Open-carry dispute caught on tape

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT — The state’s open-carry law has again caused a stir, this time when a man wearing a holstered firearm walked into a downtown Subway restaurant and recorded an encounter with police on video.

Picked up Thursday by a number of websites, the video shows the viewpoint of the armed man, who is repeatedly asked by Bridgeport police officers to show them his gun permit.

The footage, said to have been recorded Monday, raises questions about the rights of permit holders to openly carry weapons — and about the rights of police to demand documentation.

In the video, the cameraman repeatedly refuses officers’ requests to show his permit, arguing that the law does not compel him to comply.

“I’m not showing you anything,” he says. “I want to order my food and get up out of here.”

“Can I see your permit, please?” one officer repeats.

Three scenes from a video recorded by an armed man as he waited in line at the Subway restaurant in downtown Bridgeport show police officers as they confront the man, repeatedly asking him to show them his gun permit. less Three scenes from a video recorded by an armed man as he waited in line at the Subway restaurant in downtown Bridgeport show police officers as they confront the man, repeatedly asking him to show them his gun ... more Photo: Contributed Photos Photo: Contributed Photos Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Open-carry dispute caught on tape 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

As the two argue, the cameraman says, “Am I a suspect?”

“I’m just checking to see if you have a permit?” the officer says.

A second officer arrives, and says, “We just had a complaint, right downtown ... a block away. Now the man’s asking you for your ID; that‘s all he’s asking for.”

After a third officer arrives, the man with the camera is told that Subway is refusing to serve him. He leaves, telling the uniformed men that they don’t know the law.

Commenting on the authenticity of the video, Bridgeport public safety spokesman Michael Giannotti said, “To my knowledge, those are our officers.”

A question of law

State law allows a person with a valid permit to openly display a handgun, provided he or she is also carrying the permit itself. But does that person have the right to refuse the show the permit to police?

A Connecticut State Police training memo on citizens’ right to carry handguns instructs troopers not to arrest a person with the proper permit “merely for publicly carrying a handgun in plain view.’’ But if individuals refuse to show the permit, they may be subject to arrest on the separate charge of interfering with police, the memo states.

Bridgeport Police Lieutenant Chris LaMaine also wrote in an email to members of the department, “If the person refuses, the officer can arrest the person for Interfering with an Officer.’’

The state law, Public Act 15-216, is more specific, stipulating that the permit holder must show proof to “a law enforcement officer who requests it for purposes of verifying the permit’s validity or person's identity if the officer observes the person carrying a handgun and has reasonable suspicion of a crime.”

Attorney Frank Riccio Jr., whose law office is in Bridgeport, said confrontations like the one on the video could present challenges to the law and its interpretation.

“Because it’s brand new and we don’t really know the reasons behind it, it hasn’t been put into practice yet, this may be the test case, if you will,” Riccio said Thursday.

The permit-request language is embedded in a law deals mostly with changing laws pertaining to the state Department of Correction, Riccio said, and grew from “our society having a heightened sense of alarm over firearms and pistol permits.”

That concern was evidenced last month, in the thick of the Christmas shopping season, when a man entered the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford openly carrying a handgun.

Cops later downplayed the Dec. 16 incident, but eyewitnesses said that the gun-toting man caused a huge disturbance at the mall. Scores of police, many armed with assault rifles, converged on the Macy’s store there, and were also positioned at all of the mall exits, witnesses said.

The mall does not allow civilians to carry firearms or other weapons on the property, which is the management’s prerogative. Police said that the suspect had a pistol permit, but because of the mall’s policy, he was escorted off the property.

Right of refusal

Subway Corp., which has its headquarters in Milford, released a statement on the video that circulated Thursday, purportedly shot Monday at its Main Street, Bridgeport location:

“All Subway restaurants are individually owned and operated by franchisees who are part of the communities in which they live and work,” the statement said. “Franchisees are required to follow all local, state and federal laws.”

Av Harris, spokesman for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, commended police for their handling of the Subway incident.

“Look at it from the point of view of law enforcement,’’ Harris said. “There has been an uptick in shootings and violent crime in Bridgeport in the past year, and these officers were responding to a complaint, and they acted with restraint and professionalism.’’

State law does allow businesses to post that no weapons are allowed inside, and they may refuse to serve customers who are armed. Weapons are banned near schools, courthouses and certain other public buildings.

In August, 2013, less than a year after the Sandy Hook School shootings, the Starbucks on Church Hill Road in Newtown, about 1.5 miles from the school, closed early after gun-rights supporters rallied there.

A sign posted on the front of the store said it did so “out of respect for Newtown and everything our community has been through ... We recognize there is significant passion surrounding the topic, However, we believe people should be sensitive to our community.”