The law enforcement officer has to do whats right and make common sense decisions within their authority.
In this case, she was openly carrying around a group of children at a game. This isnt illegal, but I would say it is suspicious behavior. How many people do you see openly carrying weapons around groups of children? If my children were in that game, then I would be very concerned.
The Sheriff should have taken the woman aside and questioned her about this behavior. Checked her identification and ran her for warrants. Then taken the weapon away upon further investigation. When the investigation was completed, then the weapon should have been provided back to her.
There are many good reasons to perform a Terry stop in this situation. There are very few times, if any, that the police have ever seen someone openly carrying a pistol at a game full of children. There have been incidents in the past which involved school shootings. She was acting in a suspicious manner by openly carrying the pistol.
This is constitutional and what is known as a Terry stop.
I dont think the Sheriff should have taken it further, but the weapon should have been taken away and she should have been questioned about this behavior. I would not have concluded the investigation until the game was over
If someone was open carrying out on a large multi-acre Texas ranch then the circumstances would be different. Anyone who open carries in an area full of children or populated area should be stopped, questioned and their name checked for warrants. If someone was openly carrying right outside of my residence on the street then my expectation is for police to stop and question that person.
I might get some flames for this post, but understand that I support common sense decisions. I believe its common sense to question people who have firearms out openly around children.