“I’m going to protect my children anyway I can,” Matthew Halleck tells kaaltv.com. Like millions of American parents, that means carrying a concealed weapon as he schleps his daughter to and from school. Unfortunately, Mr. Halleck missed the advice given by TTAG readers to citizens exercising their natural, civil and Constitutional right to keep and bear arms: concealed means concealed. When a homeowner across from Harriet Bishop Elementary school in Rochester, Minnesota glimpsed Halleck’s gat poking out of his pants, she decided to “out” Halleck with the sign above . . .
“Since we don’t have a way to stop him, we felt it was important to notify the neighborhood and the parents that there is an armed man in their presence,” said Kimberly Edson, a Rochester resident who put the sign up. “The first couple days of school he had it very visible, we saw it and were quite concerned,” she said.
Kimberly called the police the day the picture was taken, but they said Matthew has a legal right to carry off school property. Matthew also contacted authorities concerning the sign, and while they briefly took the sign down, it was eventually determined that Kimberly was also breaking no laws. “He has a 2nd Amendment right to carry the gun, I have my 1st Amendment right to say that I don’t like it,” said Edson.
Agreed. Halleck told KAAL-TV that he’s going to sue Edson for libel, but a quick consultation with a lawyer should disabuse him of that notion. It’s only libel if it’s not true.
Here’s another true fact: Minnesota allows open carry for permit holders. Now that Mr. Halleck’s been outed, I suggest he come out of the closet completely and wear his gun on his hip (with a retention holster). I’ll say it again: open carry is the best way to combat virulent indeed aggressive anti-gun prejudice.
As soon as Texas allows open carry, that’s the way I’m going to roll. Like Halleck, I’m gonna do it for the children. Not just to protect them from immediate harm, but also to protect their firearms freedom from those who would erode and eliminate their gun rights. [h/t BA]
Hmmm. I carry near the school which is two blocks away all the time. Know what? The children are safer with me carrying than not.
Hope some thinking people realize the same thing in Mr. Halleck’s case.
Common sense is asking a lot of some people.
I think you all forgot where we live. Uhhhmerika
My grandfather had a saying, “thinking is the hardest thing we do”. When I was a kid, I thought he was just a stubborn old man. All too late, do I realize he was right all along. I like to think I tried to make him proud out of spite, a sort of “If it’s so hard, then why do I find it easy?” Clever old man. I do miss him.
People need to mind their own business. I agree she is B
Do they do this for police as well? Funny how no one seems to freak out over police carrying weapons yet they do when licensed citizens do… Yet I’d bet more people have been killed by cops(outside of justified shooting) than by licensed citizens….
I think that’s a pretty good bet, actually.
That isn’t a good bet, it is a fact — especially when you look at the per capita rate.
When the chiefs of cities like Milwaukee and Minneapolis proclaim that they’ll send their troops to prone out anybody who lawfully OC’s in their city, I figure that the thing to do in those jurisdictions is to call 9-1-1 and report a suspicious man with a gun every time you see a cop.
OTOH, if the cops don’t actively encourage 9-1-1 calls to report simple open carry, there’s no need to report the cops to the cops.
Yes, and she has a 1st Amendment right to express that perspective.
Let her do so, and that’s the limit of the advice Id offer Mr Halleck. Lawyers are a waste of time-and Miss Edison has also outed herself in no less of a fashion as an enemy of liberty. Some people in MN still care about such things, attorneys excepted.
If we’re going to vigorously defend the 2nd Amendment, we should be consistent in defending the rest of the Bill of Rights.
Even when it’s inconvenient.
Agreed. She should be able to put whatever sign she wants on her lawn. I just hope one day she understands her actions and reconciles her “feelings” with the rational conclusions one draws from an in depth contemplation of rights, community, and existence.
Yeah and if she gets him killed by advertising to everyone that he has a gun, I hope she gets put in jail. If what you say hurts or kills someone, there are laws about that.
Uh, no. There are laws again murdering someone, but they apply to the person doing the murdering.
If a person were to *SWAT* you, that person would be innocent, I guess.
The difference is intent.
Any lawyer worth their salt would argue that Bitchy McCrazylady was simply informing law abiding parents about someone who was carrying a gun to help them make decisions to stay away from him.
Versus swatting, which is calling the police to cause injury or other harm to someone deliberately. And it is easily proven.
You may not like it but that’s how the legal system works.
