Excuse me officer, but I have a gun

Status
Not open for further replies.
Before I became an MSF instructor, maybe four years ago, I got cold busted in semi-rural Denton county doing 102 mph in a 60 on my Yamaha. I was pulled over by a County Constable in a Yukon, and when he saw my CHL, which I presented along with my TDL, he said, "Are you carrying now?"
I replied yes.
He responded, "Well, you happen to have an officer who believes in that."

Long story short, we spent about 20 minutes discussing his Kimber and my brain-fart riding, and then he let me go with a verbal warning! :what:

I didn't deserve such light treatment; I fully expected a big fat ticket. But he was simpatico. Hope all my LEO encounters go as smoothly.
 
Deavis wrote:

That being said, I have heard from a lawyer buddy that DPS had started instructing them to disarm all CHL holders when stopped. My buddy got pulled over for a U-Turn in N. Texas (on his way home from Cali), and they proceeded to remove, unload, and check 7 handguns from his truck cab after stopping him. He said it was pretty annoying because the 1st officer (younger) had no issues when he said "Yes sir, I have 7 in the cab with me" but the older one just lost his mind. Out of the car, stand at the front, and he called in every single serial number praying to find something stolen. Whether there is something new or not in the DPS policy, I do not know. I think that as CHL becomes more common, you will see policies start to settle everywhere.
Click to expand...

imagine how long this would be if they pulled over a gun dealer......:confused: i can understand running serial numbers on guns and other items when you are suspicious that they may be stolen, but when an otherwise law abiding CHL holder admits to having (insert large # here) guns why would you waste your time?

NORTEXED wrote:
Spreadfire, I was under the belief that you were required to show your CCW if identification is requested by an officer such as you are asked for a D.L. during a traffic stop, or asked for identification by an officer for other reasons.
Click to expand...

only if you are carrying, as Greybeard pointed out. Greybeard is also correct with the 90 day suspension (not the 30 day suspension that i had typed originally which was a typo, my apologies - heck i even listed a hyperlink where i had just read it - stupid me). that being said, most people show both the CHL and DL/ID simultaneously out of habit, regardless if they are carrying or not. really, i think it probably helps since it shows the officer you are a good guy - carrying or not. but it isn't required by law.
 
In free states you are not obliged by law or whatever to inform an officer if you carry.

They usualy do not care because they are not the new breed CCW state Scardy Cat Cops.
 
Notification is not a specific requirement it Colorado, but..
many counties(who issue the CCW) add CCW holders to the
database, so during a stop, a CCW holder will pop up on the
Kruzer Komputer as a "person of interest" or some such. Since
they already probably know, the advice is to be forthcoming.
"Never say "gun" Never say "gun" Never say "gun""
 
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: I am not sure if this has already mentioned this but...If you are driving your car that is registared in your name and you have a CCW, the LEO already knows you have one as soon as he runs your car plates.
 
Not sure about your state as every state differs(check packing.org) but in Oregon(city and county laws do not apply here only state), you are not required to notify the officers of your CHL or carry unless asked. However if the car is registered to you it will show up on your license plates. Also when your license is run it will show up there. About the best thing you can do here though is when handing over license registration insurance, also hand your CHL over, whether you are carrying or not. The officer will ask after that, and you say if you are or not. From there it's his call, and some will ask you to surender your firearm for the duration of the traffic stop, and will return the gun and ammo to you seperately gun first, then mag or whatever(due to a few cops not trusting legal citizens), but generally being upfront with the officer puts his mind at ease. Shows him you are not trying to hidfe your gun or the fact you carry, because you are telling him upfront. It's not required but it's a gesture of goodwill that more often then not gets returned with another gesture of goodwill(READ WARNING RATHER THEN TICKET). So even if it's not required it can be beneficial as no matter where you live, it WILL show up on your license you have a CHL and then the cop is going to be wondering why you didn't volunteer this info upfront, do you have something to hide? Of course thats just here officers are like that, and Oregon is a VERY liberal state. Not sure about your area.

Rev. Michael

*EDIT*
Also of note, I have had many times officers pullin behind me, with obvious intent to pull me over for something(been running over a year with a busted license plate light), run my plates then get this dissappointed look on their face, and don't bother. It shows on the plates that they are not going to be able to bust me for drugs or warrants or anything else. This theory has been confirmed by me speaking to officers about such situations. Again this is only here that I know of.
 
