Rookie question from Texas

[Teal'c]

I'm a rookie gun owner and have a question concerning being stopped by the police while traveling with my gun. We can travel with our guns concealed in our cars but what I want to know is if the officer asks if I have a gun in the car how do I answer him/her? Don't want to volunteer info unless I have to.

 

[nalioth]

You do not have to volunteer the info if you do not have a CHL.

Not answering a direct question can lead to charges of "impeding an investigation" or similar.

 

[TexasRifleman]

You do not have to volunteer the info if you do not have a CHL.

The law changed Sep 1 of '09. It is no longer a crime to fail to notify, and they cannot suspend your CHL for failure to notify. You're still supposed to notify though LOL. Sort of silly.

Don't lie though and say you don't have a gun if you do. If you choose to answer, tell the truth.

 

[Teal'c]

Thanks for the response's!

I will answer truthfully if asked. Don't have a CHL because I'm not a proficient shooter yet.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Yes, tell the truth if asked.

Why not just get your CHL.


edited

I will answer truthfully if asked. Don't have a CHL because I'm not a proficient shooter yet.

How long have you been shooting and what do you call proficient?

Recently I taught this young lady to shoot.
The second day she shot I gave her my 45 Kimber and several magazines to shoot at 10 yards.
Then I told her, just for fun, I'd run her through the TX concealed carry qualification.
She had only shot a Ruger 22/45 about 50 shots and a 38 S&W 2 inch J Frame about 60-70 shots the day before and she had not shot 15 yards or timed fire.
Still, on only the SECOND DAY she touched a gun, she shot a 242/250.

 

[Dazen]

If they ask you to have a seat in the back of the squad car when you tell them you have a firearm in your vehicle dont freak out. Those guy's from San Antonio to Fort Stockton on I-10 always make me get in the back of the car before they run the S#'s on what ever pistol or rifle I happen to be carrying. So far its happened to me 5 times,4 from DPS and once from the Drug task force guy out of Junction. If you were wondering I had a bit of a speeding problem back in the day, not so much now since I can drive 80

 

[shootistpd27]

I know everyone wants to yell that its your right not to have to tell a cop that you have a gun in your vehicle. That may be true however it would be in your best interest to alert an officer to the fact you have a weapon in the car. I am a cop and when I stop someone and the first thing they say is "I just want to let you know that I have a loaded weapon in the vehicle" I feel a little more at ease since they are not trying to conceal a tool that could kill me. If you dont let an cop know that you are armed and he sees the weapon without you pointing it out, you could get shot. I was stopped one day with a H&R 22 in my glove box and when the officer asked for my insurance I got it out of my glove box. Before I knew it I was looking down the barrel of a gun. He would have been justified in using deadly force since it appeared to him and to any reasonable person that I was reaching for a gun. Trust me it is best to let cops know rather than them finding out on thier own.

 

[Teal'c]

M2 Carbine- I've had the gun for about three weeks and have only put 200 rounds through it. Took a basic gun safety class and am still getting used to the 92FS. At 7 yards I can put most of the rounds in the 8 ring of a silhouette target.

I have zero training in a high adrenalin situation where shot placement is critical.

 

[NavyLCDR]

If they ask you to have a seat in the back of the squad car when you tell them you have a firearm in your vehicle dont freak out. Those guy's from San Antonio to Fort Stockton on I-10 always make me get in the back of the car before they run the S#'s on what ever pistol or rifle I happen to be carrying.

The bolded part above is an illegal action based upon Terry V. Ohio and a whole lot of other US Supreme Court cases. By doing so, the officers are taking a search and temporary seizure conducted for "officer safety" and moving beyond the bounds of that seizure in order to conduct a search for evidence of a crime for which they have no reasonable and articulable suspicion - stolen firearms. It is a clear violation of the 4th amendment.

 

[M2 Carbine]

M2 Carbine- I've had the gun for about three weeks and have only put 200 rounds through it. Took a basic gun safety class and am still getting used to the 92FS. At 7 yards I can put most of the rounds in the 8 ring of a silhouette target.

I'm not trying to rush you or anything. Just wanted to point out that the CHL qualification isn't difficult, so shouldn't hold you back from getting your CHL whenever you want.
In fact if you can keep all your shots inside the 8 ring you will already have passed before you move back to the 15 yard line.

