It's abundantly obvious the police now regard this lot as they do themselves, ie, a voluntary civilian auxiliary unit, which started out originally as an out-of-town PPB fan club. How else to explain their special handling at this point?

Not defending this loser, but one technical point that the article doesn't mention in the bit about it being illegal to carry a loaded gun in Portland: one can "open carry" a loaded gun in Portland if they have their concealed carry permit. The permit acts as a concealed and open carry permit.