I got pulled over on Saturday pm...

[Hemicuda]

I was driving my old Jeep, which has electrical "issues" and the exterior lights are funky...

a bad ground (now fixed) had developed, and the right blinker didn't work when the headlights were on...

I was pulling into a friends driveway, and the Michigan State Police Officer followed me in, lights on...

he walked up and asked for my operators license...

so, being a law abiding citizen, I told him "sure, but I also have a CCW and a loaded pistol"

he then smiled, and asked If I'd been at the bar... I said "No" (I had been at a friends shop, having my tattoo worked on) the officer then said "good, now, may I see your operators license?"

I told him it was in my back poket, and grabbed it... (door was open, so he could see me reach for my left butt pocket, and see that the gun was nowhere near that area - the gun was on the RIGHT side)

I got a verbal warning, and he never even looked at my CCW license or my gun... (I DID manage to make that blinker work, so he wasn't too inclined to ticket me)

THIS is the way officers should handle CCW permit holders...

and GET THIS... when I asked why my gun didn't seem to worry him, he said "if you are TELLING me about it, it is likely legal, and is also not a threat to him... and also, it's better if we BOTH keep our guns put away... less chance of a mistake, have a good evening, and fix that ground wire"...

cool officer, with a good head on his shoulders...

 

[WilderBill]

Sounds like common sense was used all around.
Which is kinda amazing, given that common sense just ain't all that common any more.

 

[notbubba]

Hemicuda,

I think part of it is the lack of "blood in the streets" and that there hasn't been any towns turned into Dodge City.

All the junk that Jenny said was going to happen.

 

[Jim V]

Ooooooh, how did that MSP Trooper fall through the cracks? Unless he slept through the "All gun owners are a**holes" part of their training. It was good that you were stopped by one of the good ones and not one who follows the Department's line.

 

[grampster]

I'm a former leo from W. Michigan. Virtually everbody I know and knew in the job had no problem with legal CCW. Most leo's of my acquaintance are pro 2A have a good deal of common sense regarding most things. I can't speak for the newbies being cranked out though.
In addition, it takes a pretty special person to be an EFFECTIVE leo worthy of the badge of office.
My training officer, a crusty old Captain, in the early sixties, made it very clear the responsibility one had as a police officer. Leo's are the only people who can take what is most dear to an American away from him.....his liberty. An awesome responsibility calling for a special person. My hope is that those who are doing the hiring are thinking about this when they hand out the badge of office.
Grampster
PS Hemicuda: Weren't you living around Wayland somewhere? Or do I have you mixed up with another TFL Michigander?

 

[Hemicuda]

Grampster... I usedta was living in Plymouth on weekdays, working in Belleville (New Boston), and spending my weekends at home, in West Branch (2.5 hrs north of Detroit, right on I-75)

I recently quit my old job, got as new one, doing the same thing, for the same money,with a better boss, and with better benefits, in Houghton Lake, (a half hour further up I-75) and moved back to West Branch full time...

Not exactly positive where Wayland is, but I have only ever called Northern MI "home" and put in my 4+ years in "hell" downstate... (I did keep a place up here the whole time, and used it as my only address...)

 

[PATH]

Most LEO's are pretty decent about things. It is usually the knuckleheads that everyone talks about. I am glad to see a post like this.