 

[TexasRifleman]

If you dont let an cop know that you are armed and he sees the weapon without you pointing it out, you could get shot.

I openly carry rifles and shotguns in my vehicle all the time. If a cop shoots me simply at the sight of a firearm he probably should be sent to prison for the rest of his life, or executed for murder.

I have yet to run into a Law Enforcement officer that goes into full panic simply at the sight of a gun.

I was stopped one day with a H&R 22 in my glove box and when the officer asked for my insurance I got it out of my glove box.

That's entirely different from the discussion here. In Texas it's illegal to openly display a handgun, so that would be a crime. In that case you would need to inform the officer that you have a handgun in the same place as your insurance. Better yet, don't put your handgun where you would have to display it to get to the insurance papers.

In the case you relate, it was YOU that caused the problem, not LE. Use a little common sense and there is no reason to tell anyone you have a handgun because there is no reason for them to see it.

In the end, pretty much every legal scholar from Supreme Court Justices on down advise people to not volunteer any extra information to LE. It's not an anti cop thing, nor is it a safety issue if a little common sense is exercised.

Those guy's from San Antonio to Fort Stockton on I-10 always make me get in the back of the car before they run the S#'s on what ever pistol or rifle I happen to be carrying. So far its happened to me 5 times,4 from DPS and once from the Drug task force guy out of Junction.

If true you should be retired and living nicely off of your lawsuit settlement money. That is VERY illegal unless they just ask and you consent freely on your own.

 

[Rexster]

It has always been the polite thing to inform the officer, if he asked, that there is a weapon present. This was true even before it was truly legal to have a handgun on or about one's person, and the polite thing for the officer to do was to "forgive" this minor violation of the law, if the citizen was "clean" and otherwise not engaged in criminal activity. This politeness was more true in rural and rural-minded areas than the big cities, of course.

Even in the big city, I saw plenty of firearms being checked into the property room for safekeeping, rather than evidence, when an otherwise law-abiding citizen had been booked for DWI, before the CHL system was implemented.

Yes, I wear a badge, and I was polite a few times like this, myself.

 

[M2 Carbine]

If you dont let an cop know that you are armed and he sees the weapon without you pointing it out, you could get shot.

I openly carry rifles and shotguns in my vehicle all the time. If a cop shoots me simply at the sight of a firearm he probably should be sent to prison for the rest of his life, or executed for murder.

I have yet to run into a Law Enforcement officer that goes into full panic simply at the sight of a gun.

As an ex LEO, during a routine stop, I would rather the driver tell me they have a gun in the car but if they don't and I haven't asked, it's not a big deal in most cases.
As far as shooting someone just because I see a gun, that is ridiculous.


My car handguns are in this position.

A couple years ago I was stopped for speeding. I was actually feeling bad and when the State Trooper came up to the window I said, "Do you mind if I step outside the car?"
"No problem".

I handed the Trooper my DL and CHL and said, "I don't have a gun on me but I do have guns in the car".
The Trooper said, "You mean the one by your seat?"
I said, "Yes, that's one of them", and that ended any more talk about guns.

I suppose in some states the sight of a gun freaks the LEO out. Thankfully that's not the case in Texas.


BTW I didn't get a ticket.

 

[nalioth]

I was stopped one day with a H&R 22 in my glove box and when the officer asked for my insurance I got it out of my glove box.

That's entirely different from the discussion here. In Texas it's illegal to openly display a handgun, so that would be a crime. In that case you would need to inform the officer that you have a handgun in the same place as your insurance. Better yet, don't put your handgun where you would have to display it to get to the insurance papers.

No sir.

It was concealed before the stop. The policeman's request brought it into view - shootistpd27 was not "openly displaying" any firearms.

 

[TexasRifleman]

It was concealed before the stop. The policeman's request brought it into view - shootistpd27 was not "openly displaying" any firearms.

Yeah, you are right come to think about it a bit.

I suppose in some states the sight of a gun freaks the LEO out. Thankfully that's not the case in Texas.

You pretty much said it. I can't imagine living in a state where an LEO would freak out simply at the sight of a firearm. Kind of sad actually.

 

[shiftyer1]

I wish that was the case in Travis county

 

[Deanimator]

I know everyone wants to yell that its your right not to have to tell a cop that you have a gun in your vehicle. That may be true however it would be in your best interest to alert an officer to the fact you have a weapon in the car.

