Man Arrested For Talking About Guns On Oregon Bus

An Oregon man riding a public bus was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail Tuesday for allegedly mentioning firearms during a conversation.

According to reports, a TriMet bus driver claims to have overheard comments made by 41-year-old Patrick O’Brien Nolin, who is accused of telling another passenger that he was carrying a firearm.

TriMet police were immediately called to the scene and began approaching the bus at the intersection of Northeast 82nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard. Preparing to board, officers suddenly received new reports claiming that Nolin was not only armed, but had his firearm “cocked and loaded.”

Police carefully made their way onto the bus before finally confronting Nolin, who it turned out had no firearm or weapon whatsoever. Despite breaking no law, police decided to arrest Nolin anyway, charging him with “Interfering With Public Transportation,” a Class A Misdemeanor. Nolin was released on his own recognizance several hours later.

According to TriMet regulations, no person, except for law enforcement, can bring or carry any firearm, knife or any other instrument, article, device, material or substance specifically designed for, or attempted to be used to, inflict or cause bodily harm to another.

As Oregon state law preempts any regulation that restricts the possession or transfer of firearms under ORS 166.170, TriMet also goes on to state that a person in possession of a weapon, that cannot be legally banned, may not display or carry the weapon in a manner which is likely to result in fear or alarm by other persons or District employees.

Regardless, Nolin’s arrest clearly illustrates the establishment’s over-the-top reaction to anything Second Amendment related. In countless examples across the country, people, mostly children, have been punished for completely legal activity.

Last April, a highly decorated military veteran was illegally detained and disarmed after an officer accused him of “rudely displaying his rifle while out on a hike with his son.

In 2012, a 5-year-old girl in Pennsylvania was suspended for making a “terroristic threat” after telling fellow students about her “Hello Kitty” toy bubble gun.

The following year, a 5-year-old Maryland boy was interrogated for 2 hours until he wet himself after bringing a toy cap gun to school.

Last September, a 9-year-old boy in Detroit was suspended indefinitely after a teacher accused him of pointing his spinning top machine like a gun.