Bumper stickers to alert police - Opinions

[johntaylorny]

I've seen a few people with bumper stickers that were small square shaped. They have large letters "CCW" then smaller underneight "driver carries firearm".

Apparently they are to alert police you are a licensed to carry so the cops know you have a gun during a traffic stop.

What is your opinion on this?

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Well, I suppose it is less pretentious than a CCW badge, but just as unnecessary. I suspect that if you combined opinions from the various "gun stickers on cars" and the ccw badge threads and you'd nail what will show up in this thread.

 

[lions]

If I'm not mistaken that information is pulled up when the officer runs your plates, maybe not everywhere though. In the majority of cases you would just be letting everyone else around you know that you CCW. Plenty of threads on whether or not that is a good idea.

 

[RT55]

I would think that "discrete" would be a watch-word for any person who is carrying. This is anything but.

 

[M60]

I wouldn't do it. That info comes up on a LEDS check for your LP, ODL, or name and DOB. I don't even tell Officers that I'm packin' unless they ask me. I've only been asked once and that was the only time I wasn't carrying. Go figure. I think a better sticker would be "Audio recording in and around this vehicle", in case you wanted to start your phone camera or voice recorder running for some reason, however un-likely.



-Mark.

 

[c919]

CCW​

Driver Carries Firearm​

(If left unattended, please steal gun in glove box, or just follow me home and hit the safe.)​

 

[shibby]

"assume I am reaching for my gun"

not really srs, but still, sounds like trouble. bad idea IMO

 

[johntaylorny]

LEOs only see your CCW data if they scroll to page 2 on their screens. Sometimes they get lazy and don't do that.

 

[General Geoff]

In Pennsylvania, you have no duty to inform police that you are carrying, and LTCF info is NOT linked to driver's license or vehicle registration information. There is nothing to be gained from informing the police you are carrying, as it is none of their business.

 

[M60]

@ John:

That depends on the format of the States returns. I don't remember where it is on the NCIC check.

-Mark.

 

[nalioth]

There is a lot of confusing info here.

First of all, you folks who are stating that "this happens when" need to publish your state/city of residence, as all departments do not have "page 2" on their in-car data terminals (if they have IDTs at all).

Also, not all states return CCW info with a DL check to officers.


Since you guys insist on going "stateless", your "statements of fact" can be misleading to some readers.

 

[alohachris]

Who comes up with this stuff???

It like an entrepenurial bazarr of bad ideas trying to turn a buck off the perceived CCW 'market'.

 

[evan price]

I know, I'll start making and selling OFFICIAL CCW tinfoil hats.

 

[AWorthyOpponent]

I wouldn't put one of those on my car. Like everyone else said, you're just informing everyone around that you have a firearm. I'm personally not really worried about being followed home because of where I live, but I would still see those that did have one on their car the same way I see the people that show their CCW instead of their drivers license when asked for ID at a department store.

 

[walksbyhimself]

Like most here, I think this would be a bad idea. it just advertises publicly something that should be revealed only under very specific circumstances; that you are carrying.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

The point of CCW is to be discreet. Why advertise it?

 

[DustyVermonter]

Not for me, I do not like to advertise the fact that I'm carrying and I especially wouldn't want to parade that around in front of a cop. I'm not saying all cops but some like to know that the scales are automatically tipped in their favor. Also, when you tell a cop that you are carrying that is sometimes percieved as some kind of taunting'wise remark' as if to say "you don't have nothin on me and you will treat me like an equal because I'm packin too". Like I said not the vast majority but I have heard some pretty rediculous stories and actually had a friend who was going 50 in a 30 and the cop was giving him a pretty hard time and then as soon as he asked if there was anything he should know about the car my friend said" I have a handgun in the backseat in my pack" and right about the time he said the last word of that sentence he was on his face getting cuffed, and Before anybody asks no, no warrants, no violent history, nothin like that. I don't know, I guess it could be a good thing in some states, really depends on the cop. Its actually pretty starange that this hapenned to my friend because I live in vermont and its pretty friendly about guns, I would expect something like that in Mass. But like I said depends on the cop. I wouldn't put a CCW sticker on my car but I'd put an NRA sticker on it as I do on my front door of my house. You might be a little better received by a cop if you had an NRA sticker instead or in addition to. That's just speculation

