I've been pulled over twice while carrying.
The first time it was a young officer who pulled me over for speeding. I handed him my DL, registration, proof of insurance, and my CPL. He asked if I was carrying, and I told him I was. He then asked me to step out of the car, slowly. I did so while he had his hand on his sidearm with the retention strap unsnapped. He asked me to lean up against my car with my hands on the hood. He asked me where my gun was. I told him it was in my right front pocket, a S&W M60 .38 Spl. He removed it from my pocket and started fumbling around with it, trying to figure out how to clear it. Apparently he had never been trained on revolvers before, and was only used to his department issued auto pistol. Like I said he was a young cop, probably a rookie. To his credit though, he asked me "how do I unload this thing?" when he couldn't figure it out. I told him how, and he unloaded it and placed it on the hood of his patrol car.
He did whatever he needed to as far as running my license and all that. Then he wrote me a warning, not a citation, gave me my gun and ammo back, and told me not to load it until after he left. I thanked him, and he thanked me for cooperating. He was very courteous and proffessional during the whole encounter, and I think he was just being cautious. It was uncomfortable, but I don't feel like I was violated.
The second time was the complete opposite. I was pulled over for speeding again(I know, I have a problem
). I gave him all my information. He asked if I was carrying. I told him I was. I asked him if he wanted to secure my firearm, and he said "No, that's OK, just sit tight." He ran my information, came back and also just gave me a warning. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've been pulled over for speeding 3 times and each time I just got a warning. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am honest, courteous, and cooperative with the officers.
A police officer friend of mine said that does have a lot to do with it. He says if he pulls someone over and they try to lie, or make up excuses, or they are rude and obnoxious, he will write them a ticket everytime. If they are courteous, cooperative, and honest, he will often let them off with a warning. It depends on the infraction though. He said that some infractions he is required to issue a citation no matter how nice the person is(no seatbelt for example).
Anyway sorry for the long post, just sharing a couple of my experiences that this thread helped me remember.
