I live in a rural area in Arkansas. Yesterday I got pulled over. This is the first since having my concealed carry permit. I did not know why I got pulled over, I was not speeding. I thought "Oh NO it is a state trooper who is anti-gun and he noticed all my pro-gun bumper stickers". I am ashamed to say I was scared and got an epi-rush and my hands were shaking as I handed him my permit and drivers license. MY tags were out of date by a year!!!! He never asked about my handgun or asked what was in the gun carry case in the back seat of my truck(pre-ban AR). I think he was amused that I was so scared. He gave me a warning. He did ask about where I worked (he noticed the scrub top with the hospital logo on it). He asked if I was a nurse and I said no doctor. So we talked about his recent sinus infection. He did ask about the case of long neck beer in the truck bed. He said I did not have enough for the barbaque I was going to. I got my new tags today. Apparently due to budget cuts during a time last year they did not send out the renewal notices. I learned that it still helps to be blonde and female and I am not near as couragous as I think I am.
Police Stop -- Reaction to Gun
- Thread starter Guntalk
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454c
Member
The county guys around here don't bother us about guns.I'm not sure about the city and state folks.I try not to find out.
CAPTAIN MIKE
Member
It's Often Up To YOU How Things Go
My contacts w/LEOs while carrying have been pleasant. I act polite and respectful, hand over my ID & CCW and ask them how they want to handle it in terms of officer safety. My attitude and demeanor conveys "this guy is okay" to them, and they relax and become conversant about comparing their firearm to mine, etc.
The small minority of LEOs who are on some type of power trip like the ones mentioned in the initial entry of this thread are pathetic examples of what we DON'T need in the Law Enforcement community.
Most cops, by contrast, are dedicated, decent folks who want to "do the right thing". Their encounters with civilians throughout their shift shape and mold their opinions, and we law-abiding CCW types can make a positive impact on them by NOT being arrogant closed-minded jerks. Instead, we can leave them thinking something positive about us and folks like us.
For me, I always make it a point to verbally THANK any LEOs or any military types or any veterans I meet for their service to our country. I also act in a manner that bespeaks well of folks like us who are defense minded but are not the raving redneck bubbas that the Antis make us out to be.
Bottom Line: you have as much a role in "deciding" how the LEO contact goes as does the officer. Give him or her a REASON to lighten up and they will.
Very Respectfully,
My contacts w/LEOs while carrying have been pleasant. I act polite and respectful, hand over my ID & CCW and ask them how they want to handle it in terms of officer safety. My attitude and demeanor conveys "this guy is okay" to them, and they relax and become conversant about comparing their firearm to mine, etc.
The small minority of LEOs who are on some type of power trip like the ones mentioned in the initial entry of this thread are pathetic examples of what we DON'T need in the Law Enforcement community.
Most cops, by contrast, are dedicated, decent folks who want to "do the right thing". Their encounters with civilians throughout their shift shape and mold their opinions, and we law-abiding CCW types can make a positive impact on them by NOT being arrogant closed-minded jerks. Instead, we can leave them thinking something positive about us and folks like us.
For me, I always make it a point to verbally THANK any LEOs or any military types or any veterans I meet for their service to our country. I also act in a manner that bespeaks well of folks like us who are defense minded but are not the raving redneck bubbas that the Antis make us out to be.
Bottom Line: you have as much a role in "deciding" how the LEO contact goes as does the officer. Give him or her a REASON to lighten up and they will.
Very Respectfully,
In the mid-90's I was playing a gig with a beach music/50's rock'n'roll type band. The gig in question was at some outdoor festival (a county fair I think) in eastern Tennessee. A couple of the sheriff's deputies were fans of the group & we were all hanging out in between sets.
The topic eventually shifted to firearms & I asked what the gun laws were around there. One of the deputies said that you could carry concealed with a permit & that open carry was legal - but they discouraged it. For a number of reasons I didn't really press the issue & just left it at that, but I was surprised at this attitude mainly cause it was the first time I ever heard an LEO say he didn't approve of a legal activity.