Last edited:
I've read some stories here about those encounters that make me never want to get pulled over while CCW.
Click to expand...

You mean like here when some stupid overzealous cop, was running plates at random, and the guy had his family in the car, they pulled him over because the CHL showed up on his license plate, called for backup and had 3 cars(2 ofifcers each) behind doors surrounding his car, all drawn firearms giving orders to step out of vehicle, and almost shoot the children through the back window because they thought they were(gun packing criminals who were preparing to ambush them) the kids were in booster style seats and the cops had a low vantage point all they saw here heads moving around no car seats. It ended rather badly, his CHL was revoked, his firearm confiscated and while he was not arrested he was charged with some kind of having a firearm during commission of a crime(cracked tailight lens or something IIRC), he got his CHL back a couple of years later, charges were dropped, an official apology from the department, etc. Stupid cops shoulda been strung out to dry.

Michael
 
You mean like here when some stupid overzealous cop, was running plates at random, and the guy had his family in the car, they pulled him over because the CHL showed up on his license plate, called for backup and had 3 cars(2 ofifcers each) behind doors surrounding his car, all drawn firearms giving orders to step out of vehicle, and almost shoot the children through the back window because they thought they were(gun packing criminals who were preparing to ambush them) the kids were in booster style seats and the cops had a low vantage point all they saw here heads moving around no car seats. It ended rather badly, his CHL was revoked, his firearm confiscated and while he was not arrested he was charged with some kind of having a firearm during commission of a crime(cracked tailight lens or something IIRC), he got his CHL back a couple of years later, charges were dropped, an official apology from the department, etc. Stupid cops shoulda been strung out to dry.
Click to expand...

do you have a news article of this incident?
 
If the law in a particular state requires one to tell the police one is carrying, then one should obviously comply with the law. However, if the law does not compel one to tell, as is the case here in Washington, then I think it's best to not volunteer the information. In my limited experience, as well as that of many others, it won't make a difference as to whether you will or will not get a ticket. Nothing good will come of it, and very infrequently something unpleasant comes of it.

Don't lie if asked a direct question. However, I was once stopped for failing to signal, and the officer asked whether I was carrying any "bombs, grenades or nuclear weapons". I wasn't so I answered honestly. He didn't inquire about guns, knives, or weapons in general. To those questions I would have to answer yes.

If you reasonably believe the officer is about to find out you are carrying, then it's best to tell him/her BEFORE they find the gun. Being asked to step from the car, being told they are going to conduct a search, or if you think they are going to pat you down, then it's best to volunteer the info. They don't like surprises.

As for the language to use:
"Officer, I have a license to carry, and I do have it on me."

They will know exactly what you mean.

Mas Ayoob told of driving in Texas with his daughter, not far from the border but still in the U.S., and approaching a U.S. Customs Inspection stop. An officer was asking people whether they were carrying any guns or drugs. Most people hesitate a bit before honestly saying no, but the cop was using that excuse as probably cause to wave people over to the side for a search. Seemed like a B.S. fishing expedition to me, but whatever.

When the cop approached Mas and asked about guns or drugs, Mas responded "Prescription drug, personal firearms." The cop was so dumbfounded, he was speechless and motioned for Mas to move on.
 
I've only been pulled over once while carrying. It was around 3am and I was delivering newspapers. I threw the hazzards on, flipped on the dome light, shut the engine off and kept my hands on top of the wheel. (I leave my wallet in my back pocket because I don't feel comfortable moving all around to try and get the darn thing out with an officer watching from behind.)

The stop went like this.

"Can I see your license and registration please?"
"Yes sir, but I want to let you know that I have a Class A LTC and am carrying at the moment."
"Ok, can I see your LTC as well please?"
"Yes sir, but just so you know I'm carrying on my right hip and my wallet is in my right back pocket."
Flashlight trained on me he just says "That's ok."
I slowly unbuckled myself, pulled out my wallet, handed him my license, LTC and registration. Before he headed back to the cruiser he said "Just keep your hands where I can see 'em." (That one confused me a bit since he turned his back and walked away.)
A minute or two later another cruiser was pulling up from the opposite direction.
While I was paying attention to the other cruiser the original officer appeared again. He handed back my stuff, thanked me for informing him that I was carrying and told me he pulled me over because my driving was suspicious.

