Originally Posted by
TGS
There's no statute in DC that exempts military from any laws regarding weapons, fwiw, nor does military status confer any authority to carry weapons when out and about on your own business. "I'm military" isn't really an affirmative defense to anything. In addition, the topic of the thread is LEOSA...and LEOs have statutory authority to carry their guns. If you were a qualified LEO from the .mil side, this would be pertinent.
Did you make a complaint about this after leaving? If not, you should have. You carrying the pocket knife is not illegal in DC, provided it has utility purpose. A purpose built fighting knife is a different story. There was no reason for them to seize that property from you when you could have simply been escorted off the property. I visited the holocaust museum prior to becoming a LEO and they simply had me leave...whatever I did with the knife when not on their property wasn't their business, I just couldn't come in with it and they weren't rude about it, thankfully.