If you don't do anything wrong the police won't pull you over!
My brother and I went from Quebec to Maine then via the Eastern Seaboard to Dixie and Florida, around the Gulf of Mexico to Colorado via Texas and New Mexico, then Montana via Kansas and cross back into Canada from North Dakota...
We picked up guns from the semi custom makers along the way to replace those that were destroyed in a house fire and by the time we got back to Canada we had 42 longguns in the cab of the truck...We were stopped two times in "checks" asked for license and proof of insurance/ownership and that's it...The last stop the gun cases could be seen through the window of the crew cab with decals on it from NMLRA and NRA Life and JPFO and RKBA and a bunch of other orgs. and the officer smiles and asks "hunting or targets" which my brother, who was driving, replies target and he sent us off...
We were in a quandary as not for the fact we were Canadians--as the laws apply to us, but what to say to the police if stopped...According to the fifth amendment if asked if you have drugs or weapons in the car you do not have to respond etc.--but that will piss off the officer who will make life miserable for you...The officers do not have the right to search your vehicle without a warrant and that can be obtained only in the commission of a crime (and not answering if you have contraband is not a crime regardless what the policeman says) or with probable/justifiable cause or where the "items" are visible or can be readily smelt in the interior of the vehicle...
I have to relate a story to you that happened to my then 70 yr old uncle and aunt who were driving from Ontario to Florida to winter, as they have done every year since he retired as a "Federal" judge...It seems that all along the "corridor" as it's called (the main pipeline for drugs from FL to the NE states) has a policy by the LEOs called Harass the Snowbirds! or some such name...While going through TN he was pulled over for no reason other then the officer was a gigantic prick…The officer comes to the side of the car and screams “give me your lic/reg”— no hello, no why they got pulled over, no please--which my uncle complies to…the LEO goes back to the Cruiser and “does” the checks making them wait nearly 20 minutes, returns to the side of the Cadillac and yells “You gots any guns or them there drugs in your vee-hic-kle”. Now both of them were carrying concealed for which they have permits and never got a chance to indicate to the cop but my Uncle says nothing, officer demands again and uncle says “fifth amendment prevents me from incriminating myself and if you’re not going to ticket us, give me back my papers, please, and we’ll be on our way, thank you very much”…The officer starts a three minute and twenty two second tirade (recoded on his in-vehicle system and clandestinely by my aunt), which at the end he draws his gun and demands they exit the vehicle…before my uncle exits he then states that they were both legally carrying concealed and will exit slowly leaving the purse on the seat…the PIG demands backup via his radio, roughly disarms him, handcuffs both of them behind their backs and proceeds to search the interior and trunk and even opening their suitcases and boxes when a Sgt arrives in one patrol car and the “drug” dog in another…My uncle and aunt were taken and charged with speeding, unsafe (reckless) driving, failure to signal a lane change and resisting arrest and the car was towed to the compound…I am very pleased to say that the PIG in question is no longer an officer of the law (at least not at that location) and my nephews and nieces are sharing the multi million dollars awarded to their parents…
Before the flames get high, let me say that most LEOs are not PIGs, have some semblance of decorum and aren't out to harass the populous because they can because they’re wearing a uniform, badge and gun...Psychological testing prior to admission and whilst in officer school has brought a better class of officer forward but obviously some slip through…
So the choice is yours as to whether you answer or not the question of “You gots any guns or them there drugs in your vee-hic-kle”.