A few years later I was pulled over outside of Beafort, S.C. by a State Trooper. Long story short is he gave me a warning ticket for not using a turn signal to jump onto a divided highway, then coerced me into letting him search my car. A real big deal was made over whether or not I had any firearms. he asked if I had any weapons & I kept replying that I had nothing illegal in the car. After about the fifth repititn of this I told him I had a pistol in a lockable container as per SC law.
After the illegal search (which despite my long hair, old car & musical equipment amazingly turned up no heroin or other illeagl substances) he told me that he wasn't going to bust me for the pistol since he found a gun magazine & viewed me as a "sportsman". But he did tell me to lock the pistol up. I didn't get into the fact that SC law says a pistol must be in a lockable container but doesn't say it must be locked. I was still kind of amazed that I spent 45 minutes having my car searched (even under the hood) with no probable cause & him threatening to impound my car for a few days if I didn't consent.
Last encounter I had with the cops when I was armed was a few years later & after I had spent considerable time educating myself as to my Rights & the laws where I was. I was working part-tiime for a friend in Charlotte, NC. He had a towing business & had contracts with various aprtment cmplexes. What I was to do was go to the parking lots of these complexes & look for disabled cars or cars with expired tags. If I found one I had to write the info on the car down & tape a form on the car that said the owner had 3 days to correct whatever was wrong with the car or it'd be towed. The best time for this was late at night & that worked for me as I was playing bars & such & could swing by after a gig & go over a complex or two before I went home.
Now I understand pefectly well how a guy shining a flashlight around cars in a parking lot at 3 a.m. looks suspicious so I was never really surprised if the cops showed up. I'd show 'em my forms, explain what I was doing & who I was working for & everything was cool. On this one occassion a cop got called out to where I was. he approached me & asked me what I was doing & I explained it to him: showed him the forms, etc... Then he noticed a pistol I was wearing crossdraw on my belt (open carry is legal in NC). He asked if it was real & I told him it was. He then started reaching for it as he asked if he could taked possession of it. I said no & to his credit he stopped. We continued chatting for a few minutes & after he was satisfied I wasn't up to no godd I explained to him that it was nothing personal, but cops in general tend to disregard the Rights of people when it comes to firearms. I told him there was no legal justification for him or any other cop under those circumstances to disarm me. & I explained that the typical "officer safety" argument is flawed as it disregards a citzens' safety. he didn't say too much but at leats seemed to take it all in. Hopefully he mulled it over & at leats agreed with part of what I tried to explain to him.
So those are my big 3 experiences with cops & gun. I've had more than that but none really worth mentioning - the usual being disarmed at traffic stop type deals & the occassional not being disarmed at traffic stop type deal.
The topic eventually shifted to firearms & I asked what the gun laws were around there. One of the deputies said that you could carry concealed with a permit & that open carry was legal - but they discouraged it. For a number of reasons I didn't really press the issue & just left it at that, but I was surprised at this attitude mainly cause it was the first time I ever heard an LEO say he didn't approve of a legal activity.
A few years later I was pulled over outside of Beafort, S.C. by a State Trooper. Long story short is he gave me a warning ticket for not using a turn signal to jump onto a divided highway, then coerced me into letting him search my car. A real big deal was made over whether or not I had any firearms. he asked if I had any weapons & I kept replying that I had nothing illegal in the car. After about the fifth repititn of this I told him I had a pistol in a lockable container as per SC law.
After the illegal search (which despite my long hair, old car & musical equipment amazingly turned up no heroin or other illeagl substances) he told me that he wasn't going to bust me for the pistol since he found a gun magazine & viewed me as a "sportsman". But he did tell me to lock the pistol up. I didn't get into the fact that SC law says a pistol must be in a lockable container but doesn't say it must be locked. I was still kind of amazed that I spent 45 minutes having my car searched (even under the hood) with no probable cause & him threatening to impound my car for a few days if I didn't consent.
