CWP question for LEO's and experianced,

[MT GUNNY]

Ive been told to always show permit with drivers license if pulled over, even if their is no weapon in vehical. I would like to know what LEO's opinions are?
Should I withhold that info. Does the LEO aready know when he or she runs the plate's? My pistol usually sit on the seat next to me or on my belt strongside. before I got my permit I would inform officers if there was a weapon in the vehical, not that i had to I just felt it nessesary at the time.

A friend of mine non permit holder say,s he always puts his pistol on roof when pulled over so the LEO knows theirs no threat or at least knows were the pistol is. I dont think thats a good idea, but he hasnt had problems with it.

Just so you all know i dont make a habit of getting pulled over, but i do tend to get speeding tickets on long trips.
I know laws differ from state to state so here are a few things you need to know; Mt law says concealed is ;coverd weapon on your person, not one under seat or in glovecompartment, gun in hoster on belt in veiw, ect
a lot of people drive around all the time with rifles in racks nt just during hunting season.

 

[cosine]

A friend of mine non permit holder say,s he always puts his pistol on roof when pulled over so the LEO knows theirs no threat or at least knows were the pistol is. I dont think thats a good idea, but he hasnt had problems with it.

How does he do that? Does he stick his arm out the window holding his firearm and puts it on the roof of his car?

 

[FTF]

A friend of mine non permit holder say,s he always puts his pistol on roof when pulled over so the LEO knows theirs no threat or at least knows were the pistol is. I dont think thats a good idea, but he hasnt had problems with it.

I can't think of a more akward position to put the cop in lol. You pull someone over, run their tags and the next thing you know, he's putting his piece on top of the car! I don't recommend this! Sounds like a recipe for disaster! Not to mention while he's putting it on his roof he's probably sweeping traffic with it lol.


My personal opinion. If your state requires you to tell the cop, then do so. If your state doesn't require it, don't. If he asks you directly, then tell him regardless. Most of the time, it's likely some traffic stop and as long as you don't act a fool he's not trying to spend an hour on you processing you for having a legal handgun.

Common sense prevails. How many times do gun owners get pulled over? I have been pulled over probably 3 times in 10 years. I'm more worried about where my registration is than what I'm going to do if he asks for my piece. Why stress? If you're legal it's moot.

 

[LiquidTension]

Permit information being linked to plate/DL info varies by state. In SC, that information is not available when running driver info. Don't know about your state.

I'm of the opinion that if the info doesn't show up when your DL is run, there's no reason to volunteer that info if you're not carrying. If you are carrying, tell the officer.

 

[nyresq]

if there is a gun in the car, tell the cop. It's better he finds out because you told him in a calm polite way then if you lean over to get your insurance card and he sees it sticking out the back of your pants. At 3am on the side of a highway thats a real good way to get a muzzle stuck in your ear followed by alot of screaming like "freeze" and "let me see your hands" or the ever popular "don't move motherf#*ker" when it could have been avoided by saying "I have a gun in the car and heres the permit for it..." every LEO academy I went through (3 so far) instructed us to tell the cop "you have a gun and you have ID". First thing before any conversation started about why you were pulled over, just say it out loud and there is never any misunderstanding. You never know what could have been transmitted over the radio ten seconds before you were pulled over...

If you don't have any weapons in the car, then there is no reason to say anything about your permit. It has no bearing on why you were speeding.

 

[Bruce333]

"I have a gun in the car and heres the permit for it..."

I'd switch that around to mention the permit first then the firearm. Some people would react to "I have a gun..." and never hear the rest of what you are saying.

 

[Bubbles]

In Virginia the law doesn't require us to tell LE we're carrying, but the info is available when the cop runs your driver's license. The times I've been pulled over I've handed over my license, registration, and carry permit before saying I have a gun in the car.

Just saying "I have a gun" initially is a really really really bad idea unless you want to give the cop a big-ol' adrenaline dump...

 

[PX15]

If there is no firearm in the vehicle, why in the world would you want to even make that a consideration when an LEO asks for your DL and Ins paperwork?