For the record, the lady is a four letter c word. But the 1st amendment gives her a right to be that word.
Not guilty of murder. There are laws against misusing 911, making a false report, and probably a few others.
No law against free speech on your lawn.
Seriously, RF, you plan to OC? I somehow got the notion you were of the “OC is not a good idea unless it’s the only option” school of thought. Oh, well, not the first mistake I’ve made…
BTW, whatever you guys did to clean up the malware from the site seems to have pretty well cleaned up my intermittently-functioning keyboard issue too, so many thanks!
Your keyboard was working just fine. Something was chewing up your computer’s resources and preventing it from registering your keystrokes. It was happening to me as well and driving me crazy. Based on my typing in this comment, it appears to be gone.
Yes, you are exactly right, the keyboard itself was fine. At any rate, I can post at “normal” (for me) speed now.
In this case, since everyone know he is carrying because of the sign and its legal, he should OC for a while at least until Bloomer’s shill gets tired.
I think I recall RF having posted a picture of himself open carrying with his family during a vacation to another state which allows handgun OC.
Many in Texas are excited by the prospect of our likely next governor Greg Abbott signing OC into law next year. It’s just ridiculous that licensed Texans can currently OC in Oklahoma via reciprocity, but cannot in our own home state.
“The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on”.
Priceless.
Yep.
Here is a situation that is somewhat similar.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1627894_Man_carries_rifle_donated_by_Spikes_to_protect_daughter__Welcome__LoneEagle_.html
http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/lakeshore/2014/05/23/dad-responds-to-gun-violence/9513855/
A neighbor was mad because a man was carrying a rifle to protect his daughter on her way home from school in a bad neighborhood. The police were called, the man was cleared. The neighbor is also mad because the police told the neighbor she could not carry a gun because of her criminal background. 😀
Open carry. She wants a pissing match? She ain’t got the equipment, in any sense of the word.
I’m not sure what he’s so concerned about that he’s threatening impossible legal actions since he obviously didn’t care enough to conceal the firearm in the first place.
I dgaf if someone sees my concealed pistol. It happens and especially if you do a lot of bending or have a vehicle that is tough to get in and out of. I’ll put it in my waistband and it’s covered by a shirt but it’s not invisible. You can’t see me print from 20′ away but closer maybe.
If this guy has or ever has a son, he better be named Gurney or his weapons should be confiscated.
He would be missing out on a great opportunity. I only pretend my name is Gurney Halleck.
https://www.facebook.com/kdedson?fref=browse_search
Man, her post on the subject made me do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNsrK6P9QvI
I found Kimberly Edson on people smart. Address, phone e mail and age in a minute. It works both ways. It’s not a good idea to put signs in.your front yard…and NO I’m not suggesting anything 🙂
you mean like posting on http://www.love4felons.com ?
Actually, she is helping our cause…people now know he is carrying a gun…and isn’t harming anyone…they will see him everyday…as a father taking his children to school and again, not harming anyone…even with the gun on his hip….thanks Mrs. Edson, in your own way you are proving your beliefs to be wrong…
That’s what I thought at first… I didn’t even see the gun, just saw a father saying good bye to his kid. Big deal.
PS. Kimberly, now every criminal with half a brain knows that you don’t have a gun….
Yep. Best example of Karma I’ve seen this year.
maybe a letter to the editor or even better, take out a personal ad on Craigslist and say you are SHOCKED there are no guns in her home and link to the story. Yeah, that’ll be interesting.
No, don’t. You don’t want it on your conscience.
He could get a bunch of his like minded friends together and walk their kids to school in one big group. Make sure to smile and wave to Kimberly Edson while walking past her house.
Someone should put up a sign with her picture on it across her street that reads, “This woman and so many others like her are ignorant of the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and feel it’s in their best interest to waste everyone’s tax dollars and police time by ‘reporting’ activity that is not a crime.”
He should post his own sign. ” My home is protected by (insert his gun maker), the silly bitch across the street isn’t, feel free to break in there” That should shut her yap.
That is probably about the worst idea I ever heard. Yes, advertize you have at least one (probably several) expensive, desirable commodities that a thief would LOVE to get hold of. If he’s stupid he shows up while you are home, you shoot him, you go to court because your sign could be considered a provocation “Your Honor, with this sign on his yard he was LOOKING for an excuse to shoot someone!”. If he’s smart he’ll wait til you leave, then ransack the place while you’re out.