 

[DustyVermonter]

I've also heard on here about something called an "open carry luncheon", come on folks, I understand protecting your rights and the advancement effort but I think we could be drawing a little too much neagtive attention to ourselves. Not that I think carrying is a negative but it gives people something to talk about. I guess my whole point as this relates to the OP is just...Be discreet, don't flaunt it, anybody ever heard the phrase "out of sight out of mind"?

 

[notbubba]

I wouldn't have one on my car, sounds like a bad idea.

But it's better than wearing a t-shirt with CCW I carry a firearm printed on it.

 

[SMMAssociates]

Not, IMHO, a very good idea....

Here in OH, we must notify IMMEDIATELY if carrying, but "immediately" is not defined, and a lot of LEO's don't know about the "if carrying" part....

At one time, the MDT would show a nasty note to the effect of "We're all going to DIE!" and while the Officer would quickly get the word as to what it actually meant, the Dispatcher often had to manually scroll for it. The thing that worried most of us is that the Dispatcher may be a little too sharp in dispatching backup, and a little too slow (or not quite obvious enough) with the Cancel....

AFAIK, this has been fixed. DL's ARE tied to the CHL's, though....

If you're the registered owner of the vehicle, your plates will refer back to your DL and CHL.... Somebody else's vehicle and they have to run your DL....

At one time, a lot of OH guys were registering their vehicles to their non-CHL wives, etc., or to a business. Perfectly legal....

What's insanely funny about this, although the Officer knowing that you may be carrying might add some comfort to his approach, is that the guys they need to worry about don't need to notify, and may not show up on the MDT....

And a story.... Mom sort if inherited Dad's Caddy.... She really was the primary driver, but he picked it out before he passed on. One morning she went out to go to the hairdresser's and the display on the dash lit up with a similar "YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" message. She called the dealership and they sent out a flatbed and took the car to the dealership - about twenty miles south of here.

Turned out to be a sick battery.... I drive it now - she's 95 and too infirm to get in and out of it without help. I still get amazed by some of the messages that pop up. Ever have a car tell you that the gas cap wasn't on tight enough?

(My car's now telling me that I have a battery problem. A couple of secondary meters and some in-depth testing say no.... It's making me nuts, but at least it's just an idiot light thing. Computers, bah.... It appears that whatever's telling the computer that there's a problem with the battery has a problem.... )

Anyway, and back to topic, no.... A "Steal Me" sign is always a bad idea....

Regards,

 

[Harley Rider 55]

An alert carjacker would just shoot you and leave you dead in the street.

 

[Gouranga]

Sorry, I carry concealed to actually be concealed. IMO, stickers like this are a couple steps shy of walking down the street announcing you are packing. The cops should have that info in their computers when the run your plates which they should be doing BEFORE they walk up to your car. As long as you are not a spastic nerfball when the officer approaches, then the vast majority of the time you will not have an issue with them.

 

[Sam1911]

Agreed, very bad idea. In some states it is irrelevant as the officer will have that info already. In other states it is a bad idea because the officer doesn't have that info -- and you have no reason to volunteer it.

In the Commonwealth of PA, for example, we have an ongoing problem with some agencies disarming folks, running their guns' numbers as SOP, and confiscating legally owned guns that don't appear in the state's incomplete handgun purcase database.

Don't tell!

 

[Old Shooter]

No thanks.

Only my wife and I know if I am carrying a weapon at any given time, and frequently even she dosen't know.

The person who spots that sticker may be the person who is the reason I'm carrying.

 

[cleetus03]

Why do people even put personal bumper stickers on their cars?