To this day I don't understand why he DIDN'T ask me to step out of the truck and put my hands on the hood so he could disarm me. I'm not sure I could have handled it the same way if I were in his shoes.
 
1) When I make a traffic stop, I'd prefer the driver state calmly, with hands of the top of the wheel, "I have a permit and I'm armed. How would you like me to proceed". That avoids unfortunate misunderstandings. I'll ask where it is, and caution you to not move toward it, and we'll get along just famously. I won't even ask to see it. (I might ask what you carry just to make small-talk and build a rapport) I'm not concerned about the people WITH permits. It's the ones WITHOUT; who won't advise me anyway, that worry me.

2) The officer that stops you won't know who you are or if you have a permit until he gets your license to run it. Most of us do not even run plates prior to the stop being made.

3) I won't take and hold a permitted person's weapon unless there is something that leads me to believe (suspicion) that he may make a move against me.

4) When you stick your hands out the window, we think "Gangbanger from L.A.! CRAP! WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN INTO?!" We don't have those where I am, so we get apprehensive.

Remaining pleasant in words and tone of voice goes far.
That's just me. There are many other LEO opinions out there.
 
Ken,
I aways thought that opening the window and putting your hands in view, well before the officer reaches the car, would be the least threatening position. Am I missing something here? What area are you in?
 
Putting your hands out the window makes me think the occupant may be an accomplished gang member. Local gangs here learn it from the big city gangs and from being ordered to do it by police in prior contacts. It is a clue they've been involved in some type of negative police contact.

If a person is intent on doing an officer harm, how long does it take to bring your hand back inside to the weapon in your lap? It takes the officer making initial approach longer to react than it takes an offender to act. What have you gained by placing hands out the window vs. the top of the wheel.
Sticking hands out also permits better peripheral vision to the rear of the vehicle.
If I approach on the passenger side (Which is getting more and more common) I may lose sight of hands out the driver's window.

I imagine a big city gang task force member will beat me up on this, but it is the way buisiness is done here.

P.S.: I'm in a Rocky Mountain state with little REAL gang activity. Yet...
 
Thanks Ken - makes sense.

Now you mention it the last time I was stopped (broken trailer rear light, I had backed into something loading) the officer surprised me by coming to the pax side window.

One stop while carrying. Very pleasant young officer. I actually wrote to the judge, after the fine so that he would not think I was trying to fix the fine, to commend the PD.

In our state the driving licence and CHL are both the same size and made of hard plastic. I tape them together at one end like a hinge so that I can give them both to an officer if required. This also makes sure I have my CHL whenever I am driving. If anyone else wants my driving licence for ID I just show them the DL face.
 
I like the "Officer, I have a carry permit, and I do/don't have my weapon with me."
 
PHP: 
driving licence and CHL are both the same size

Good idea. Do you keep them both in a wallet? If you get mugged and your wallet is taken before you can respond with your piece, you may give away your edge:eek: . Just like the reason many cops keep thier cop ID and badge seperate from thier money.
 
what about if you're in the passenger seat and the driver of the car gets pulled over?
 
"what about if you're in the passenger seat and the driver of the car gets pulled over?"
I'm guessing that you do nothing - unless law requires you to say, every time you see an LEO "I gotsa gun, copper!" As I see it, the police are pulling over the man behind the wheel for speeding, not the other folks in the car.
 
I don't get pulled over all that much, but I have been more than enough times, since I started driving and carrying, to give some input here. Every time I have been pulled over by police, or stopped at a checkpoint, or stopped at a road block, or even stopped while walking down the street by police or other law enforcement officers, I explain to them my LEO status and that I am armed, and I tell them where the gun is too. That is I have done so everytime but once.

I have heard all sorts of ideas about this, from those who will say, 'oh yeah great way to get yourself out of a ticket', to 'really stupid idea since the cop has no business knowing you are armed', to 'good call for safety reasons', to a number of others.

I let police know I am armed for one reason and one reason alone - safety. That is my safety, the safety of others traveling with me, the safety of the officer(s), and the safety of passersby.

