Open Carry Banana with AK-47 Cited in Texas

Alrighty then:

Beaumont police were called to Golden Triangle Tactical Saturday morning after complaints that a man dressed as a banana was seen holding an AK-47 outside the store near Eastex Freeway and Highway 105.

Store owner, Derek Poe, tells 12News Saturday is the store’s grand opening after moving locations from Parkdale Mall.

Poe says the man in the banana suit was holding an AK-47 across his back with the barrel pointing down and holding a sign with an arrow pointing toward the store. He said this idea was to attract customers to the store.

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The article is deceptive; he had the rifle slung across his back, and therefore it was not being held. He had a sign in his hands.

The 18-year-old was cited by Beaumont police for violating a city ordinance that prohibits soliciting in and alongside roadways, which Beaumont residents note in the comments of the article is an ordinace that is very selectively enforced, and has not been enforced against teens wearing goofy green Lady Liberty costumes for a certain tax service, nor sign twirlers for other businesses.

Beaumont Police also also attempting to determine if they can dig up any weapons charges to bring against the young man, but they’re simple grasping at straws. It is not illegal to carry a rifle slung in the manner that this man did, even if wearing a cheap banana suit, and even if he has a 50-round drum magazine.

Image via XDTalk
Image via XDTalk

It would have been more appropriate for him to have an banana magazine though, don’t you think?

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If the name Derek Poe sounds familiar to  readers, it should: we’ve talked about his arrest for opening carrying in the Parkdale Mall, the mall’s reaction of banning concealed carry, and the resulting backlash against the mall.

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