quote:

Originally posted by Underdog:

If I’m pulled over while carrying I hand the officer my driver’s license and CCW license at the same time.

I know it’s probably not tacticool; however like Kevin said, I’d rather not have the officer find out by other means.

Figure the less stress involved the better.

That is my plan, although it probability of me getting pulled over for a traffic violation is pretty small, as I observe speed limits, etc.

I am in Florida, as you are. Explanation to residents of other states: we here in Florida are not required to disclose any information about firearms during a traffic stop, unless specifically asked, in which case we are required to be truthful.

I had this discussion with a friend of mine, a senior LEO here in Florida. I said that my concern was, if I were in a traffic stop, carrying, had not informed, and the cop maybe noticed printing, it might make him / her nervous, and I did not want to be "interviewed" by a nervous cop. The suggestion from my LEO friend was exactly what you said, hand the carry permit to the cop along with my driver license. That would give the cop a "heads-up" and I would not have said anything stupid, like "I have a gun, yo."

I've been pulled over twice when actually carrying. Once he took the gun until finishing his paperwork and left it and my mag and one bullet on the trunk of the car as he drove off. Other time he said thanks and did his job without worrying about it. I prefer the later for sure. I don't like having someone that may not be familiar with how my pistol operates doing administrative stuff to it in my immediate vicinity.

Never did it lead to questions or indications of searching a car - can't imagine why it would.

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
I've been pulled over twice when actually carrying. Once he took the gun until finishing his paperwork and left it and my mag and one bullet on the trunk of the car as he drove off. Other time he said thanks and did his job without worrying about it. I prefer the later for sure. I don't like having someone that may not be familiar with how my pistol operates doing administrative stuff to it in my immediate vicinity.

Never did it lead to questions or indications of searching a car - can't imagine why it would.

I've been a police officer for my entire adult life. I think officers are generally not well trained on this type of thing and the result is that they try to apply what seems most logical to them based on what they know and how they are trained. That sometimes results in this sort of probably unnecessary firearms handling and manipulation. The fear of "something bad happening" is not unwarranted, although I'm aware of no issues ever occurring.

My approach has always been to acknowledge the person telling me they're carrying, maybe chat about the gun a bit, try to put them at ease a little, and otherwise handle it normally. If there's some indication they've been drinking or we're speaking about something more compelling than a traffic offense, that may change things up.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:


I had this discussion with a friend of mine, a senior LEO here in Florida. I said that my concern was, if I were in a traffic stop, carrying, had not informed, and the cop maybe noticed printing, it might make him / her nervous, and I did not want to be "interviewed" by a nervous cop. The suggestion from my LEO friend was exactly what you said, hand the carry permit to the cop along with my driver license. That would give the cop a "heads-up" and I would not have said anything stupid, like "I have a gun, yo."

Many states are now going to a constitutional carry law which basically means no need for any permit document.

For example in my state of South Dakota residents and nonresidents who may lawfully possess a pistol are not required to have a permit in order to carry a concealed pistol in the state. (SDCL 23-7-7).

So there's nothing to hand the LEO. What's the advise from your friend here? And South Dakota is NOT a must notify state either.

I have been pulled over for speeding a time or three (over 20+ years) while carrying. My state does not, to my knowledge, require that I inform an officer that I’m carrying; however, I’ve always presented both my DL and my carry permit and have informed the officer that I’m armed.

In each instance, the officer has thanked me for doing so and all but once I’ve been given just a warning vs. a ticket (and I’d certainly “earned” a ticket each time), and the officer said they did so because they appreciated the heads-up.

In only one instance did an officer ask me to exit the vehicle, “assume the position,” and disarm me before proceeding. That episode was late-ish one evening in a semi-secluded area, and the officer, a female, was working alone. Whether all those factors played a hand in the disarm, I can only speculate - I also speculate that she likely could have kicked my a$$ had I been some baddie that required it ha-ha. What was humorous to me about that incident was the fact that I was well-armed in that I was carrying a rather nice Ed Brown 1911 in addition to a J-frame as well as a small fixed-blade knife. She was quite taken by the knife and we wound up talking at some length about it afterwards ha-ha...

One note of merit. Before you surrender the weapon, politely ask “Officer, are you familiar with the manual of arms of the “what ever your weapon is”? Some cops are not familiar with anything except their service weapon,
And it might help to minimize embarrassing incidents. Like the hole in my drivers fender and the 1911 that I was carrying at the time in Maryland.

quote:

What's the advise from your friend here? And South Dakota is NOT a must notify state either.

When you get stopped,
Turn off the radio
Turn on the inside lights(if it’s dark out)
Signal
Pull over
Roll down you window
Get your license,insurance and registration in your left hand
Keep your hands on the steering wheel

When the officer approaches, turn your head and look at him and say
“Officer I am carrying concealed, it’s (in the glovebox, in the trunk, on my hip above my back pocket in a holster) what do you want me to do?

If he asks you to get the gun-don’t do that….his partner might not have heard and may only see you moving for a gun. Even If he doesn’t have a backup, tell him you don’t feel comfortable reaching for the firearm(do not use the word gun) and if he wants to disarm you do what he says.

In NC a gun is not concealed if the officer can see it, many times I’ve stopped people who had already tossed the pistol on the dash and left it there during the traffic stop.

Those people who let me know they were armed usually got a break becaus I knew jumping thru the CCW licensing was usually the guy who didnt want to shoot cops.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I suspect most cops already know that the legal owners with a CCL aren't the one's they need to worry about.

Sometimes. Sometimes not.

I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS!!!! prefer if a person informs me. I consider it a courtesy and I instantly assume that if they are going to tell me they have a weapon on their person, they are much less inclined to use it on me.

100 to 1 I would feel MORE comfortable with someone informing me, rather than letting me "discover" it on my own.

I wish I could do that, I really do, but in my area there are too many officers who don't have that level of common sense, and can overreact with agitation and irrationality if anything that sounds or smells like a "gun" comes to their mind. Speaking from experience I've always been calm, compliant, and friendly during all stops I've been in. And I've had three officers get wonky and made me nervous for no reason other than their own hang-ups. I can't speak to the legitimacy of their reactions since I can't read minds, but they were clearly in the wrong as far as I could tell. One of them, a State Trooper, asked me who I wanted to kill, and another local LEO got angry for not informing him in advance, and got close to cuffing me and taking me to jail, even after I told him our statewide law was no inform required. He ignored it and ranted on, getting angry, and felt pretty helpless since I at least expected he would have acted on that information before he decided what to do with me. I like police officers in general, I pay for their breakfast at fast food places and pay for their coffee if I find one in line with me at a coffee shop, but I generally don't trust them as a rule, just because of the statistics of too many bad hires in various areas.