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Summer 2009 Milwaukee Open Carry Picnic: May 25th, 2009 (Memorial Day), Time: 3PM-7PM

Mr. Greg

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Greenfield, WI / Grand Forks, ND, ,
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[align=center]Please Note: Any of the following is subject to change prior to the day of the picnic. Periodic reviewing of this thread for updates cannot be stressed enough!
[/align]
What:
A picnic whose attendees will be comprised of of Open Carry advocates lawfully Open Carrying firearms on their person.

When: May 25th, 2009 (Memorial Day), Time: 3PM-7PM

Where: My Backyard, Greenfield, WI. (Directions will be given out to members who RSVPd as the date draws near)

[align=center] (Check Page 5 and 6 regarding why having it in Greenfield Park did not work out as planned)

[/align][align=left]Who: YOU!

What to bring:
[/align]-Your firearm, a holster (Multiples of the last two if you bring a guest!)
-Your food/utensil contribution to the picnic (Pot Luck! We can talk about who will bring what as the date draws closer)
-Cameras/Voice Recording devices (Just in Case!)
-A Lawn Chair, as seating will be first-come-first-serve, and I unfortunately don't have 30 chairs
-A Donation to contribute to the money spent for a Port-O-John + Sink on-site ($175ish), with all proceeds going to the OpenCarry.org "Operation Carryland" Fund (http://www.opencarry.org/carryland.html for info)
[align=center]MANDATORY READING - RULES AND GUIDELINES:
(These will be common sense to most of you, but for safety's sake, we will list them anyways)
[/align]
1. If you intend to attend this picnic, register at this forum, and post a reply to this thread stating your intent to attend.
This picnic is only open to OpenCarry.org members and their immediate families. My backyard is also not gigantic, so space may be at a premium...


http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cntyParks/maps/Greenfield.pdf 2. Maturity and upholding a reputation of a lawful Open Carrying citizen is YOUR responsibility if you choose to attend this picnic. Make no mistake, both media and Police may show up at some point, and if you falter, you will be taking a hard fall. Good decisions and thinking before acting cannot be stressed enough. If you have ANY questions about how you should be acting at the Picnic, ask them here WELL BEFORE the Picnic.

For a Good example of Proper Behavior at an Open Carry Picnic, Watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCV6xYPyezc

(Thanks WI Patriot for the link)

Note how the reporter makes a point about how not a single person removed their firearm from their holster when asked what kind it was.

3. Aside from behavior outlined in #1, you should be aware that attending this Picnic openly carrying a firearm in and of itself may trigger arrest by Greenfield PD. Greenfield PD will be informed in writing 1 Week in advance of this event, so that we will be the first to tell them of it, as opposed to a 911 call from someone offended by our actions. I am not a lawyer, politician, or expert in any fashion, and I CAN NOT guarantee your safety, especially legally, if you attend this event.

5. Absolutely NO unholstering of firearms will occur at the picnic. None. Nada. If Police should be monitoring us, the mere act of unholstering your firearm may be enough cause for them to forcibly disarm, detain, and arrest you on a "Brandishing" charge. Uncasing and holstering your firearm (and the reverse process as you leave) should be the only time you are handling your firearm during the picnic (Excluding a lawful use for a Life or Death situation, but I don't think a picnic in my yard will result in that).

6. Absolutely NO alcohol is to be brought/possessed/consumed. If the media chooses to cover this event, every Wisconsin citizen watching the 10PM news will see us wearing guns and eating chips and hot dogs. The last thing we need is alcohol being mixed in with that image, especially if children are present.


