"Anything I should be concerned about" asked LEO

**DennisPA** · November 7th, 2011, 01:47 PM

Ok here's the long and short of it. I got pulled over the other day in PA on my way home from work (in MD so I was unarmed)for my registration being expired. I know bone head move on my part.

LEO: License and registration
Me: My license is in my back pack in the back seat may I get it?
LEO: Anything I should be concerned about?
Me: No Sir
LEO: OK

So if I was armed at the time. I know according to PA law I'm not required to tell the LEO I'm carrying. But if he had noticed something when I was getting my drivers license, I don't think it would have went well. I just thought it was a thought provoking question. I knew he had nothing to concerned about but he may have felt different.

Also do you think he knew I had my LTCF by running my plate?

**str8shooter** · November 7th, 2011, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by DennisPA

Ok here's the long and short of it. I got pulled over the other day in PA on my way home from work (in MD so I was unarmed)for my registration being expired. I know bone head move on my part.

LEO: License and registration
Me: My license is in my back pack in the back seat may I get it?
LEO: Anything I should be concerned about?
Me: No Sir
LEO: OK

So if I was armed at the time. I know according to PA law I'm not required to tell the LEO I'm carrying. But if he had noticed something when I was getting my drivers license, I don't think it would have went well. I just thought it was a thought provoking question. I knew he had nothing to concerned about but he may have felt different.

Also do you think he knew I had my LTCF by running my plate?

Sounds like a reasonable question, response and outcome. If that happened in PA and you did have a firearm in your backpack, I think it would be prudent to inform the LEO up front rather than risk getting nervous and accidentally dumping the contents of the bag and have the LEO spot it.

Technically because of the way he asked the question as long as you had no intention of harming him even if you did have a gun you could honestly answer no, nothing for him to be concerned about, but there are times when a polite and respectful question deserves a polite and respectful answer, and I think this is one of those times.

As far as knowing you have a LTCF by running your plates, I highly doubt it. But possibly after running your DL, although I'm not sure if MD would have access to that information either.

**Black Sheep** · November 7th, 2011, 10:00 PM

It's been discussed in other threads, but as far as I know, PA doesn't have a LTCF database that's tied to drivers' licenses (some other states do).

IMHO, asking "is there anything I should be concerned about" isn't the most productive questioning technique. If someone has something illegal, they'll likely lie about it (though they may give a "tell" as they're answering), and if they don't, they may feel accused (which doesn't engender good feelings towards the police, at minimum, and may wind up making the person less cooperative).

As far as the answer, unless I think there's a good reason to tell the officer I'm carrying, I'm likely going to say "no." It's a subjective question, and my subjective response is that my firearm (along with me generally) is nothing the officer needs to be concerned about. My desire to inform an officer I'm carrying is inversely proportional to the likelihood I think he or she will flip out instead of acting rationally if it becomes known. My aversion to having loaded guns pointed at me is at least equal to theirs. Not that I've been stopped while carrying, but I'd much rather everybody's guns stay securely holstered for the duration of the stop.

**Deleted** · November 7th, 2011, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

It's been discussed in other threads, but as far as I know, PA doesn't have a LTCF database that's tied to drivers' licenses (some other states do).

No... there is no automatic database of LTCF's in PA.

**DonM55** · November 7th, 2011, 10:29 PM

If any action I take might cause the LEO to notice my gun I'd inform. If I was worried he'd notice the gun in the back pack my answer would be: "No, nothing to worry about however I do have a license to carry and there is a gun in the back pack." Then wait for his response on how to continue.

Odds are if he sees it without warning you'll end up spread eagle on the ground at gun point or worse if he thinks you're making a move towards it.

My response is based partially on having informed 2 times in Ohio (must inform) and it was no problem at all.

**Yentl Marmelstein** · November 7th, 2011, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by DennisPA

LEO: Anything I should be concerned about?

You have NO idea how to answer this question because, frankly, you have no idea what his concerns are.

Easy way to address this sticky situation:

4 words:

"How Do You Mean?"

That four-word answer will establish very quickly and with no question what the officer's concerns are.

**GregorOneEye** · November 7th, 2011, 11:21 PM

Heart disease.

**IronSight** · November 7th, 2011, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by SteelCityK9Cop

No... there is no automatic database of LTCF's in PA.

Yes there is (see following posts); it's tied to the CLEAN system.

You can see proposed drafts of the connection here: http://andrewshemo.com/pafoa/rertkl2...siveRecord.pdf

Charts showing the current system aren't available yet, but it has been admitted to me from several very reliable sources that the system was implemented. How extensive it is I'm not sure, and I'm not sure whether or not the LTCF information is shown automatically through it or whether or not the information is available through it with a bit more restrictive access than other information.

Now if you said that there's no law setting up such a system in PA, then I would agree with you. I think we both know thought that the PSP doesn't have a history of caring about that.

**Deleted** · November 7th, 2011, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by IronSight

Yes there is; it's tied to the CLEAN system.

You can see proposed drafts of the connection here: http://andrewshemo.com/pafoa/rertkl2...siveRecord.pdf

.

It's not an "automatic" check anywhere in PA like you think it is.... when someone runs your name or drivers license, your LTCF info does not just "pop up". The dispatcher at county 911 has to log into a seperate system to check the validity of LTCF's. The average officer on the street can not pull up this information on his own.

No agency that I am aware of (including PSP) has this ability to do without the assistance of the dispatch center. It is an involved process that requires a specific request by the officer.