Looked to me like the cop took his gun, while he was saying he did not "consent to any siezure". I wouldn't call that "relinquishing".
I open carry daily in warm weather, never had a police encounter.
Good point. Had he resisted the cop's action I hold vanishingly small doubt that he would have been forced into a shoot/no-shoot situation immediately thereafter. That, of course, would have ended badly for him, either in death or in facing charges of murdering a Sacred Enforcer of the Arbitrary Law. That latter brand of hell might make the former possibility preferable.
One must exercise due intelligence when finding himself in such a situation. Now, had the victim of this police action been with, say, half a dozen similarly armed friends, then perhaps a stronger show of resistance may have been reasonable. I would add to this that IMO it behooves us to get together with such friends and acquaintances and have tactical plans in mind for such occasions. Discuss and decide what, exactly, the group will do in the event one or more cops arrives to harass the group or one of its members. For example, one or more should immediately break out cell phones and begin recording before the first hints of interaction transpire. How will you react if a cop behaves unjustifiably, especially if that behavior becomes violent. Think, "cops screaming 'stop resisting' as they are beating an unconscious person with billies and tazering them." What will you do? How will you coordinate your actions in order to be most effective in stopping threats while ensuring nobody is injured, your party first in priority and cops second.
This may seem like a lot of hassle, but IMO conditions are such that it is now becoming necessary. Police all over the nation are going hog-wild. Because there is no way to visually tell which are going to go native prior to them actually doing so, at which time we may safely say that the opportunity for planning has passed one by, it serves you well to be prepared. Travel in groups if possible, especially if openly armed in places you know the cops are going to act like assholes such as the officer in the video. You life/lives may depend on it, as well as your immediately ensuing state of freedom. Once you get sucked into the "system" your life will have officially turned to shit. You want to avoid as best you can the edges of involvement. Shooting a cop is an immediately life-threatening event no matter how morally justified one may be, so do your absolute best not to draw attention unnecessarily, though I by no means am suggesting surrender of any sort. That is a choice we must each make according to the circumstances. What I mean is this: e.g. if you are carrying openly and have an important appointment and a cop is cruising by, you may want to put your shirt over the gun so you don't end up getting hassled for 20 minutes and miss that critical job interview at the company that will not be pleased to know you were late because a cop stopped you for carrying a gun openly. Frightened and timid people are now the rule rather than the exception.
Resist, yes; but for God's sake be smart about it. Keep yourself out of a cell, out of NICS, and most importantly off the slab.
It is my most firm opinion that people need to get together into groups of, say, six or more and exercise their rights in such fashion. This puts the message out to police that we are not waiving any rights and that we will not be intimidated. I firmly believe that when a group finds itself in danger at the hands of police, other groups and individuals so armed should render aid and assistance. The "state" needs to see our fangs and, if need be, feel them. The moment they see that the rest of us will not be pushed about in such shabbily miserable fashion, they will be forced into making some decisions such as whether to find their more rightful place in this society of men or try to push their luck. At this point, ANYTHING is better than the status quo of creeping invasion upon the territories of our rights, even open warfare against "them". To do nothing is to light a great neon sign that reads, "rape me more". Small actions such as those I describe here are good first steps in reining these lunatics back in.
Resisting covertly gains the common man nothing of the restoration of his liberties. To recover that which has been criminally take from us requires open defiance such that the "state" and
the rest of the people can see what is happening. This is a
key psychological component whose importance to each side can barely be over-stated. Compare this state of affairs to that where people resist only covertly. In the former, everyone (more or less) is aware of what is happening. The commonly perceived reality is that everyone is aware of what is going on and eyes of the people are on "government" watching. Government knows this and its credibility
as an authority is there by put on the line, not to mention that its response or the lack thereof establishes a precedent in the minds of all. When government agencies fail to enforce their brutalities, they lose power and that is never acceptable to them, at least so long as the cost to maintain that sliver of power is low enough. When people openly and
broadly defy the unjust policies and acts of government, that government is very publicly forced to either defend its positions or back down. There is no status quo there to be maintained through inaction so long as the people keep the pressure upon them through such defiance.
This is one of the the keys to settling the miserable condition in which we find ourselves today. Force "government" into a corner wherein they may not malinger long but must either act to preserve their usurped territories or back down. Once they back down and the people keep up the pressures, the only place they have to go is further backward as we become stronger and bolder, they the weaker. At every step backward the tyrant's risk increases, his position the more precarious. Therefore, steps backward never place the tyrant into a position better than that in which he found himself previously, all else equal, but people cannot sit back and relax after a victory. This struggle for liberty is not a war; it is a
lifestyle to be lived daily from cradle to grave with the full knowledge that so long as human beings remain, there will always be those among us who will by their very nature be tempted to trespass upon the rights and properties of their fellows. Our situations have come to the sad pass in which we now find ourselves precisely because we allowed them to by allowing others to run roughshod over our sacred rights. Shame on us for this, but we may still recover yet if we do not tarry for much longer.
Finally, and in seemingly unrelated fashion, another absolute key to the recovery is the utter and complete elimination of the Federal Reserve Bank. Their
immediate power over our economy poses one of the greatest threats to our ability to defy the national and global tyrants. Effective resistance will be made all the more close to impossible when everyone is going hungry due to a lack of money and resources. The head of the serpent must be removed lest we all struggle in vain against it.