Last encounter I had with the cops when I was armed was a few years later & after I had spent considerable time educating myself as to my Rights & the laws where I was. I was working part-tiime for a friend in Charlotte, NC. He had a towing business & had contracts with various aprtment cmplexes. What I was to do was go to the parking lots of these complexes & look for disabled cars or cars with expired tags. If I found one I had to write the info on the car down & tape a form on the car that said the owner had 3 days to correct whatever was wrong with the car or it'd be towed. The best time for this was late at night & that worked for me as I was playing bars & such & could swing by after a gig & go over a complex or two before I went home.
Now I understand pefectly well how a guy shining a flashlight around cars in a parking lot at 3 a.m. looks suspicious so I was never really surprised if the cops showed up. I'd show 'em my forms, explain what I was doing & who I was working for & everything was cool. On this one occassion a cop got called out to where I was. he approached me & asked me what I was doing & I explained it to him: showed him the forms, etc... Then he noticed a pistol I was wearing crossdraw on my belt (open carry is legal in NC). He asked if it was real & I told him it was. He then started reaching for it as he asked if he could taked possession of it. I said no & to his credit he stopped. We continued chatting for a few minutes & after he was satisfied I wasn't up to no godd I explained to him that it was nothing personal, but cops in general tend to disregard the Rights of people when it comes to firearms. I told him there was no legal justification for him or any other cop under those circumstances to disarm me. & I explained that the typical "officer safety" argument is flawed as it disregards a citzens' safety. he didn't say too much but at leats seemed to take it all in. Hopefully he mulled it over & at leats agreed with part of what I tried to explain to him.
So those are my big 3 experiences with cops & gun. I've had more than that but none really worth mentioning - the usual being disarmed at traffic stop type deals & the occassional not being disarmed at traffic stop type deal.
artherd
member
Simply amazing. The cops in question, if this even really played out as told, are guilty of a number of federal offences.
Off the top of my head:
False Arreast
Threatening
Illegal Search and Siezure (if they took anything, guessing they did.)
Endangerment (if this was really on the side of a road, as he was on a bike.)
As well as numerous Bill of Rights type violations. What was their probable cause in the first place exactly? Packing a gun ain't good enough.
I would absolutely love to be this guy, I would hit them for each and every little one so hard, they'd be afraid to drive behind me on the freeway.
Cops by and large are brave, devoted, selfless people who dedicate their very lives to helping others. These few bad apples make me sick.
Off the top of my head:
False Arreast
Threatening
Illegal Search and Siezure (if they took anything, guessing they did.)
Endangerment (if this was really on the side of a road, as he was on a bike.)
As well as numerous Bill of Rights type violations. What was their probable cause in the first place exactly? Packing a gun ain't good enough.
I would absolutely love to be this guy, I would hit them for each and every little one so hard, they'd be afraid to drive behind me on the freeway.
Cops by and large are brave, devoted, selfless people who dedicate their very lives to helping others. These few bad apples make me sick.
Aikibiker
Member
The police around here that I have had contact with have been pretty cool about guns.
Apparently 90% of the cars in this area have firearms in them, so the cops have gotten used to folks carrying. This statistic came from the fire department of all places. I keep wondering to myself if it refers to 90% of all cars on the road or 90% of the ones that catch fire.
We occasionally get folks from up north that come down here and join the force. I imagine it must be quite a shock to them.
Apparently 90% of the cars in this area have firearms in them, so the cops have gotten used to folks carrying. This statistic came from the fire department of all places. I keep wondering to myself if it refers to 90% of all cars on the road or 90% of the ones that catch fire.
We occasionally get folks from up north that come down here and join the force. I imagine it must be quite a shock to them.
Moparmike
Member
<chauvinist male>
Yes, it helps. I also noticed that it helps in those situations when the blonde female is wearing a low-cut v-neck set of scrubs too. Some sexes have all the luck.
