About
dark-thirty on Saturday, after 24 hours in the county jail,
authorities released Gary Hays with no written proffer of charges, after arresting him
and confiscating his black powder revolver on the Capitol grounds the
previous afternoon, Friday, 13 September.
It
wasn't his first go-round with the Department of Public Safety
security squad at the State Capitol. The previous Friday, 6
September, he received a warning citation for the same event.
Unsatisfied,
he returned one week later after spending a day conferring with
lawyers retained by a legal protection insurance fund that provides
defense in courts of law to subscribers who run afoul of the law over
firearms violations.
One
snag is this. A replica weapon of a firing piece manufactured prior
to 1899 is not classified in Texas law as a “firearm.” His
question, straightforward enough, was if he should be arrested, would
attorneys still represent him in court.
When
they said yes, he paid for his insurance policy, gathered his weapon
and wheelchair, and arranged for a friendly activist to transport him
to the State Capitol.
Hays
is a paralyzed Vietnam-era veteran who became a quadriplegic ten
years ago after an auto wreck pulverized a couple of his cervical
vertabrae. He has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
In
fact, according to Marcy Hays, his wife, when he fires a weapon, he
pulls the trigger with fingers from both his right and left hands.
A
U-Stream video of the event plainly shows that it took about a
half-hour for him to attract the attention of an officer. When he
did, it took them quite some time to make a decision to arrest him,
and then only after he insisted.
At
that point, he told me in a private conversation, some officer
standing by grabbed his right hand and twisted his arm. The video
does show that.
They
assured him he would not be hurt, that they would see to it that any
medical services he might require would be provided. In fact, the
officer is clearly heard saying, “They have to take care of you.”
How
true. It is written.
Hays
said that after he made the street, he was going through his “cripple
bag” that is suspended from the back of his off-road, big-tire
manual wheelchair and found a summons that showed he had been
arrested for the disorderly conduct statute, Sect. 42.01 (a)(8), for
the Class B misdemeanor offense of “rudely displaying” a firearm
“or any other deadly weapon in a manner calculated to cause alarm.”
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| All the young dudes carry the news |
The
legal instrument, he said, indicated no court date and no procedure
to follow to dispose of the charge.
He
thought he was a free man.
All
that changed Monday afternoon, when it was learned that a “mistake”
has been made at the Travis County Jail, that he should not have been
released without being charged and informed of what day to appear
before a County Court-at-Law Judge.
Hays
said he is headed the opposite direction. Has plans elsewhere. Isn't
interested in seeing the cops in Austin about anything, since they
turned him loose. Gone fishing. Adios. Etc.
Said
Jason Orsek, a board member of Open Carry Texas, “The DPS Captain
(Sheere) said in a phone conversation at 4:30 p.m. “The arresting
officer is claiming Gary pointed the revolver at him.”
There
is a a video – in fact more than one video – of the entire
transaction. No one has seen any such thing in those videos.
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| Gov. Rick Perry and friends have an express lane at the Capitol's magnetometers due to their concealed carry handgun licenses... |
Jesus
wept.
It
is written.
Some
wag quipped that the DPS have been reduced to the status of meter
maids, that Deputy Sheriff's officers would be better suited to such
a security task.
I
would like to think that I get by with a little help from my friends.
I
will leave you with the words of Mr. Lennon and Mr. McCartney:
“Lovely
Rita, Meter Maid, nothing can come between us. When it gets dark, I
tow your heart away.”
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