A few partygoers recently made the grave mistake of thinking two police officers were part of an art display.
The two officers were armed with rifles at the Watermill Center for a gala, and guests initially thought the Southampton officers were part of the show, according to Page Six.
The guests were quickly informed the police were very real, and their presence was due to the belief terrorists might view galas as “soft targets” given the people there and the opportunity for “media” if there were high profile killings.
I can speak from first hand experience that messing with law enforcement officers at parties is not a wise idea. About a year ago I was at an event, the location of which and guest list I won’t reveal for obvious reasons, when I noticed a man and a woman standing against a back wall.
At first glance there was nothing overly interesting. They were dressed in casual attire, and as I hammered a few beers while dancing I didn’t think anything of it. Then I noticed they both had earpieces in, and my curiosity had been grabbed.
I then noticed the woman had a Glock 22 strapped to her hip, and the man had a Sig Sauer 229. I was starting to get very confused. I began looking around and started seeing more and more people that were subtly armed. They were everywhere. Probably 20 percent of the room was armed.
Did I do the normal thing and continue to enjoy a few more adult beverages and dance with a few more women? Nope. Instead in my drunken state of stupidness I waltzed over to the man and woman against the wall pretending I had no idea they were on a protection detail of somebody in the room.
It didn’t take long in my slurred state before I let it slip I knew the man specifically was packing heat. My exact comment was something along the lines of the fact I had the same shirt as him, but I didn’t have that Sig he was trying to hide on his hip.
Before I knew what had happened I felt somebody grab me and whisk me away from them and back to the dance floor. Both members of the security detail were furious because they thought I had blown their cover. I hadn’t blown anything. If either of them had put in any effort with concealment of their weapons I never would have seen them. I’m not saying what I did wasn’t insanely stupid, but it’s kind of on them that I could identify their weapons that easily. If a drunken David Hookstead can easily see you’re armed and know the exact weapon you’re carrying then a trained professional would have a much easier time.
The only thing that might have saved me from ending up in handcuffs or detained for some reason was the fact somebody saw the problem and immediately grabbed me and got me the hell out of there. Who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t.
If you see somebody with a gun at a party I suggest you just leave them alone. It’s not worth the trouble.