</chauvinist male>
Anyway, I hope this never happens to me. When I am going to or returning from my mother's house out in the sticks, I am usually carrying 2-4 firearms in my car, usually a 10mm and a 12ga, but also including a 8mm or my freshly aquired AK, and sometimes my dad's single-shot .22. Lord knows what some city yokel or reeealy bored small-town bumpkin (speed trap kings
) at night would do if he decided that my cooperation wasn't enough to prevent him having probable cause. Nothing says "hooligan" like a well-groomed overweight white 20yr old in a generally clean 21yr-old Mercedes. Here Is my story
this happened about 6 years.In Livermore ca.I have just left the range (livermore-pleasanton rod and gun club) I am a member of the club.I am dressed in club Tee shirt, ball cap and shooting vest(vest has trap patches all over it) I get pulled over just after I get on the freeway by a Chp. officer for a dim tail light. I am driving an older ford Pickup with a shell the back door of the shell is locked. as the officer walks up to the truck he sees the gun cases in the back of the truck and orders me out of the truck(felony stop ) he handcuff me and takes my keys then's puts me in the back of his car. he asks me what I am doing where I am coming from where I am going to ect.ect. while this is going on another Chp. shows up and they then proceed to search my truck (cab and bed) they remove all of my weapons and run the numbers as well as running me I sit in the back of the patrol car for over 3 hrs. before I am released. they did not take any of my weapons but did take all of the ammo I had with me and gave me a ticket for the tail light . I had to go to the Chp. station a week later to get the ammo back. when the cop released me I told him that Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than all of my guns. (I don't think he liked that)
After calling and complaining to the area commander I got an apology.
I know most thee the local cop and for the most part they are all Ok guys. that being said if one of them does something wrong the rest of them will cover for them.
I am not anti cop They have one of the toughest jobs around. they do nead to understand that most of us are good people and don't deserve tho be treated as if we are on the 10 most wanted list.
Pete
I just looked at the date of this posting day late and a dollar short
this happened about 6 years.In Livermore ca.I have just left the range (livermore-pleasanton rod and gun club) I am a member of the club.I am dressed in club Tee shirt, ball cap and shooting vest(vest has trap patches all over it) I get pulled over just after I get on the freeway by a Chp. officer for a dim tail light. I am driving an older ford Pickup with a shell the back door of the shell is locked. as the officer walks up to the truck he sees the gun cases in the back of the truck and orders me out of the truck(felony stop ) he handcuff me and takes my keys then's puts me in the back of his car. he asks me what I am doing where I am coming from where I am going to ect.ect. while this is going on another Chp. shows up and they then proceed to search my truck (cab and bed) they remove all of my weapons and run the numbers as well as running me I sit in the back of the patrol car for over 3 hrs. before I am released. they did not take any of my weapons but did take all of the ammo I had with me and gave me a ticket for the tail light . I had to go to the Chp. station a week later to get the ammo back. when the cop released me I told him that Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than all of my guns. (I don't think he liked that)
After calling and complaining to the area commander I got an apology.
I know most thee the local cop and for the most part they are all Ok guys. that being said if one of them does something wrong the rest of them will cover for them.
I am not anti cop They have one of the toughest jobs around. they do nead to understand that most of us are good people and don't deserve tho be treated as if we are on the 10 most wanted list.
Pete
I just looked at the date of this posting day late and a dollar short
Last edited:
outerlimit
Member
Did they give you a reason why they confiscated the ammo? Or why you got a felony stop because an officer saw a gun case? That doesn't sound like any type of normal proceedure to me.
mljdeckard
Member
(The original poster, Mr. Gresham, doesn't frequent this board anymore, he doesn't like the way some people speak under the cover of anonmity. You can download the podcasts of his Guntalk radio show online, free at itunes.) You have half the people in here who mock you for ressurecting an old thread, and the other half who will complain if you don't use the search function to look for an old thread before starting a new one. It's not you, you can't win in here.
This is the funny part about when cops step outside the law they don't know. They have to improvise. I'm sure he WANTED to take the guns with the ammo, but he had two little lights conflicting in his head. One light saying he can't just take peoples' guns, but the other light saying he must be required to do SOMETHING. He split the difference and took the ammo.