IF the LEO says "the computer shows you have a concealed weapons permit", do you have a firearm in the vehicle, you can then tell him you DO NOT and offer to show him your permit.

A very good friend, retired Police officer, told me to never volunteer any information to the LEO who has stopped you. You certainly answer his/her questions with courtesy and respect, but other than that keep your mouth shut.. Same about allowing an LEO to "search your vehicle"... Nope, don't allow it. Even if you have absolutely nothing hide, don't do it.

There have been, admittedly not often (hopefully), situations where LEO's have indeed "planted" illegal products in vehicles they have been given permission to search. These few "rogue" cops give the great majority of good LEO's a bad name by doing so.

IF something is "found" in your vehicle when searched without your permission it will be thrown out of court. Unless the LEO has "probably cause" to even stop you the potential for a "good" (oxymoron?) lawyer getting any charges thrown out in court are pretty good.

In conclusion:

When stopped, be polite and courteous.. It's the way YOU would want to be treated, and it's the same way the LEO wants to be treated. Answer his/her questions truthfully and concisely.. You don't need to volunteer anything.

Pray for a cop to be having a "good day".. Hopefully if you are smart and treat him/her with the respect due their postion as enforcers of the law you might just get off scot free. If you have indeed been speeding, or whatever, and are charged for it, take your medicine and consider it the cost of being stupid.

Don't complicate the situation. :banghead:

JMOFO

J. Pomeroy

 

[baz]

Neverending discussion, this. Well, as I had my first experience with this yesterday, I'll share it for what it's worth. I was involved in a hit and run on an intercity interstate. I was hit, the other guy ran. I got the plate, they caught up with him. My car had to be towed. When the trooper arrived on the scene, I had my license and CHL in hand. Handed them to him. He took the license back to run it, I guess. Dropped the CHL on the seat of my car. Never asked if I was carrying (which I was). I spent over an hour in the passenger side of the front seat of his car. He acted totally disinterested in the fact that I was carrying. But, I was the good guy in a hit and run, so maybe that made a difference.

That I was carrying would never have come up again, except that the circumstances of this incident took us to a school (where they had caught the runner -- who had ditched his car in a public school parking lot, and fled from there on foot). I mentioned again that I was carrying, and he said "forget it" (or words to that effect). I was picked up there, on the school grounds, by a work associate.

What you'll learn reading these endless threads is that a lot just depends on the LEO, and probably how the LEO reacts to the person carrying. I guess I handled myself okay, and the LEO felt no threat to his person, or his ego. FWIW, the LEO was black, I'm white. No problems there, either. The guy was completely professional, and I imagine I was completely "model" in how citizens should act in situations like this. We both did our "jobs" and went home at the end of the day.

 

[Zach S]

In NC CHPs are linked to DLs, so its a good idea to inform them if youre not carrying. If your not carrying, and you dont inform them, it can be a real headache, especially if you're stopped in a small town and you live in a nearby city. You may be searched, as well as your passenger(s), and your car may be searched without your consent.

 

[El Tejon]

Depends on state law. Where I am I tell people don't tell unless they ask.

Do not do this (actual case about 1997)=>Guy, who never owned a firearm before, buys Smith M66, leaves it at gun shoppe downtown Lafayette. License to carry arrives in mail later. Guy walks from Post Office with carry license to gun shoppe and picks up gun.

Guy goes from gun shoppe to car and drives off to grocery (home or wherever he was going). Pulled over for something goofy (taillight or not using turn signal) just few blocks from gun shoppe still downtown in traffic.

As LPD approaches (two officers, 1 rookies and 1 FTO), guy whips out pistol in one hand and license to carry in other hand as officers look into car, "Look, officer, I'm legal" or some such thing. Much hilarity ensues as rookie dances on sidewalk moving back and forth trying to draw pistol and FTO yells for everyone to put their guns away.

Guy got arrested but I declined to prosecute.

Lesson learned: be cool. Eddie Haskell up around the po-po.