When you or I get pulled over by the police, we do not know the reason as to why they have pulled us over. We may have been speeding, and we may think, and fairly logically so, that speeding is why we were pulled over. The officer may even tell you he pulled you over for speeding, but that may not actually be completely factual. Officers often pull over suspect cars/subjects who are anted in connections with recently committed felonies. They don't always come up to the car gun drawn, or shotgun at the ready. Sometimes they are not sure you are for whom they are looking; and they are checking to see if they got the right guy. They may be hinked up big time and not letting on to you that they are after a bad guy, and that they think you maybe him.

So imagine when the officer comes up and asks you for your license and registration right after he pulls you over. He has a partner on the other side of your car. They pulled you over because a bank was robbed a short while before, and the getaway car resembles your car, and there was one bad guy and you resemble him or the sketchy description given. You are headed in the same direction the bad guy was last seen going. As you reach for your license and registration, the partner see your gun. Heck you may even have your wallet in a pocket near the place where you carry your gun. The partner yells "He has a gun"! What happens next? Think about the possibilities very carefully.

I choose to be safe and let them know. Te only time I ever got a cop pissed off at me over my gun, was when one stopped me and I did not tell him I was armed and he saw my magazine pouch. It became pretty apparent to me that he had not really pulled me over for the reason he gave me - not using my directional signal, especially since it was still on when he stopped me. He was looking for someone, I am pretty sure of it, he was really hyper and nervous when he stopped me.

Now if you have had a jerk get all upset with you when you told him you were armed, or anything like that, just imagine what that guy would have done had he suddenly seen your weapon and you had not told him about it. Safety is the issue, nothing else.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
I have been stopped many times but mainly because of the odd hours that I am out driving around. I live in a rural area but prefer to go late to the city to shop. No crowds to deal with. Now I have been pulled over for the bad headlight and such and the expired sticker that I forgot to renew on the car.

When I have been pulled over I first turn on the dome light, then hit the flashers, get the window down then put hands on the wheel. I have had at least 3 officers thanking me and that turning on the dome light first was a nice thing to do. I try to get all of this done before they get out of their car.
I do tell them I am armed and have never had one bit of trouble except once but it was not real trouble.

I have a gun that I have been working on as a project and I had been at someones house to have him look at the metal on it (he works in a foundry). I then went shopping and was on the way home. About 2 miles from home I get pulled over and I did my routine. When I turn to say hello to the deputy he had a gun pointing at me and told me to keep my hands on the wheel. I was kind of in shock at this point. He asked me to get out and he reached in and got the gun and found that it was empty.

He asked me what kind of gun it was and I told him it was a project on a limited class gun. I probably should not have said this part but I had just been startled from looking down the barrel of a gun but I told him that many one the sheriffs department know who I am because of a shooting from 8 years prior. He took the gun and my drivers license and came back a few minutes later, gave me the gun and my drivers licence and told me I had a headlight out as he walked to his car.

I would say that 95 percent of the police that I have met have seemed to be great people.

My longerst exchange on a stop with a deputy was not over a gun or my driving but over a flashlight. I was in a national forest at 2am, there was a hotel on one side of the forest and a small town on the other side and my girlfriend wanted me to go get some tylonol for her. As I drove through the forest I remembered that I had under the seat just reseved a new light still in the shipping box. It was a custom built light using the rare X bin emitter.

I was the only one on the road and being on a road going through the forest it was very dark. I wanted to compare the beam on this light compared to my headlights so I shined the light into the beam of my headlights and was able to see it then I shined into the woods for a second.

Opps, bad idea. I real quickly saw flashers behind me and was soon explaining why I was shining a flashlgiht out of a car at 2am. I didn't think I was endangering anyone as I had not seen a car on the road for at least 10 minutes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
My CCW permit finally arrived! Now I have two questions for you.
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
SCKimberFan
S
T
  • Locked
Santa Ana Man Slain by Police Officer
Replies
4
Views
936
10-Ring
1
R
  • Locked
Questions just for our LEO's
Replies
24
Views
1K
nwilliams
nwilliams
S
  • Locked
Legal ownership of guns when in the presence of police help
Replies
17
Views
1K
elkhuntingfool
E
D
  • Locked
Question for law enforcement officers.
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
ahenry
A
Back
Top