Pistol alarms Vancouver mall employee

February 8, 2013 @ 8:20 am

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - A man who openly carries a pistol alarmed an employee when he went shopping at the Vancouver Westfield Shopping Center.

Derek Mendiola told KATU ( http://bit.ly/VIYLRp) he was harassed Wednesday for exercising his right.

The mall general manager, Paige Moreau, said firearms are prohibited at the mall, which is private property.

Mendiola says he'll leave his gun at home next time.

In December, a man killed two people and wounded a third before killing himself at the Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (6)


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  • WAmovesRight wrote...
    There's your rights...
    February 8, 2013 7:31 am
    ... then there's common sense.

    It may be your right in WA to open carry (and I'm glad it's our right). However, just to openly pack heart while going to the mall isn't the brightest idea.

    Too many sheeple are scared of them. If they would stop and think, it's highly unlikely that a bad guy will be strolling through the mall with a pistol in a holster on his hip buying his wife a scarf... but people aren't thinking right now about the gun issue. Thanks to the meadia they are in full panic mode.

    Get a CCW and carry concealed. It will make everyone's life easier.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • calapete wrote...
    jsut another "responsible" gun owner
    February 8, 2013 8:22 am
    violating common sense and the owners rules.

    Keep it up gun nuts. Public opinion against you remains high and these type of idiots are not helping you.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    calapete wrote "Public opinion against you remains high and these type of idiots are not helping you."
    February 8, 2013 10:41 am
    Once again, you are WRONG!! I know that your favorite slingers of propaganda tell you that the public is all aboard on gun control, but that ISN'T the case. Forbes Insight did a SCIENTIFIC poll, not the "grab 40 people off the street that fit our agenda" type of poll normally done. Go read it. You will see that an majority of Americans want the government to back off. I know, it doesn't fit what you need to achieve your Master's dream "utopia" where only the government has guns and we live under a Totalitarian Fascist Police State, but FACTS are FACTS, no matter how much you wish they were not. http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2013/02/01/nra-winning-the-influence-battle-over-gun-control/ For the record, I AM a gun owner, have been most of my life. I have never and would never be a member of the NRA. The NRA was started by the Federal Government, they have sold gun owners out time after time, from supporting the 1964 gun act and others. If I was going to join a gun group it would be Gun Owners of America. GOA ACTUALLY fights for our Rights.
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  • eldeecee wrote...
    How are you supposed to know intent?
    February 8, 2013 9:06 am
    If someone walks in with a gun, the best survival tactic is to assume the gunman intends to start killing, therefore get out of there as fast as you can. Of course, that makes the gunman feel big and powerful, which is what he is after.
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  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    As a responsible gun owner, isn't it logical to have superior knowledge
    February 8, 2013 10:21 am
    About the gun laws where you are? Private businesses have the right to prohibit firearms, even properly permitted concealed weapons. The gun owner should have known, or sought to learn, what the mall's rules were. On the other hand, the mall probably could have done a better job posting their rules.
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  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Only My Opinion..........
    February 8, 2013 10:48 am
    ...but you would have to have been living in a Yert for the last 15 years to be oblivious to the fact that walking into a mall with a firearm hanging off your shoulder like Rambo, is not acceptable behavior to your fellow shoppers.

    This guy is no hero. This punk is a complete effffffing doooooosh.

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