Not necessarily. People in various places have been abused and falsely arrested for notifying when not necessary, such as the man from North Carolina who was falsely arrested by Fairfax County, Virginia cops for a variety of things which were not crimes, including:

carrying a concealed weapon across state lines
carrying a concealed weapon with a Virginia recognized credential from another state
having hollowpoints

You can only say what YOU would do. Neither you nor anyone else has any control over what a different cop might do, legal or otherwise.

Where I am, I obey the law, nothing more, nothing less. If a cop doesn't like me obeying the letter of the law, the problem is purely his.

 

[Art Eatman]

My experience with LEOs when stopped for minor speeding is that there's no interest in the gun's actual location, usually; or, a bull session about guns. Only been stopped by DPS, so far, on US 90 and I-10 in western Texas.

Overall, mostly a lack of interest about my being armed.

 

[Teal'c]

M2 Carbine- Don't feel like you are rushing me. I know CHL are easy to come by in Texas just want to be comfortable with my ability before getting one.

 

[medalguy]

I'm in Texas also, and I think it's just prudent to inform any officer who approaches my vehicle that I may have a weapon in the vehicle, and exactly where it is. I hand over my DL with my CHL on top of it, and say "I am/am not carrying a weapon. It is ------(location). Do you have any problem with it?" Usually they say no problem, or one commented "I think you'd be foolish to tavel these days without one." I have never had a LEO say anything bad about carrying a handgun.

 

[Dazen]

So the way I was treated was a no no ? Wow I had know clue, it's the norm for me really. I only questioned it the first time it happened to me. It was the Drug task force guy in Junction. He Did tell me He was asking me to sit in the back seat for His Safety. That was his reasoning. Keep in mind they in no way made me get back there. they asked and I did what they said.You guy's are making me rack my mind here trying to find out why I'm treated this way. It's no Bull-crap that's how they treat me. I dont have a record, Ive stayed away from all the dog's so i shouldn't have gotten any fleas on me. During these stops I was in my mid 20's ,maybe my age? I Was driving a nice 2000 Z28 at that time. It had the stereo the rims you know the works. Was that the reason? I'm only 6'0" 235 pounds so they shouldn't be threatened by my size.... This is really bothering the hell out of me.

 

[double bogey]

I have been stopped 4 times in the last 10 years for speeding. Each time I presented my chl with drivers license. The officers asked if I was carrying and I told them where the firearm was located. Each time I recieved warning citations (for the speeding) and was sent on my way. Each officer acted professionally, and I felt each one treated me differently because the knew right away I was not a "bad guy". Sorry, I did have one that gave me a ticket because the city of Dallas had cops running speed traps in the high crime area I was passing through so they would have a presence in that area.

 

[Johnny Lightning]

Just to clarify. I live in PA and was wondering if I were pulled over and the officer asks for my licence and reg., if I should also show my ccw? From what I am hearing from other people it is not necessary and is my right to keep it quiet unless the officer asks if I have a gun in the car. In that case tell the truth and give him my ccw and let him know where the gun is in the car. Correct?

 

[TexasRifleman]

He Did tell me He was asking me to sit in the back seat for His Safety. That was his reasoning. Keep in mind they in no way made me get back there. they asked and I did what they said.You guy's are making me rack my mind here trying to find out why I'm treated this way. It's no Bull-crap that's how they treat me.

That's the fine print, they "asked" and you allowed it. They can't make you do any of that nonsense.

This is one of those cases where it's good to know your rights, and when you can say no.

The response to the question is "No, I don't have time for this, are you detaining me or am I free to go?"

 

[M2 Carbine]

Just to clarify. I live in PA and was wondering if I were pulled over and the officer asks for my licence and reg., if I should also show my ccw? From what I am hearing from other people it is not necessary and is my right to keep it quiet unless the officer asks if I have a gun in the car. In that case tell the truth and give him my ccw and let him know where the gun is in the car. Correct?

It depends on your state laws. Know and follow the law.

In Texas we are required to show our CHL when we show our DL.
At present it's a little messed up in that if a person doesn't have a CHL they can still have a concealed handgun in the vehicle and DOES NOT have to tell the LEO they have the gun in the car.


As I said before, as a former LEO I would like the person to tell me thay have a gun in the car. IMO it also helps the person in that when they are up front with me I would be more inclined to give them a break.


Bottom line though is, know the law and don't try to be a smart a**.