Comerica Bank robbery falsely reported

dummy head.

If the person had a concealed weapons permit then there is no issue.

Sounds like Mr. Customer needs an education, that is NOT illegal, unless the guy didn't have a permit. Even then, unless a bank employee thinks something is wrong, its not this bonehead's call anyway. People carry guns around all the time without committing a single crime.

Are banks authorized to post "No Weapons on the Premises"? If so, can they prosecute? I'm a little rusty on my CCW reqs.

probably rval2 had something to do with this

It might not be a crime if the guy had a permit but what if he had been there to rob the bank....then the person who called it in would be a hero if they had got the guy. Never can tell. The caller may have reported the guy with the gun and said it might be robbery in progres. So what. We've had enough lately though out Michigan and people keep getting away with it. It's about time someone took a chance to report something that looked out of place.

Need to Know wrote:

Are banks authorized to post "No Weapons on the Premises"? If so, can they prosecute? I'm a little rusty on my CCW reqs.

Any private property owner can, but I doubt they did, and they most they can do is ask you to leave and if you don't its tresspassing. A bank is not a "gun free zone" as defined by the state CCW law.

Not sure why case remains under investigation. I would rather have Mr. Customer call in to police that there is an individual inside the bank with a handgun in his waistband, than to have him ignore it and have a bank teller dead. Now if the original call came in as "reporting a bank robbery" that's another issue.

commonsense wrote:

Sounds like Mr. Customer needs an education, that is NOT illegal, unless the guy didn't have a permit. Even then, unless a bank employee thinks something is wrong, its not this bonehead's call anyway. People carry guns around all the time without committing a single crime.

of course it's Mr. Customer's call to make. In this case there was not a robbery, but there very well could have been an issue. Don't call this person a bonehead when they were totally right to call.

Sounds like the falsely reported was on the part of News 8. Didn't read the original article, but this one states the customer reported seeing a person in line w/ handgun in waistband.

Bottom line is, if your going to LEGALLY carry a gun, its a wise idea to cover it up to avoid confussion like this in the first place.

After working at a bank there were a lot of people that would put us tellers on the edge. Carrying a gun into a bank, permit or not, is not something that is viewed as ok. Nobody has the right to be shady in a bank.

How do you know if the guy wasn't an undercover police officer? My son is a police office in another state and he is required to carry his weapon @ all times on and off duty. I think the guy just panicked maybe he should have gone to the bank manager and let him make the call if to call police or not to.

Totally right to call?

So if you see ANYONE with a gun, we should call the cops? Or just in banks?

Oh, and if you see anyone walking at night, we better call the cops to make sure they aren't THINKING about doing something wrong.

Wait.. sounds a bit much, doesn't it?

northofgr wrote:

<quoted text>
of course it's Mr. Customer's call to make. In this case there was not a robbery, but there very well could have been an issue. Don't call this person a bonehead when they were totally right to call.

The bank tellers are trained for this kind of thing. It would have been better if they had decided to make the call or not. I'd be a little pissed if I were not doing anything illegal and someone called the cops on me without knowing the whole story.

News 8 needs to better clear its stories before reporting them. I noticed the "Breaking News" headline that a robbery had occurred, listed on your homepage. Get it right guys, BEFORE you report it.

There are almost 5,000 people in Kent county who are licensed to carry a concealed pistol. That doesn’t include all the government officials who also carry concealed handguns. All of them can legally carry that concealed handgun into a bank.

Those are just the ones who are licensed to carry a gun concealed. It is legal to carry a gun unconcealed, and there is no requirement of a license to do so. Don’t know how many legal handgun owners there are in the county, but they all meet that requirement to open carry.

Calling the police just because you see someone with a holstered gun, is over reacting. That isn’t to say that it isn’t prudent to be wary of suspicious behavior, but carrying a gun does not equate to suspicious behavior.

If you call in a “bank robbery”, just because you see someone with a gun on their hip, that is a false report, and should be prosecuted. If you call in for someone with a gun on their hip, then eventually the PD will have cause to further question the caller as to the particular nature of the person carrying the gun.

I'm surprised that the bank doesn't have signs posted that would prohibit anyone carrying a weapon to enter their bank.

Regardless, the teller has the right to try to protect herself. Were they supposed to assume the person had a CCW?

People (ordinary citizens) carry guns into banks all the time, and it isn’t cause for alarm, just as it wasn‘t in this particular case. Restricting law abiding citizens from an establishment just because they carry a gun accomplishes nothing more than alienating that citizen, as well as other law abiding citizens. It doesn‘t make anybody safer. I probably doesn‘t even make other customers “feel“ better, since about the only people who take note of such postings are those who lawfully carry. Criminals ignore such signs (laugh at them is more like it), and non-gun owners most likely won‘t even notice.

BR Bean Counter wrote:

Regardless, the teller has the right to try to protect herself.

First, the teller didn't call it in. Another customer did.

Second, since there was nothing to “protect herself“ from, that statement doesn‘t even apply. There was no threat of force or violence, either verbally, physically, or implied. A gun in a bank is not a threat.

BR Bean Counter wrote:

Were they supposed to assume the person had a CCW?

No need to assume anything, and they most certainly weren‘t supposed to assume the person was a criminal, just because of their own personal fear of a fellow citizen with a gun.

Like I said, there are well over 5,000 people in Kent County who can lawfully carry a gun, either concealed or unconcealed. If the police are called for every sighting of a man with a gun, it will not only waste law enforcement resources, but will also take the police away from more pressing matters such as keeping the streets safe, and actually chasing criminals.

That isn‘t to say that everyone with a gun should just be ignored. If you see a person walk into a bank in 90 degree weather, wearing a hooded parka and sunglasses, making an obvious attempt to cover his features, and also see a gun, then it might be a good time to report such a sighting, and the you should provide more information than just “There‘s a man with a gun in here!”. In essence, exercise a little common sense, instead of reacting with hysteria.