Duty to Inform when stopped by police

[cdi]

Most cops have no significant experience with firearms outside of their duty gun. Why some people volunteer they are carrying during a traffic is a mystery to me. I advocate not answering the are you armed question- or flat out lying. The reason is, the risk is too high for a negative outcome.

Requesting a sit down with the cop, training officer and chief is simply not going to happen for obvious reasons.

[JenniferG]

My approach has always been, be polite, respond to request for registration, driver's license and proof of insurance and offer no more information than requested. I keep my info in the door pocket and have it ready for the officer when he gets to the car. If he happens to ask about weapons or drugs, which has never happened to me but I am prepared to respond with what GL wrote " there is nothing illegal in this vehicle officer". If I am asked to step out of the vehicle I will let the officer then know I have a valid License to Carry a Firearm and that I am currently carrying while keeping my hands on the steering wheel and the interior light lit if it's night.

After that I guess I will also let him/her/xym know I will begin video recording from this point of the interaction. I have a dash cam with audio. I have been pulled over twice in the last 20 years or so, once for doing 35mph in a 25mph zone and once for making a right turn on red when there was a sign on the traffic signal saying No Turn on Red that I completely missed. In both instances I did as above and was not asked any other questions other than "do you know how fast you were going?" - no answer and "didn't you see the No Turn on Red Sign?" - answer: no, the Walmart truck in front of me was blocking it. Got tickets for both and tickets were paid and learned to pay more attention to Parkesburg Police revenue hunters.

[Zeke2A]

Next time you see him be sure you're carrying a single action army... He'll probably have clearing a 1911 mastered by then so gotta keep him on his toes

Colt 1851 Navy Black Powder ….scratches head ..,shrugs ….

[cham09]

Ultimately handle the situation of whether to inform them or not how you want to. Me personally, the 3 times I’ve been stopped since carrying I’ve informed them, and all 3 were fine interactions. First 2 were local cops, both of which ended up talking guns with me afterwards. The 3rd one was a state trooper, and he just had me do something I thought was “odd” but figured hey it’s what he’s comfortable with. After approaching my vehicle and introducing himself, I informed him of my LTCF as well as being armed, to which he replied “ok here’s what I need you do. I’m going to go back to my car for about a minute, as soon as I do I want you to remove your weapon from your holster, drop the mag/clear it, and place it up on your dash with the slide locked back”. So I did and everything after that was smooth.

[edmundfitz1975]

Ultimately handle the situation of whether to inform them or not how you want to. Me personally, the 3 times I*ve been stopped since carrying I*ve informed them, and all 3 were fine interactions. First 2 were local cops, both of which ended up talking guns with me afterwards. The 3rd one was a state trooper, and he just had me do something I thought was *odd* but figured hey it*s what he*s comfortable with. After approaching my vehicle and introducing himself, I informed him of my LTCF as well as being armed, to which he replied *ok here*s what I need you do. I*m going to go back to my car for about a minute, as soon as I do I want you to remove your weapon from your holster, drop the mag/clear it, and place it up on your dash with the slide locked back*. So I did and everything after that was smooth.

I would've told the state pig to eat a D, but that's me.

[jthrelf]

Ultimately handle the situation of whether to inform them or not how you want to. Me personally, the 3 times I*ve been stopped since carrying I*ve informed them, and all 3 were fine interactions. First 2 were local cops, both of which ended up talking guns with me afterwards. The 3rd one was a state trooper, and he just had me do something I thought was *odd* but figured hey it*s what he*s comfortable with. After approaching my vehicle and introducing himself, I informed him of my LTCF as well as being armed, to which he replied *ok here*s what I need you do. I*m going to go back to my car for about a minute, as soon as I do I want you to remove your weapon from your holster, drop the mag/clear it, and place it up on your dash with the slide locked back*. So I did and everything after that was smooth.

Always good to be pulling a gun from concealment during a traffic stop when the officer isn't looking...

[Walleye Hunter]

Does AJ have a duty to inform those in his presence when he shits his pants?

[streaker69]

Always good to be pulling a gun from concealment during a traffic stop when the officer isn't looking...

What makes you think the officer wasn't looking? It sounds to me as though he was going to be watching him the entire time, from behind cover probably with his hand on his own on firearm. This is a better compromise from the cop doing the disarming and attempting to clear a weapon he's not familiar with. Granted the best thing would have been for him to just accept the citizen was armed and conduct the traffic stop as normal.

[free]

So what do you say when a local LEO pulls you over and ask, " Mr. Wilson, What are you carrying today?".

"Covid-19. Want some?"

[free]

question such as "do you have any drugs or weapons that I need to know about?"

It is handy that they put the caveat on there, "that I need to know about."

In my view, they don't need to know, so the answer is an honest "no".

If the answer to any part of a question is "no" then the answer to the question is "no".