You did the right thing, following it all the way to the top. He might not get reprimanded for what he did, but you know he will get EDUCATED a bit from his supervisor now. If the academies fail to properly train officers about the rights of citizens, we MUST step up where they fall short.
This is the funny part about when cops step outside the law they don't know. They have to improvise. I'm sure he WANTED to take the guns with the ammo, but he had two little lights conflicting in his head. One light saying he can't just take peoples' guns, but the other light saying he must be required to do SOMETHING. He split the difference and took the ammo.
You did the right thing, following it all the way to the top. He might not get reprimanded for what he did, but you know he will get EDUCATED a bit from his supervisor now. If the academies fail to properly train officers about the rights of citizens, we MUST step up where they fall short.
LOL, I didn't notice the original post date until it was mentioned at the end of post #34. But I found it to all still be relevent. We have to know the laws so we don't violate them. But we also have to know them so our rights aren't violated either. Their are many in law enforcement (by number, not percent) that don't know the current laws they are supposed to enforce. There are some who will lie to you if you don't know the laws and your rights to try and trip you up. I've had an officer try to tell me I had to have a Conceled Pistol License when I was open carrying on my own property. I was in fact still inside my house when she said that. I had another officer ask me "Is that legal?" when he saw my Open Carry down the block from my house. When I told him it was he said "Oh wow" then we talked guns. Some officers are willing to be educated. You have to know the laws to cover yourself and let them know you know.
Mr.510
Member
I made my last visit to California in 2001 and I will not go back. Ever. I was pulled over for having a license plate lamp out on I-5 somewhere South of the Bay area. This was during the day! I always drive with my lights on and one of the two lamps was working. My GF and I were in a two year old Turbo Passat that was spotlessly clean, unmodified and didn't have tinted windows or stickers. We were on vacation, dressed nice, and I looked very clean cut at the time. Two CHPs approached the car, one from each side, with guns drawn. I could see the cop on my side approach in the outside mirror. He had his weapon pointed directly at my head as he approached with his finger on the trigger! 
They ordered us out, frisked us, and made us stand behind their car with one officer while the other went through the entire car, all of our luggage, etc. They refused to give an explanation and detained us, in the blazing heat for 2-1/2 hours. I am exceedingly fair skinned and they would not give me my sun hat or a long sleeved T shirt out of the car. My whole face and my arms blistered and started peeling the next day. We did not get a ticket or written warning about the light out. They gave no explanation for the search or guns drawn approach. They left all of our stuff in a big pile on the shoulder of the freeway for us to sort out and put back in our suitcases. We changed our plans, turned North, and drove into Oregon that night to finish our vacation. I spent two days sick as hell from the severe sunburn and it pretty well ruined the second week of our vacation. My GF took pics of my burn and we called the CHP and complained the next day. They said we'd have to file a complaint in person at a CHP station for an investigation into the incident to happen. I said, BS, I'm never going back into your State as long as I live. I have not been back.
Nothing that anyone claims the cops do in California surprises me. Nothing.
They ordered us out, frisked us, and made us stand behind their car with one officer while the other went through the entire car, all of our luggage, etc. They refused to give an explanation and detained us, in the blazing heat for 2-1/2 hours. I am exceedingly fair skinned and they would not give me my sun hat or a long sleeved T shirt out of the car. My whole face and my arms blistered and started peeling the next day. We did not get a ticket or written warning about the light out. They gave no explanation for the search or guns drawn approach. They left all of our stuff in a big pile on the shoulder of the freeway for us to sort out and put back in our suitcases. We changed our plans, turned North, and drove into Oregon that night to finish our vacation. I spent two days sick as hell from the severe sunburn and it pretty well ruined the second week of our vacation. My GF took pics of my burn and we called the CHP and complained the next day. They said we'd have to file a complaint in person at a CHP station for an investigation into the incident to happen. I said, BS, I'm never going back into your State as long as I live. I have not been back.Nothing that anyone claims the cops do in California surprises me. Nothing.
Art Eatman
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