Pulled over today.....CCW related

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98C5

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(If this is not in the right forum, mods, please adjust)

Pulled over today because of my tint being too dark. :rolleyes:

I took the keys out of the ignition, placed them on the dash. Handed over my DL, permit and registration. He asked where my pistol was. I pointed to a small carry bag on the passenger seat. He comes back with:
"As long as it stays there, we'll be okay". He said this in a snotty tone. :mad:

Now why the hell did he have to say that? It was a ticket for friggin' tint, not like reckless driving or speeding excessively. I have a clean record and was being overly courteous to him. Sorry, but that pissed me off. Is it true that some LEO's do NOT like citizens carrying? He just seemed to be projecting that with his attitude. He left without a "Drive safely" or "Have a good day", nothing.

Maybe just a bad day?

/Rant off
 
Some officers see it as "this guys been checked out before, he's obviously one of the good guys" but of course they are still cautious.

Others see it as an infringement on "their" gun carrying priviledges, and think that only they should be allowed to carry.
 
Why did you give him your permit? Is it a state law in Virginia? If it's not, no need to tell him and set yourself up.
 
Is it true that some LEO's do NOT like citizens carrying? He just seemed to be projecting that with his attitude.

He may have been that way whether you were ccw'ing or not.
 
Whether law enforcement likes CCW or not is usually tied to the communities opinion of it. In places like Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming they tend to be very pro carry, some of the less free states not so much.

Its possible the officer was having a bad night, or maybe just a matter of fact kind of guy.

Just a thought, some officers are taught not to say have a nice day because citizens have complained and said they thought the officer was being condescending.

Another product of a litigation happy and easily offended society :).
 
Is it true that some LEO's do NOT like citizens carrying? He just seemed to be projecting that with his attitude.

It might be true, but more likely is that this officer just has poor verbal (people) skills.
 
Just a thought, some officers are taught not to say have a nice day because citizens have complained and said they thought the officer was being condescending.

Interesting. Never thought of that.
 
I was pulled over once while carrying. After informing the officer, he just told me not to reach for mine and he wouldn't reach for his. After business was taken care of, we exchanged words about calibers and both agreed that 9mm is for sissies ;)
 
Another way to look at it. Police use vehicle violations as a pretext to stop HOPING for a bigger offense. (Posession, outstanding warrant, DUI, etc,) the rationale being, if a driver is negligent enough to not have their vehicle up to code, maybe they are negligent in managing the rest of their life as well. When you show them the permit, they think, "Oh crap. There's no party here, this guy passed a background check and knows two things about the law." Much less chance of him getting a juicy secondary offense.

When I was much younger, I made the mistake of letting a highway patrolman search my vehicle after a speeding stop, thinking that he would be so impressed that I was clean, as well as having $2000 worth of guns in the trunk, that he would let me go. What it meant to him was; "I just spent 20 min shaking this guy down, and found NOTHING, now I HAVE to cite him, or I used all that time for nothing." I got a ticket for 20 mph over.

When I go to the state guard HQ, (my unit is currently deployed,) I have to go through an armed guard checkpoint at the front door. If, in the process of pulling my ID out, they notice I have a carry permit, they make it a point to ask me if I am carrying. I just say no, even though I WANT to tell them how ridiculous it is that they even ask, since permit holders are the singlemost identifiable segment of society LEAST likely to break the law, and how ridiculous it is that the only time I'm not armed is when I come to drill as a soldier. But it's not HIS policy, so I bite it off.

Since I've gotten my permit, when I rarely get pulled over, it usually turns into a conversation about how cops wish they were allowed to carry 1911s, and they let me go.

Maybe this guy was just a jerk.
 
Why did you give him your permit? Is it a state law in Virginia? If it's not, no need to tell him and set yourself up.

No need to notify the LEO in Virginia.
We had a long poll thread about this recently.
80 some percent of THR members voted do not disclose ,unless in one the 10 states that require it:
AK,LA,MI,NE,NC.OH,OK,SC,TX and Utah.
Too much grief and too little gain were the main explanations.
One more in the grief column.:D

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=397535&highlight=notify+officer
 
He may of been just having a bad day. So long as he did not continue to be rude or verbally abusive. You did the right thing and were polite. He probaly later thought about it and realized that he could have been a little nicer. :cool:
 
since permit holders are the singlemost identifiable segment of society LEAST likely to break the law,

could you qualify that? especially the singlemost part
 
I'm friendly with an officer around these parts. We have no duty to inform in Vermont, but she says they appreciate the honesty, and that goes a long way towards getting out of a ticket. (BTW, she's totally pro-gun, this isn't some hidden anti-agenda).

98C5; as others said, your officer just might have been having a bad day, or maybe not. Regardless, that's no excuse for being rude. EDIT: I'm referring to the officer, not you.
 
I'm assuming he just had a bad day. The comment he made about the pistol is what really got me peeved.

Oh well, cest la vie...
 
If it was just a remark & a kinda rude attitude I wouldn't sweat it. As long as he didn't give me any real hassle about the weapon & just went back to what he was doing to start with-who cares about his attitude. Cops are people too-no better no worse than anyone else. I don't know about you but sometimes I'm rude myself.
 
bearing in mind "permit holders are the singlemost identifiable segment of society LEAST likely to break the law, "

is your tint too dark? and was it like that when you bought vehicle? or did you have it done? and either way did you know it was too dark?
 
I don't think he cares at all about you having a CCW. He could care less that you've passed a background check in the past. He doesn't know you from any other person he pulls over and hopes that everything will go as smoothly as you do. Even though he may come across as annoyed, spiteful, or snotty he's still just covering his butt. It's his job to deal with enforcing the law, and any "hiccups" during the day are not appreciated at all. You have to assume that he's unfortunately used to being in incredibly stupid and dangerous scenarios with the armed and unarmed, and even though you're 100% harmless and law abiding, the last fella might've been in that same situation and grabbed the gun, muzzle flashing the officer before saying "See, right here mister!":)

Nothing against the OP, hell I've been there too in the past. Bottom line is that the officer really doesn't like guns being an issue during a traffic stop or yet any call he gets. It has nothing to do with citizens owning and carrying guns, its just another stress for him when he's got enough going on over a simple pullover.
 
When I was much younger, I made the mistake of letting a highway patrolman search my vehicle after a speeding stop,

Much younger, and dumber. Don't forget the dumber part. I was dumber too the day I actually WENT TO the police station at THEIR REQUEST and walked out with a $175 ticket. Hows that for DUMB! :banghead:

and I was dumbest to not subpoena that cop to appear in court when I fought it! :cuss::banghead::fire:
 
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