I hate just how spot-on you are. Let the criminal go, prosecute the victim. What a world.
Were I this gentleman I should make up another sign saying something like ” We Know He Carries, How Many Others Do We Not Know About?”
As friendly as I could possibly be I’d ask this home owner if I could place the sign next to hers. I’d explain that this might give the bad guys something to think about. If protecting the children is her goal she might go for it. I’d point out that we were both protecting the children though we approached the topic from different directions but that perhaps on this point we might agree. I’d ask the police to go with me, not to support my side but to allow her to feel more comfortable in my presence.
That’s not bad…
I would not recommend using logic and reasoning to start a discussion with an emotional person. It will only frustrate you. I would not pay attention to the ranting homeowner because she is obviously seeking attention. Any reasonable person would see this as a “non-event”.
Maybe TTAG needs a new category called the Pissing Contest Edition.
They’re both idiots.
And why exactly is Mr. Halleck an “idiot” in your strange universe?
“Halleck told KAAL-TV that he’s going to sue Edson for libel”
Edson is ignorant of the 2nd Amendment, and Halleck is ignorant of the 1st Amendment.
Ignorance!=idiot
Actually she knows the law better than he does…
@Hannibal, apparently she didn’t! Plus, she is getting educated the hard way.
If this man is, in her mind, SOOOOO dangerous, how come his children — whom he takes to school — haven’t appeared in the emergency room, full of bullet holes? Could it be that the man is actually…GASP!…safe to be around, even with his ebil gunzah?
I’d like Mr Halleck to parade through the less desirable sections of town with a sign saying Mrs. Edison’s residence is unprotected.
Comment got moderated. Here’s a better worded version: Kimberly Edson is wasting time worrying about something that really doesn’t affect her, and I think she is not smart.
Yes, and she’s pestering the local public servants with her paranoia on the taxpayers’ dime, while harassing a man who’s harmed no one. She and her FB friends are irrational on this issue. Judging by her FB page, she cares a lot about the community. Too bad she’s wasting her and other people’s time on this instead of real issues. She needs to utilize her energy finding homes for kitties or something else useful.
To the hack that wrote the article, from the picture the man is open carrying. That is a holster. His “gat” is not “poking out of his pants”. As you stated OC is legal where he is. So in fact, the homeowner across the street did not decided to “out” Halleck with the sign. The homeowner was probably an idiot that did not even notice the man carrying on the other 364 days of the year. The story, in fact, has nothing to do with “concealed means concealed” except for you trying to fit in a prop for your website, but instead looking like an idiot.
More gun owner hatred. If he was going to try anything with his gun he wouldn’t have bothered getting a permit and he would have done it long ago. He is there dropping off his kids – comeon.
Why would she want to stop him? Cops are welcome at the school with loaded guns but a permitted gun owner is not welcome nearby the school?
So she has a responsibility to force her opinion on the surrounding community?? What a weirdo.
Is there no way he can argue against the sign?
Are people allowed to just put up signs with non-celebrity photos on them with captions? Can I put up a sign with a photo of that woman and have it read, “this woman lives at ”
I thought there are certain protections to a right to privacy and images of ourselves.
He has no expectation of privacy in a public place.
She can take all the pictures of him that she wants. And publish them.
As he can take all the photos of her and post or place on signs in public. That razor slices both ways.
The armed parent should carry a similar sign with an unidentifiable man’s picture that says something like,
… This man has a Johnson and is around your children every day.
Alternatively, he could carry a sign with Kimberly Edson’s photo that says,
… This women has female parts and is around your little boys every day.
Then, sit back and wait for the fireworks.
Wow, this is no different than the 60s when people would put signs in their yard complaining about blacks attending a local school. It is a different civil right, but it is the same kind of vicious, dangerous hate. This lady is in the historical record expressing her hate for this man, his child, and his 2nd amendment right.
Kimberly Edson is a librarian at the Rochester Public Library:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-edson/8/a57/950
Bringing her brand of “shooshing” to a whole new level.
She and “Annoyed Librarian” are giving librarians a bad name.
Schooling an Annoyed Librarian
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/10/bruce-krafft/schooling-annoyed-librarian/
Most caricatures are just pictures. Those two are living and breathing.
How about a big sign with her face asking how many Civil Rights she doesn’t like.
Maybe a few signs should go up showing support for this guy. No names, just a sign showing support for CC would be enough me thinks.
