An off-duty law-enforcement officer, with a concealed carry firearm, was denied entry to an Oklahoma theme park when he went there to escort his family and others on a school outing.
The off-duty officer, a captain with a county Sheriff department, reacted with shock about having a firearm was the reason he was turned away from a theme park. He had come as a chaperone for his family and a school.
The officer had gone with his firearm concealed and paid for a ticket when he passed through a metal detector.
"They called another security guard over, and he said, 'No, this is private property and you're not welcome here' and I turned around and left as my family and about 11,000 other kids went into Frontier City," he said. "I was in shock that they didn't want law enforcement in there watching out for 11,000 of their customers."
Now other members of law enforcement are questioning the theme park’s policy and advocating a rule change.
"When bad things happen... more times than not, it's an off-duty officer that's the first one there," remarked one official.
The off-duty officer noted: "We don’t just sit there and be focused on what’s going on in front of us. We’re doing what we’re trained to do. We’re scanning. We’re looking.”
