Man in Vail, CO Liftline Arrested for Claiming “I Have a Gun” When Asked to Pull Facemask Up

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Vail, CO chairlift.

When asked by an employee to pull up his facemask, a man in a liftline at Vail Resort told the employee ‘I have a gun’, prompting a 911 call, an arrest, and an extra long lift line.

William Laufenburg, 26, an employee at Beaver Creek, was in the Chair 6 liftline at Vail’s Golden Peak when he made the remark, which he later claimed was just a joke. Upon arrest, no firearm was found on his person.

โ€œWe got a 911 call reporting that a man had just threatened that he had a gun over an argument over mask wearing. It didnโ€™t quite happen that way. As he walked by the guy who asked him to pull up his mask, he had just said, โ€˜I have a gun,โ€™ and he kept walking. He didnโ€™t threaten anybody. Nothing happened.โ€

– Vail Police Commander Ryan Kenney told RealVail.com

Police caught up with Laufenberg in the liftline where they handcuffed him and removed him from the area. He was given a summons for disorderly conduct for what he said and the resulting disturbance. Theย โ€œobviously offensive utterance, stating he had a gun, within earshot of multiple Vail Resorts guests and employees, in a public place โ€ฆ would tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace, i.e. possibly causing the public to panic” read the police report.

Other liftys in the liftline and a security officer were not threatened by the man and neither believed him to be carrying a gun.

Vail Front-side Trail Map

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6 thoughts on “Man in Vail, CO Liftline Arrested for Claiming “I Have a Gun” When Asked to Pull Facemask Up

  1. What, pray tell, would be a reason for carrying a firearm in a ski resort? Seriously, you gun assholes will argue to the death to prove your own stupidity.

  2. Toby McGnar what is so irrational about legally carrying a firearm in public places ? If the law allows for the legal concealed carry of a firearm who are you to tell me what I canโ€™t and can not do ? The people who have gone though the process of getting a concealed carry permit are reasonable and rational citizens who take the responsibility of carrying a concealed firearm very seriously, and we are not โ€œColorado cowboys โ€œwho need to threaten other people to assert their dominance. Saying I have a gun is an incredibly stupid thing to say .

    1. Cait B not everyone who carries a concealed firearm is a โ€œgun assholeโ€ and I donโ€™t carry it at a ski resort when Iโ€™m skiing. Are sheriff deputies who patrol ski resorts assholes ? Most off duty law enforcement officers carry a firearm,are they assholes ? There is a very good chance that the person who is standing next to you at the grocery store is carrying a concealed firearm. And yes I am smarter than you.

    1. …..and maybe make the irrational carrying of firearms in many public places illegal. Not because I hate Amendments, but because…..why? If it weren’t so reasonable that a Colorado “cowboy” had a gun, there would be no misunderstanding that it was a joke.

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