Byron Quick
Moderator In Memoriam
Why was the contact made? Basically because I have a lead foot and get stopped for having one. But consider the proverb: two wrongs do not make a right, my friend.
I'll share an anecdote of a recent stop I had by the only anti cop I've ever run into in my home state of Georgia. I've had more than my share of stop by officers...always with firearms in the vehicle and often with stacks of firearms in the vehicle. This was the only Georgia officer that has ever batted an eye.
I was on my way to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit Tamara, hso, the folks at Coal Creek Armory and other denizens of this board. I got off of I-20 onto I-285 in Atlanta at 9:30PM. I got off of I-285 onto I-75 North at 11:30 PM. Major wreck, two hour bumper to bumper crawl, I was ragged out. At an Acworth exit I saw a sign for a Waffle House and took the offramp to get a bite to eat. I missed the sign directing me to turn left at the bottom of the off ramp and guessed wrong...I turned right. Virtually no traffic, the area looked to be almost semi rural. A few convenience stores interspersed with residences. After a mile or so, I figured I had made the wrong guess and began looking to turn around. Came to a five way intersection with no other vehicles in sight. Took a chance and made a U turn...just as a police car crested the hill behind me. I figured I'd be pulled over. Sure, enough, here comes the blue lights. I applied the brakes, turned on my turn signal and pulled over. Got my license out and put my hands in plain view at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on the steering wheel of my 4Runner.
The officer walked up to my window and asked for my license. I handed it to him. About that time he looked into the rear seat and freaked out.
"What in the world are you doing with an AR-15 on the rear seat?" he screeched.
I didn't know what to say to him. Somehow, I didn't think that telling him that having an AR-15 lying on the seat in Georgia in open view is completely in compliance with the law was something that he would accept with good grace. I also didn't think that telling him that I would be shooting the firearm in Knoxville and if it wasn't in the vehicle then it wouldn't be available when I got to Knoxville would go over well either.
Then he screeched,"And it's LOADED!"
Once again, I didn't feel that stating that the AR-15 being loaded in the vehicle was completely legal in the state of Georgia would have a calming effect on the gentleman. I also didn't feel that stating that an unloaded firearm is useless would go over very well with the man.
Then he asked me if I had any other weapons in the vehicle. Heh.
I replied,"There is a Kel-Tec P3AT in my right front pocket, a Springfield 1911 in a holster on my right hip, and a Glock 29 10mm in a holster under the seat." All legal in Georgia with a carry permit that was in my wallet. In the heat of the moment, I forgot to mention the Spyderco clipped to my left front pocket or the Kim Breed Damascus tanto in the crossdraw scabbard on my belt.
About this time, he called for backup...thank God.
Then he screeched again,"Do you always carry a gun on your right hip?"
Finally, a question I could answer! "Only when I leave my house, sir."
About that time, the backup officer arrived and I was directed to exit the vehicle. I did so, and the officer removed my 1911 from the holster and laid it on the roof of my 4Runner as well as the P3AT from my right front pocket. He also saw the Kim Breed tanto in the crossdraw scabbard and removed it. It was legal as I position the scabbard so it is in open view in line with my navel. No comment was made about the knife. He missed seeing the Spyderco in my left front pocket.
The backup officer asked my if I was from rural Georgia. When I told him I was he relaxed greatly. He asked if I had any outstanding warrants. I told him no and told him I am a registered nurse. He told me that while the area appeared to be a middle class neighborhood that it was a crack and meth area where the local businesses were robbed on a regular basis.
In the meantime, the officer who stopped me was running a check on the firearms' serial numbers. He got to the 1911 and noticed something he hadn't noticed before: it was cocked and locked.
He screeched again,"What do you mean carrying this gun like this???"
I'd had about enough of him at this point. "Officer that pistol was designed by John Moses Browning to be carried exactly like that. Anyone with the proper training and experience with that pistol will tell you that is the proper way to carry it."
The backup officer told him,"He's correct. I used to carry one and carried it like that."
That was the last word out of the officer who stopped me.
A couple of minutes later, the serial numbers had all been checked. None of them were listed as stolen. The check on me had not turned up any outstanding warrants. My weapons were placed on the passenger seat unloaded and I was requested to ride down to a parking lot before I loaded them and reholstered them. I complied. Nothing was ever said about the U-turn that initiated the stop and no citation was written.
Some people I've told this tale to have assumed the officer was ignorant of Georgia law. They are incorrect. They weren't there and did not observe the officer's tone of voice and demeanor. He was outraged at my armament. If he had been ignorant of the applicable laws, he would have arrested me. He knew the law. He didn't like the law he was sworn to uphold.
