My Experience with the PA State Police Over Memorial Day Weekend.

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The few people I know who talk about really bad experiences with cops all have the same thing in common. A rap sheet.
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Or an attitude and the mouth to go with it.

I broke down a couple of towns away from home on my way back from the range one evening. I was carrying, and had cased guns and ammo all over the back seat of my truck.:) A cop stopped to help and I immediately informed him about the guns. We had a great conversation about what we were shooting until the tow-truck arrived. We then transfered the guns to the cruiser and he drove me home!
To a lot of cops, especially in small towns, "Serve and Protect" is more than just a slogan. I made sure to write a letter of appreciation to his chief.

The suggestion to keep your registration behind the driver's visor is excellent.

Massachusetts does not have a duty to inform, but if stopped while carrying I do...surprises involving guns just don't make sense during an interaction with police.

Tinpig
 
You can buy little attachment packs that slip over the visor to store a few things like the insurance card, registration, or a few bandaides.
 
It is perfectly legal in my state to carry a pistol in your car without a permit so there is no 'duty to inform' law. I would only tell the police if they were about to search my car and find anyway. It is generally a bad idea to volunteer information. It might be used against you as probable cause. Sort of like saying "You are not going to look in the trunk are you officer?
 
My reason for sharing this is not that he cut me a break, but rather his complete professionalism throughout the interaction.
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Thanks for sharing. We read so many stories of "bad" encounters with LEOs here on THR, that's its good to be reminded that there are still plenty of "good cops" out there.
 
Gee, what a boring story. I hoped it would be another scenario that paints all LEOs in a bad light.

Seriously, thanks for posting this. It helps - in a small way at least - to balance out the disproportionate posts that have nothing but bad things to say about LEOs.
 
It is perfectly legal in my state to carry a pistol in your car without a permit so there is no 'duty to inform' law...
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So having the cop see a gun in the glovebox that you're reaching into is of no concern because you don't need a permit? Common sense says to give the guy a heads-up, and so that you don't get yourself on the news as "the suspect was shot as he reached for his gun." But hey, if you don't need a permit it's not a concern...
 
My last interaction with an LEO was positive too. He was an Indian Corporal in the tribal police in a area where the main HWY goes through the reservation. There are signs posted that no firearms are allowed on the reservation, but when told him I felt obligated to tell him there was a pistol in the glove box with papers he had asked for, he said don't worry about it. He took papers back to his vehicle, came back and said watch my speed as there were children in the area.

That was it, no big deal about the handgun and no ticket, but we did talk guns for a few minutes.
 
My experiences with the various Texas law enforcement agencies have almost all been positive, even when they were writing me tickets. I did have an interesting experience Memorial Day weekend, though, when I was driving my truck out to check out my cows. I don't actually drive the truck much these days, and it was out of commission from early March 'til the middle of May, and my registration and inspection were expired. I got nabbed at about dusk by APD when they saw the expired stickers, and I pulled over. When the officer asked me if I knew why they stopped me, I said sure, and apologized for the expired stickers. He was a little taken aback, I think, but while he was talking to me, his partner was looking in the rear side window into the backseat of my truck, and then through the passenger window. About the time the officer who took my license went back to write up my citation, another APD car pulled up behind the first one. I thought it was a little odd when the first officer's partner was peering through my windows, but what I found really strange was that the two officers from the second car also came up and peered through my windows. In fact, the last one stood on the passenger side of my truck with his hand on his pistol for the rest of the time that I was stopped. Maybe two cars per stop is SOP now? Or maybe they were bored?

James
 
^ pretty common here. Not necessarily because it's SOP, or even that it was requested. Seems to be a professional courtesy amongst themselves... if a brother (even if she's a sister, she's a brother) officer is nearby, and has nothing pressing, why WOULDN'T they stop to back up a fellow officer? Always good to have someone watching your back.
 
I'd really like to move to PA.

I generally make it a habit to hand my CCL over if I've been stopped. I've been very lucky, though. I've received only one ticket that "stuck", an expired tag.

I had recently returned from my last deployment, and was on the way back from Derek's house, when I was stopped by a GA state trooper. I was in a new-to-me Grand Am, and was exceeding the speed limit by probably 15 or more. The trooper asked if the address on my license was correct, and I explained that was my old address, and I was still looking for a place after returning from deployment. He took my information and went back to his car to run it.

He came back a few minutes later with a warning. "This is a warning," he said. "It won't affect your insurance." That's all he said.
"Thank you, officer. I'll slow down." And I did.

