A Tennessee man has been charged with multiple crimes, including impersonating a federal officer, stemming from an incident outside Blacksburg’s Buffalo Wild Wings in December.
Carl Bohannon of Monterey, Tenn., was arrested Dec. 13 outside the Buffalo Wild Wings on Prices Fork Road on charges of illegally carrying a concealed weapon, disregard for the life of a child and brandishing a firearm, among others.
Blacksburg Police Sgt. Nathan O’Dell said Bohannon was not involved in the initial fight, but attempted to stop it by pulling out a handgun.
O’Dell described it as “a fight that had started near the door and made its way outside.” said. “This Bohannon subject, who wasn’t even involved in the fight, decided to interject himself into the fight saying he was a federal police officer,”he said.
O’Dell said Bohannon was not a concealed carry permit holder in Virginia.
Bohannon is also not listed as a concealed carry permit holder in Tennessee by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, which keeps a database of the permit holders.
Four others with the last name Bohannon in his zip code hold current permits.
O’Dell could not confirm whether Bohannon pulled the gun or simply displayed it in its holster.
He is scheduled to appear in Montgomery County General District Court Thursday at 10:30 a.m. for a deposition. He faces seven different charges in relation to the incident.
Bohannon had a young child with him at the time of the incident, according to O’Dell, which led to a felony charge of child abuse.
A version of this article appeared in the Mar 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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A quick search of this guy's name in Google suggests that he is on the sexual predators list in Tennessee. Could someone please point this out to the police?
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GEt ready kids for more and more of these incidents once VA let's you
take guns into bars.
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I knew someone would find it too difficult to resist making this sort of inane comment. This is a perfect example of the problem with limitations on concealed carry...they are unenforceable until someone actively commits another crime. Who knows how many times this guy carried his gun around illegally without anyone knowing? The only way you find out is if they present and/or use it. At that point, you can only hope it's not too late. Don't fool yourself: the government banning guns in select public areas does not ensure that the guns aren't there, only that you, Mr. John Q. Lawabider, don't have one.
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Even DEA agents shouldn't drink and conceal carry.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/134665 Don't be an idiot, guns don't belong in bars because that's where people drink, even if they don't intend to or don't intend to get drunk.
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Catherine, it's not so black and white. I agree with your first statement. Nobody should drink and carry, and of course it is illegal to be under the influence while carrying. I also could agree that guns don't belong in bars. The problem is that, just like so many other areas where guns are banned, there is no enforcement. When is the last time you were frisked upon entering a bar?
Further complicating the matter is the fact that Virginia doesn't distinguish between "bars" and "restaurants that serve alcohol." There is surely a difference between carrying while stopping at a restaurant to eat lunch and carrying in the middle of a herd of college students in a bar on a Saturday night. The proposed legislation is of more interest to people facing the first situation.
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Based on your argument about intentions, let me propose an analogy. We don't take people's keys as they enter a bar because there is not an assumption that they will break the law and drive drunk simply based on the fact that they are entering a bar. This comes in spite of the fact that an estimated 12-14% of Virginians with licenses drive drunk at least once a year (per "The NSDUH Report"). So why, if we don't treat drivers in bars as potential criminals, would you treat everyone who carries a weapon into an establishment that serves alcohol as such?
As a side note, only 2.5% of the state's population are permit holders. These people chose to get permits because they take the law as seriously as they take personal defense.
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Yep, there are many Carl Bohannons in Virginia, and many of them have concealed handgun permits (the screening process is a joke). This nonsensical new bill (that only a gun nut could find sense in) will embolden guys like this to "defend" themselves in bars with loaded guns.
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As for you, "Ready Indeed," how would you know if there are any Carl Bohannons with permits in VA? Did you request it from the police? Why does it even matter, as this guy is from TN. The article says that there are others in TN with that name and permits.
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so who won the fight?
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So basically,lets read between the lines here... two young adults (very likely drunk vt students) got into a fight and someone well intentioned but erroneously attempted to intervene in the fight by saying he was a police officer.... IF we can believe the statement by the blacksburg PD. The truth be told, I'm sure they didnt like someone playing in their sandbox, and so they're throwing whatever they can at the guy including "child abuse" which is absolutely absurd.
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So the lesson learned? Next time, let them beat the hell out of each other
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Yeah, totally overlooking the guy was conceal carrying without a conceal carry permit, was drunk, had a kid at a bar at after midnight, has been arrested for failure to appear in court in TN, and was arrested in VA last year for beating up his girlfriend. Totally upstanding guy. Definitely want him running around armed (sarcasm).
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Catherine, exactly how is opposing the Virginia restaurant ban repeal going to prevent any of those things that Bohannon allegedly did? We've established he's not a permit holder, so why are you lumping permit holders in with him? The change in the law won't apply to him anyway, because A) he has no permit and B) he has no regard for the law!!
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