[align=center]If you violate any of these rules, DO NOT be surprised/offended/shocked if you are politely asked to leave.
[/align]
[align=center] Confirmed to attend:
[/align]
Mr. Greg (&
Girlfriend) [Polish Sausage]
Parabellum (Chimichangas)
protias
hugh jarmis
bnhcomputing [Potato Salad]
Max (& Wife) [Dessert]
BJA [Chips/Cookies/Soda]
skamp (& Wife & Daughter)
GRB [Regular & Diet Soda]
ilvg2k
pvtschultz
Glock34
WI Patriot
bmacklem (& Wife)
semperfiws6 (& Wife) [Southern Mac 'n Cheese]
wiUPSR
rdesjarden
Deadscott
nevinsb [2 Bags of Nacho Cheesier Doritos]
jjcharris (& Mother & Girlfriend)
Hartlaub
Spongebob
bigdaddy1 [Chips & Salsa]
NPH_1985 [Burgers]
davegran (& Wife) [Rhubarb Dessert Cake]
eleuthera [Cookies & Chips]
FoggyPete
Geoff [Potato Salad]
xd40arff [Cheesy Potato Casserole]
Common Sense [Chimichangas]
neoinarien [Soda]
shernandez (& Fiancee)
GlockMeisterG21
fireftr27 [Hot Dog/Hamburger Buns, Chips]
WI-Guy [Vegetable Tray]




[line]Old Planning stuff (now outdated, disregard as official info, but still a good example of how you should be absolutely sure an Open Carry event in Wisconsin is within the law before making final plans):

(No offense to the people who were using the last thread, I figured a new one would draw more attention)


The first step will be to determine a date. Tomm1963 suggested South Shore Park on Memorial Day (May 25th, a Monday) in the last thread, and I think that'd be a great idea. It's a holiday, so many of us will have off of work, a great location (Outside of the restrictions of a School Zone, as far as I can tell), and just around the corner from Downtown. Plus, with it being Memorial Day, we could honor those who protected our country overseas by exercising Constitutional liberties they fought and died for.

Mike suggested that we look into reserving Picnic space at a park. Here's some info about that:

http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/router.asp?docid=9058
http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/PicnicSites9136.htm

Reserving space is $75 for 50 people (I'd be [pleasantly] surprised if we went over that), which is a lot for an individual, but cheap if we all pitch in.

As far as food, I'd think a "pot luck" style picnic would be a good format to have, each attendee contributing something to the feast. We can go into specifics about food as the date draws near, though. Location and date are more important.


So:

Does anyone have a more fitting date/park for it to take place, or does Memorial Day at South Shore Park sound good?

[Edit 1] With 4 people so far in for the proposed Date and Place, I'd say we're rolling with it.

[Edit2] Looking more at what surrounds South Shore Park, there's an elementary school that's just over 1000 feet to the West. While we'll probably be legal by remaining in "Picnic Zone 2," as located in the .pdf of South Shore Park at the Milwaukee County Parks link I posted above, I'd rather err with the side of Caution here.

Bay View Park is around a half mile South of South Shore Park and, while not as scenic, doesn't have any schools within 1000 feet. There is a Seminary and the Milwaukee Archdiocese nearby, but I believe neither offer anything that will make them fall under the definition of "school" as per Wisconsin law, which is defined by 948.605 (Referencing 948.61 [1] ) as "a public, parochial or private school which provides an educational program for one or more grades between grades 1 and 12 and which is commonly known as an elementary school, middle school, junior high school, senior high school or high school." I'll make some phone calls in the next few days to see if any of those nearby buildings would fall under those definitions.

[Edit 3]: While Bay View Park could indeed work, Parking is a pain down there, as the only place to park is a dirt strip on the east shoulder of the road.

I spent the last few hours looking around, and while most Parks around Milwaukee are pretty close to schools, one that stands out as an exception, mainly because it's so big, is Greenfield Park. They have Picnic areas for rent in the North-West corner of the park, with the closest school being Nathan Hale HS to the South-East of the park, around 2000 feet away. from the picnic area. I think that Greenfield will be our park, folks. No nice Lakefront view, but then again, no Felonies. I think it's a fair tradeoff...heh.

