an example out of her. I've never had issues in Hanover," Fellner said.

Bob Hlavaty of Lebanon echoed Fellner's opinion and said he believes the revocation of Hain's permit was "half political."

"I believe the sheriff had to do something and didn't know what to do," he said.

Andrew Koch of Pittsburgh said he drove four hours to show his support for Hain. Koch, who carries a Glock 22, said he has never had to use his handgun, but believes that by wearing it in a holster he did prevent two potential incidents from occurring.

"I live in one of the worst areas of Pittsburgh and there were, for lack of a better word, gangbangers who came into a store. I turned my strong side toward them and their eyes got real big, and they left," Koch said.

Turning to Tuesday's ruling in favor of Hain, he said, "It's a matter of every little encroachment on our freedom. Confiscating weapons is a dangerous thing."