Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #1
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    Default "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    There's been tons of discussion about whether you have to answer an officer when he pulls you over for a traffic violation and he asks if there are any weapons in the vehicle. Frankly, I still can't figure out whether, as a practical matter, you have to answer that question, or what the officer can legitimately do if you refuse (or more importantly, what he will do anyway, legitimate or not).

    But here's my question for all those of you who HAVE answered this question in the affirmative: After you answered "yes" to the question and the officer did whatever he was going to do about it, did he ever ask you if you had any OTHER weapons in the car?

    Imagine the following scenario in which you are pulled over for speeding while CCing a firearm on your hip, while at the same time you have a folding knife stored in your center console:

    LEO: Hello sir. Do you have any weapons in the vehicle?

    Driver: Yes sir.

    LEO: Where?

    Driver: I have a folding knife in my center console.

    LEO: Ok, never mind. Here's your ticket. Drive safely.

    Does anyone think this is a likely outcome? Would identifying your weapons one at a time be considered lying to a law enforcement officer?
    Last edited by rikilii; January 5th, 2010 at 09:54 PM.
    Almost a LIB .... ertarian

  2. #2
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    Default Re: "Do you have any OTHER weapons in the vehicle..."

    ooo thats a good idea

    ...unless he asks you to step out and sees a pistol on your hip

  3. #3
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    Default Re: "Do you have any OTHER weapons in the vehicle..."

    "Do you have any OTHER weapons in the vehicle..."
    Yeah.....my wife. When she get's on a roll she be lethal and you better run. She might be only 5.2 but I tell ya....these Italian women are spicy.
    You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent

  4. #4
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    Default Re: "Do you have any OTHER weapons in the vehicle..."

    Quote Originally Posted by XACEX View Post
    ooo thats a good idea

    ...unless he asks you to step out and sees a pistol on your hip
    Well, the whole idea is to reduce your chances of him finding out you have a firearm (which he really has no business asking in the first place) and the corresponding pain-in-the-ass that goes along with that revelation.

    I assume if he was not thorough enough to ask if you had any other weapons, he probably wouldn't ask you to get out.

    I've been pulled over many times, but never asked to get out.
    Almost a LIB .... ertarian

  5. #5
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    I got yanked for not stopping at a stop sign. I was coming up on a "T" intersection, making a right turn. The road was closed, with Jersey barriers, to the left, so there was OBVIOUSLY no traffic coming the other way. I did my good ol' California Roll, and got lit up. I pulled over in a parking lot area with plenty of room for him to pull in safely behind. Anywho... He gets to my window and asks for my license, registration, and proof of valid insurance. I open my wallet and take my driver's license out. He saw my LTCF with my DL and asked if I had any guns in my car. I said "yup" and continued to keep my hands in plain sight. He asked "How many and where?" So I told him I had one in a holster on the seat adjustment bar between my legs. He said "Well, let's just leave it there." He never went back to his car, just made sure my "papers" were nice and pretty, handed them back to me, said "I know it's a dumb intersection right now, but the sign still says 'stop'. Let's do that next time." And off I went.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    Quote Originally Posted by Dakota 35-1 View Post
    I got yanked for not stopping at a stop sign. I was coming up on a "T" intersection, making a right turn. The road was closed, with Jersey barriers, to the left, so there was OBVIOUSLY no traffic coming the other way. I did my good ol' California Roll, and got lit up. I pulled over in a parking lot area with plenty of room for him to pull in safely behind. Anywho... He gets to my window and asks for my license, registration, and proof of valid insurance. I open my wallet and take my driver's license out. He saw my LTCF with my DL and asked if I had any guns in my car. I said "yup" and continued to keep my hands in plain sight. He asked "How many and where?" So I told him I had one in a holster on the seat adjustment bar between my legs. He said "Well, let's just leave it there." He never went back to his car, just made sure my "papers" were nice and pretty, handed them back to me, said "I know it's a dumb intersection right now, but the sign still says 'stop'. Let's do that next time." And off I went.
    Object lesson number one: don't keep your LTCF where it can be seen while retrieving your DL.