Just say’in
How does she know it’s loaded?
“Since we don’t have a way to stop him, we felt it was important to notify the neighborhood and the parents that there is an armed man in their presence,”
How awesome would it be to have a communal response from the parents and neighbors equivalent to “armed man? No, no, no. Armed people. Lots of us. Legal. Responsible. Safe. Protected.”
Ahh, we can dream.
Why portray this sign as a negative? The message is open-ended for a whole plethora of positive reinforcement for the 2nd Amendment and law-abiding citizens.
Examples for follow-up signs or responses:
“Protecting one’s family is nothing to be ashamed of. Brought to you by the 2nd Amendment”
“Hoplophobia. It is a real disease.”
“You’re welcome. – Law Abiding Citizen”
“Yup, that’s what the 2nd Amendment looks like. – The US Constitution”
“Law abiding citizens are the first responders when the police are minutes away. Or in the case of Newtown, 20 minutes away.”
“Had this been the case in Newtown, it may have turned out differently.”
Etc. etc.
“Had I been there at Newton, Newton would not have been in the news”
You know… I’d probably up my game by OCing a rifle. Maybe even something that feeds from a belt. Assuming no legal estrangements. I’m just kinda pissy that way.
Of course I should in no way be considered a good spokes person for the 2A.
Not a lawyer – but I don’t believe OC’ing a rifle is legal in public in MN. OC of a handgun is only legal with a Permit to Carry.
the advice to open carry is complete bullshit. yes open carry marches and demonstrations open carry all you want, but to open carry on the street in an unknown situation is just plain foolish. i have seen dozens of situations where i could have easily taken a persons gun from them. just about every person i have seen open carrying do not use retention holsters do not practice Situational awareness and worse constantly touch their damn weapon even concealed carriers are guilty of that last one. touching it adjusting all draw attention to your weapon and the only time anyone should know your armed is after the bad man/woman is dead or down
More projection. Please let us each decide what kind of carry is tactically relevant for ourselves.
JohnW is the only one professional enough to carry!
I could not agree more, John. Open carry is for egomaniacs and power trippers. Prudent persons are discrete and use the element of surprise when accosted by evil doers.
Yay California….my CCW lets me carry on any school campus from preschool to university.
And this is a city that sent a delegation to liberal progressive Seattle to get their ideas for city planning. We need a turnover in leadership by vote this November or we are in trouble. Rochester is an awesome little city but heading down the liberal progressive path and a u-turn needs to happen.
Hey Kimberly! How about you leave people alone and worry about yourself. Start by cleaning up your yard!
War has just been declared. Time to air his neighbor’s dirty laundry in response.
This woman makes signs using Comic Sans.
I know, right? Papyrus or GTFO.
“‘He has a 2nd Amendment right to carry the gun, I have my 1st Amendment right to say that I don’t like it,’ said Edson.”
After reading that, all I could think was “Ugh, WHITE PEOPLE.” This lady can shove her feelings where the sun don’t shine. Sadly, it is becoming all too common for legislation to be based on what makes privileged white suburban women uncomfortable.
Yes, indeed. America has been suffering under that knid of delusional stupidity for decades. Just look at Prohibition.
We’re working on coordinating some 2A / permit holder meet ups in the Rochester, MN area. Find us if you’re in MN and throw in your support.
Turn about is fair play. A nice clear picture of her house with the address and caption “Gun Free” or “Doesn’t Approve of People with Legal Guns” would be the simple truth and protected speech.
Minnesota’s permit is a “Carry” permit. He could open carry, but he is a reasonable and prudent man. He respects the privilege and does it for one reason, to protect the innocent from evil.
And the Darwin Award goes tooooo………….Kimberly Edson!……..
Try reading one of those books in the history or statistics section of your library Kimberly. You’re wasting your time in the fiction/love story section. Troll!
Oh, sweety! You will get kicked in the teeth for that! How dare you point out that the aggressor sets the rules and any who refuse to accept that dose of reality will be defeated by said enemy. Can’t “sink to their level”, you might win.
Congratulations, Zabste Potts! You did get your teeth kicked in by the civility nazis. Don’t you know, yet?!?!?! Humans are supposed to crawl on our knees and beg our Progressive Masters for the right to simply exist. How silly of you to think you have any rights as a human being. Bad slave, no biscuit.
Comments are closed.