[Edit 4:] Called up the Milwaukee County Park's office and reserved Picnic Area 4 in Greenfield Park. They charged me tax, so the total cost was $79.20. We're official now, people. :cool:
 

AJ Dual

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Found this link from the WI section on ar15.com. First post here, so uh... "Hi everybody!" etc. etc.

Just FYI Greenfield Park is in West Allis, not Greenfield. Which frankly, is appropriate. :lol:

And I'm working on keeping that date free. Can anyone commit to having wives/family/kids there yet?

Mrs. Dual has tolerated my involvment with the WCCA, but she'll most likely be :cuss:at the idea of me OC'ing two blocks from the West Allis Police Department. But I'll work on it.
 

Mr. Greg

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Messages
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Location
Greenfield, WI / Grand Forks, ND, ,
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AJ Dual wrote:
Found this link from the WI section on ar15.com. First post here, so uh... "Hi everybody!" etc. etc.

Just FYI Greenfield Park is in West Allis, not Greenfield. Which frankly, is appropriate. :lol:

And I'm working on keeping that date free. Can anyone commit to having wives/family/kids there yet?

Mrs. Dual has tolerated my involvment with the WCCA, but she'll most likely be :cuss:at the idea of me OC'ing two blocks from the West Allis Police Department. But I'll work on it.
Welcome! Good call on the city, forgot about that.

I'll be bringing the girlfriend, not family yet, but future family...heh.

You reminded me that I have to change my post over there about the location...might as well make a new thread about it as well.
 

AJ Dual

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I feel a bit presumptuous in asking, since I don't even know if I'm risking divorce by attending yet. :?Has anyone had thoughts on pre-notifying the WAPD and the media? How have other OC picnic's handled it?

I would expect kid-glove treatment from the WAPD, since they've been burned on this the first time around. I think there'd also be County Sherriff jurisdiction as well, being a Milwaukee CountyPark.
 

Mr. Greg

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Messages
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Location
Greenfield, WI / Grand Forks, ND, ,
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AJ Dual wrote:
I feel a bit presumptuous in asking, since I don't even know if I'm risking divorce by attending yet. :?Has anyone had thoughts on pre-notifying the WAPD and the media? How have other OC picnic's handled it?

I would expect kid-glove treatment from the WAPD, since they've been burned on this the first time around. I think there'd also be County Sherriff jurisdiction as well, being a Milwaukee CountyPark.
That was something I planned to bring up closer to the date.

Personally, I wouldn't mind delivering a statement to the West Allis PD around a week before.

To be honest: We'll be getting police attention either way just for doing it. I'd rather them have advance warning of what we intend to do instead of having to respond with tires sqealing and sirens blazing to a Soccer Mom's "Man with a Gun eating a Hot Dog" call.
 

pvtschultz

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Apr 22, 2009
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West Allis, WI, ,
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I joined OCDO just to say that I'll be there for Memorial Day. I'm a vet and irritated by the West Allis PD's overuse of force so I'm definately in on this one.
 

GLOCK21GB

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Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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I am in, coming from Green Bay... :celebrate, I also sent the picnic info to Jerry Bader at WTAQ 1360 am Morning talk radio in the Green Bay area, he gave the picnic a plug on the air. expect more people to show up.:D



Just had a thought ( scary ) does anyone know a Lawyer that would open carry with us ??
 

AJ Dual

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Vickki McKenna is also very, very, very pro-carry and pro-gun.

I think she might be interested in promoting the event as well. She has talk-shows in both Madison and Milwaukee.

http://wiba.com/pages/vicki.html

http://www.newstalk1130.com/pages/vicki_mckenna.html

(edit) Oh darn... :(I just thought of something. And sure enough... crap.

One other note. Milwauke County's water park Cool Waters has it's opening daythat weekend. If it's warm, the parking overflows out onto the grass in the area with the ball-field logo. The Park ropesit off as an overflow lot.And the whole area inside the park can be like a minor traffic jam.

http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/CoolWaters9156.htm

FYI
 
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