Your home is not your castle in Harris County

[boomerang]

I could make a comment that the Nerd Herders I dealt with at Buy More were more professional and helpful than the Geniuses at the Apple store.

Someone could reply that they used to be an Apple store Genius and there's good and bad tech support everywhere. That may be true but it wouldn't invalidate my first hand experience with the Buy More Nerd Herd versus the Apple store Geniuses.

[Weg]

I've been stopped multiple times in both Cal. and Texas, and have always been treated good, you give them respect, they give it back. However, I always had a gun under the seat in Cal. and never told.

[Liberty]

The LEO's in Texas and Arizona that I 've delt with in both states were FAR more professional than the ones in California.

I was a California Highway Patrol Officer and I am rather insulted by this statement. There are good and bad cops everywhere. I think it is better to not to make sweeping statements. My experience is that CA officers are just as good/bad as any others.

Corrected

I can't speak for California, but I have lived in other parts of the country. My observation is that police in different states tend to treat citizens different. A traffic stop in Maine is different than a stop In Texas which is different than Louisiana. The people are different doesn't surprise me that California does seem to have more than its share of racial tension with its LEO departments.

[WildBill]

I've been stopped multiple times in both Cal. and Texas, and have always been treated good, you give them respect, they give it back. However, I always had a gun under the seat in Cal. and never told.

If you had told or were found out you would have been treated much differently.

[seamusTX]

I researched the fallout from this incident. Several Harris County officials met with a local Sikh organization and smoothed things over. The family apparently did not file a lawsuit, and no information has come out about discipline of the officers involved.

- Jim

[ninemm]

Are Sikh's allowed on an airplane with their religious artifact?

[seamusTX]

No, but they get quite a few other breaks in terms of dress codes -- as do other religions that are minorities in the U.S.

http://sikhism.about.com/od/culture/a/Culture.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As far as I know, the Sikh religion is the only one that has a right and duty to keep and bear arms as a religious dogma.

- Jim

[WildBill]

As far as I know, the Sikh religion is the only one that has a right and duty to keep and bear arms as a religious dogma. - Jim

[seamusTX]

I'm not sure that I understand the head scratch.

Adult Sikhs (what some Christians would think of as confirmed) have a number of duties. If I understand correctly, they include carrying a sword to protect the innocent. In modern times, the weapon has been reduced to a small ceremonial knife that nevertheless may violate Texas PC 46.02.

Another is that the men must have Singh in their name, which probably makes using the phone directory in Punjab problematic.

- Jim

[WildBill]

I'm not sure that I understand the head scratch.- Jim

Sorry. I was wondering if I should convert.

[RiveraRa]

I could make a comment that the Nerd Herders I dealt with at Buy More were more professional and helpful than the Geniuses at the Apple store.

Someone could reply that they used to be an Apple store Genius and there's good and bad tech support everywhere. That may be true but it wouldn't invalidate my first hand experience with the Buy More Nerd Herd versus the Apple store Geniuses.

Someone is a "Chuck" afficionado

[stevie_d_64]

I'm not sure that I understand the head scratch.- Jim

Sorry. I was wondering if I should convert.

Can I buy you a dagger for your birthday then???

[Fangs]

Can we start a new religion, one that requires the carrying of a firearm anywhere we go? Anyone know what the qualifications are for starting your own respectable religion?

[seamusTX]

That's a good question.

Anyone can start a church; and by following the regulations you can make it a 501(c)(3) organization and avoid paying taxes.

However, a number of Supreme Court rulings say that when you want exceptions to the law, a certain amount of history is required. That standard is subjective. The chief case would be Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of the State of Oregon, et al. v. Smith. It's all too complicated for me to understand, but it boils down to non-Indians wanting to use peyote under the guise of a newly organized religion.

I'm quite sure that even Sikhs (a religion that is hundreds of years old and has tens of millions of adherents) could not get a general exception to weapon laws. Compelling state interest and all that.

- Jim

[WildBill]

I'm not sure that I understand the head scratch.- Jim

Sorry. I was wondering if I should convert.

Can I buy you a dagger for your birthday then???

Yes you can. My birthday just happens to be tomorrow!
I will PM you my shipping address.