John
 
So having the cop see a gun in the glovebox that you're reaching into is of no concern because you don't need a permit? Common sense says to give the guy a heads-up, and so that you don't get yourself on the news as "the suspect was shot as he reached for his gun." But hey, if you don't need a permit it's not a concern...


common sense has gone the way of the dodo
 
That is the kind of story, I love to hear about. While there are a few police officers that got beat up everyday in school, and take their hostilities out on everyone else, the biggest majority are great honest, fair, hardworking men and women. The sad part is they usually even get a bad rap for doing their job. It sounds like this guy was exactly the type law enforcement officer this country needs.
It is also nice to hear someone "take their licks" like a man. And not whine about getting a ticket. So I am glad that he went easy on you. You did exactly what you should have done involving the handgun. Glad it wont cost too much.
 
It also only took me one stop with a gun in the glove box to start carrying it somewhere else, but, once I informed him that is where it was, he just said "fine, set it on the seat", and that was that.

Honestly if he was then keeping his hand on his own gun while I felt the need to "SLOWLY reach into the glove box and move it with TWO fingers" like it was a stinky gym sock, I would probably just sit back and say "look, you're making me kind of nervous, would you please reach through the open window and secure the gun so we can get on with it?" Once you've told him that you have a gun, where it is, and that you will be placing it on the seat at his request, his mind should be at ease. If you were planning to shoot him, you probably would have done absolutely none of the above.

I've been stopped, as of March, now I think six times while carrying. Never once have I had an officer go for his gun.
 
^ pretty common here. Not necessarily because it's SOP, or even that it was requested. Seems to be a professional courtesy amongst themselves... if a brother (even if she's a sister, she's a brother) officer is nearby, and has nothing pressing, why WOULDN'T they stop to back up a fellow officer? Always good to have someone watching your back.
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It wasn't so much the two cars at the stop that I found odd - I see that about half the time, when APD has anyone stopped - it was that all three of the officers who weren't actively writing my ticket made the effort to look into my back window and passenger window. Nothing in the back seat was that interesting, just some fencing tools and a denim jacket. Heck, maybe they'd never seen a wire stretcher.

And like I said, my interactions with Texas law enforcement officers have almost always been good, so I wasn't suggesting that I resent them being careful with their own safety.

James
 
The two times I was stopped while carrying, I handed my carry permit to the officer, along with my license and insurance card.
The first time, the officer shone his flashlight on my pistol, which (as I had informed him) was in the passenger seat. My hands NEVER went anywhere near it. I have no desire to get shot, and I let him know that. (Star Firestar .45)
The second time, the officer (different county) took my pistol and set it on the roof of my car, scratching my paint (didn't find out until later), but was otherwise not interested in it, other than curiosity about the make, and observing that it was a good size for an OD/BU pistol for him. He asked me how I liked it (reliability/accuracy/price/trigger pull) and said that he was going to have to buy one. (Makarov)

I has a GSP Lieutenant pull me over for going 95 in a 65 zone. He asked me if I had a reason to be driving so fast, and I honestly (stupidly?) blurted out that I was running late for class (tech school), and that if I was one minute late I'd have to make up a whole day (the truth).
Ya know what he did? He gave me a written warning and told me to slow it down, which I did.
 
Since I'm the only person who should be driving my car I keep my registration and insurance cards in my wallet with my licenses.
 
The most negative story I have to tell is actually one my wife and I joke about now... I used to drive a Mercedes Benz. It was 14 years old, but it was well maintained and without looking real closely, it was hard to tell it wasn't an expensive car. I had just moved into a neighborhood where I was definitely in the minority.
One evening just after dark,I was going to pick up my wife from her new job, and as I left the neighborhood, I noticed a squad car following me. Obviously, from that point on I was doing everything 105% by the book, but he pulled me over anyway. The driver and his partner BOTH got out, and while the driver came up to my window, his partner came up to the passenger side with his hand on a Glock in a drop-leg thigh holster. They made me get out of the car, and warned me to keep my hands in plain view, asked me where I was going, what I did for a living, a number of things that had NOTHING to do with traffic law, ran my license for warrants, took a thumbprint on a palm-held thingy, and the cop was asking me who I knew in the neighborhood while he read my license. Suddenly he stopped and asked incredulously "Wait... (re-reads the updated address on the license)... you LIVE here? Apparently, a white guy driving a Benz in that neighborhood after dark scared the &#!# out of them...
The rest of the 'traffic stop' took about 90 seconds, and he cautioned me to 'make sure to come to a complete stop behind the sign.'
My wife still laughs about it... 'omg, YOU got racially profiled? You're the geekiest white guy I know!'
I never did mention the loaded .38 in the center console.
 
As a former CO State Trooper I love hearing about positive interactions with LEOs. But as much as I enjoy this thread, nice to have one the is not bashing cops for once, it is not really gun related and that makes it OT for THR.
 
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