    I wonder if that's the typical question ("Any guns?" as opposed to "Any weapons?")
    Almost a LIB .... ertarian

  7. #7
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    Quote Originally Posted by rikilii View Post
    Object lesson number one: don't keep your LTCF where it can be seen while retrieving your DL.

    I wonder if that's the typical question ("Any guns?" as opposed to "Any weapons?")
    I stopped doing that not long afterwards. Never had anything "bad" happen, just didn't want to accidentally have someone see it and be a nervous nancy.

    Actually, it did me more good than harm with my few police encounters. I noticed that it tended to put them at ease for some reason. But I know that there's a bunch of them out there that would over-react.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    "Do you have any other weapons in the vehicle?"

    Hmmm. "Define weapon"

    According to Webster: "something used to injure, defeat, or destroy."

    Lets examine the possibilities just in my pickup on any given day.

    Pistol depending on my destinations, folding knife in my pocket always, 4D maglite in drivers door, folding knife in console, various possible tools in backseat including but not limited to pipe wrenches, hammers, pry bars, and the like. Toolbox in bed including more of the above as well as other hand tools, wrenches, screwdrivers, saws, drills, ball mounts and hitches, chains, straps, lug wrench, etc. In the bed possibly shovels, picks, axes, sledge hammers, rakes, digging bars, and on, and on, and on. Hell the truck itself is a weapon.

    You get the idea. Any one of those things could be easily used as a 'weapon' by the above definition. I don't think most people would not consider those 'weapons' but rather tools. I'd like to think of the firearm as the same however that probably wouldn't turn out too well. If asked I would say "yes a firearm on my side, and a truck full of tools". I wouldn't volunteer that info though unless asked directly. I would not give the knife as a response to the initial question. I do not carry it as a weapon. Could it be used as one? Sure. But thats not why I have it. I have a 'tool' to cut things called a 'knife'. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. I have my own gun for those. JMO.
    Last edited by bighornjd; January 5th, 2010 at 10:52 PM.
    "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government" -- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

  9. #9
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    Interesting thought, but the idea here is to deflect the followup question without having to refuse to answer or identify your firearm.

    If you tell the officer that you have a twig in your trunk that might just have a bit of a point on the end, he'll probably just laugh and say "no really, do you have any weapons in the car?".
    Almost a LIB .... ertarian

  10. #10
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    Default Re: "Do you have any *OTHER* weapons in the vehicle...?"

    Quote Originally Posted by bighornjd View Post
    "Do you have any other weapons in the vehicle?"

    Hmmm. "Define weapon"

    According to Webster: "something used to injure, defeat, or destroy."

    Lets examine the possibilities just in my pickup on any given day.

    Pistol depending on my destinations, folding knife in my pocket always, 4D maglite in drivers door, folding knife in console, various possible tools in backseat including but not limited to pipe wrenches, hammers, pry bars, and the like. Toolbox in bed including more of the above as well as other hand tools, wrenches, screwdrivers, saws, drills, ball mounts and hitches, chains, straps, lug wrench, etc. In the bed possibly shovels, picks, axes, sledge hammers, rakes, digging bars, and on, and on, and on. Hell the truck itself is a weapon.

    You get the idea. Any one of those things could be easily used as a 'weapon' by the above definition. I don't think most people would not consider those 'weapons' but rather tools. I'd like to think of the firearm as the same however that probably wouldn't turn out too well. If asked I would say "yes a firearm on my side, and a truck full of tools". I wouldn't volunteer that info though unless asked directly. I would not give the knife as a response to the initial question. I do not carry it as a weapon. Could it be used as one? Sure. But thats not why I have it. I have a 'tool' to cut things called a 'knife'. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. I have my own gun for those. JMO.

    This is usually the answer I give.......I start rattling off blunt objects....Tire iron,mag light,tow chain, Ususally about the fourth or fifth thing I rattle off they are like ok thats enough and continue as they were origionally doing..


    It was alot more fun when I drove flatbed and crossed into Canada alot...

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