Since I live where there is no duty to disclose. I remain cool and don't say a thing. I don't tell them unless they ask. Never been asked on a traffic stop but I drive like an 85 year old woman so rarely get pulled over (last time was 2003 after a hearing at Purdue for turning on a pink light--warning ticket).

If they ask, I tell them. Be cool, I doing nothing illegal no reason to get all wiggy. Breath deep, it's just a traffic infraction and I know a lawyer or two and can maybe litigate at a recreational level.

 

[BigEllis51]

I use the words: "I am carrying pursuant to my license and my weapon is holstered on my right hip." Several LEOs and instructors have told me that "gun" is an action trigger word [no pun intended] for them, so I don't use it.

 

[PX15]

Zach S.

Forgive me for questioning your statement, as I don't live in N.C. and obviously the laws there pertaining to cc are unknown to me.

But, and help me out here, I see no way in the world you can get in trouble for not telling an leo after you had been stopped for a traffic violation that you have a cc permit but you are not carrying...

The logic in having a cc permit in the first place is so that when you actually ARE carrying you will be legal... If you are not carrying, the cc permit has absolutely zero to do with the fact that you are driving the vehicle in the first place.

Or, one should have nothing to do with the other. On the other hand, if you ARE carrying then obviously it makes sense to tell the leo that very early on in the conversation.

I should think that merely having a cc permit but not telling the leo because you are not carrying, UNLESS HE/SHE SPECIFICALLY ASKS, makes no sense.

If you don't have enough "good" (oxymoron again) lawyers to get you out of any charges that might arise from NOT telling the leo you are NOT carrying at the moment then you are welcome to import all you want from my state, Georgia. Lordy knows we have enough of them.

Just my old fart opinion, no more valid than yours.. In fact in this situation, probably less as I don't live in N.C.

But if you ARE correct then something is out of whack, and common sense simply has taken a day off in this particular regard.

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

 

[Zach S]

PX15, that happened in the town I grew up in, it honestly doesnt surprise me. I've been all over the east coast, one of which no longer works there, the LEOs in that town are the only ones I cant get along with. I got along with two of them fine, I think one of them moved on.

No charges came out of it, but I was sitting beside the road for an hour.

 

[PX15]

Zach S:

I didn't mean it "couldn't happen", or even that it had "never happened"..

The Barney Fife's of the LEO world can and do make folks miserable all over the U.S. at some time or another.

What I should have said is "it SHOULD never happen"....

My Son who attends college locally has been stopped on more than one occasion driving home late at night by "Barney Fife's" just "fishing"....

It seems that the culprits generally (around here anyway) work for the Sheriff's Dept., as opposed to say, the Georgia Highway Patrol. Apparently the GSP has higher standards for their officers but just about anybody can get on a Sheriff's dept as a "deputy" if they try hard enough.

It's a shame that a small percentage of LEO's who do the "Barney Fife" imitation can give the vast majority of professional LEO's a bad name.

I'm a senior citizen and I've had a pistol/revolver in my vehicle ever since 1965. SO FAR I've never had a problem. If I'm stopped, and I've taught my Son this, I just treat the officer with respect and courtesy even if he/she has an "attitude".. The truth is in most places if you are stopped on some side road and you are alone the fuzz has all the advantages.. I try and never give them anything to get nasty about, and if I had ever (I haven't) been mistreated by an officer I would shut my mouth at the time, then visit a local attorney or the Sheriff depending on how much abuse I felt I had been given...

Courtesy and respect when you are stopped seems prudent to me...

Having to volunteer to an officer who stops you that you ARE NOT ARMED just seems silly to me.

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

 

[Zach S]

Outside of that town, I've never had a problem either. Before I got my CHP, I think the only time I was disarmed was by the highway patrol. Even then I wasnt "disarmed," I had my pistol laying in the seat, he lit it up with his flashlight, and then asked me out of the car. I leaned against the trunk for the duration of the stop, my pistol was never took out of the vehicle.