Alaska - Tell a cop that you have a gun?

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That sounds familiar, the one time I was pulled over (broken taillight) I gave the deputy my DV and CCW, I don't have to in Virginia. He thanked me asked where it was, I told him on my belt right hand side, he told me to keep my hands on the steering wheel. When he ran my info he told me what it was about and after 20 minutes talking guns thanked me for informing him and bid me a nice day.
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They only have to ask in any state.
So when they do you just tell them.
About NY I am not so sure.
But I don't live or travel to NYC.
The posing problem is limited to the poor NYC dwellers.
Not me.
 
I rest my case.
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Not at all. You know how much an exhaust system costs? I was waiting for the car to die and hoping it would happen before I had to dump another 300-400 bucks into it. Not looking for trouble at all. Have you ever lived anywhere but Alaska, or travelled there recently?

If I have to pull out my wallet to give the officer my license, I'm going to have to expose my weapon and he's likely to see my CCW. Consequently, I'm going to tell the officer. But if he doesn't require me to get out of the car or start doing gymnastics in my seat, it just does not seem prudent. Should I repeat it in 5 more posts?
 
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The posing problem is limited to the poor NYC dwellers.
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Actually the OP asked about the great and free state of Alaska, where the herb is essentially legal, we dont pay any taxes, anyone can concealed carry a gun, the only progressive radio station went under and everybody votes republican.


And us normal folks tell our fellow Alaskans with badges that we got guns. And when that law was passed there was no opposition to it except from militia fruitcakes, and there still isnt, except for militia fruitcakes.

I feel like such a serf up here:cool:


WilditsagreatlawenforecementtooltooAlaska ™©2002-2010
 
Not at all. You know how much an exhaust system costs? I was waiting for the car to die and hoping it would happen before I had to dump another 300-400 bucks into it. Not looking for trouble at all.
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Sorry, lying to a cop during a traffic stop inst the type of behavior I would like to see from folks with guns

Have you ever lived anywhere but Alaska, or travelled there recently?
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Dude I grew up around NYC before the Knapp Commission, and have a criminal law background....I have forgotten more about scumbag cops than half of you will ever know and if I am ever stopped by a cop while lawfully carrying, the first words out of my mouth after Good Evening of Good Afternoon will be to tell him I have a gun.

Whether required to or not.

Always have and always will. You handle it the way you will. Your life, your hassle.

WildandwiththatoroborousAlaska ™©2002-2010
 
And us normal folks tell our fellow Alaskans with badges that we got guns. And when that law was passed there was no opposition to it except from militia fruitcakes, and there still isnt, except for militia fruitcakes.

I feel like such a serf up here
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I always thought Alaska was God's Country.

I confess. I want to move to Alaska.
 
When I'm on a boarding, enforcing laws at sea, I would like to know if and where people have weapons. By law, those who do not have a badge are required to tell me.

When I'm not wearing a badge, I am required to tell those in possession of one if and where I am carrying a weapon.

This has led to peaceable and professional interactions with LEOs and civilians. I think I'll continue the practice for both my and their peace of mind.

Much of the opposition to notifying LEOs of CC status is from those who are not in Alaska. Those of us from Alaska know this law and think of it somewhere between indifference or full support. The OP asked about Alaska, so here's the scoop;

Everybody (essentially) up here has at least one gun. Most have more than one. A lot of people have what could be viewed as a "stockpile" or some other stupid progressive term. Most of the liberals in Alaska are imported, courtesy of the military, and there ain't a whole lot of them. LEOs in Alaska are more accustomed to firearms than any other state. It is perfectly reasonable and acceptable to carry just about any firearm openly or concealed. The vast majority of LEOs in Alaska will not even remove your wepon from your person, they'll just tell you not to touch it during the course of the stop. Those that do secure your weapon are well-versed in the manual of arms for most weapons. So you don't have to worry about them shooting you...

Basically, I said all of that to say this: During the course of a traffic stop, telling an Alaskan LEO that you have a weapon in a calm, professional voice is about like telling them that you have a driver's license. They expect it. So everyone can remove their tinfoil hats and paranoia.
 
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They Know

When you are issued a CCW here in Nevada, LEO's get a heads-up on their computer when you get pulled over. They don't know weather you happen to have a gun on you, but they know you legally could.
 
Sorry, lying to a cop during a traffic stop inst the type of behavior I would like to see from folks with guns.
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That's just ridiculous. Telling the cop, "Oh yeah, its been that way for months and I've just been waiting for the car to die because I hate to put another $400 into it and then have it die," is a sure way to get yourself a ticket. I would say that we are all liars (as every good cop already knows or assumes) and there is a definite difference between a white lie, a stupid lie and a felonious lie, but clearly you've never lied to anyone ever so I guess my point would be lost. Since my traffic stop thousands of miles away from the OP while not carrying a weapon is far off topic, I'll drop it in the interest of keep us all from being banned or biting our own tails.
 
I retired from the Anchorage PD and left the state prior to the issuing of CC permits/later "anyone to carry" laws were passed. Regardless, I was mostly a street cop and assumed everyone carried and as an FTO I told my trainees everyone had a gun unless proved otherwise.

I wasn't a very good cop, if someone told me they had a gun, or even if I discovered they had a gun, I didn't care, I wasn't much for enforcing gun laws unless there was other illegal activity involving the gun. In my 20 years I never made a "gun related" arrest UNLESS there was another crime involved.

Nothing wrong with a little courtesy on either side. Based on my knowledge of other police officers, I think you'd have less hassle if you advised the cop a head of time.

What bothers me about the "informing requirements" is personal, my feelings on the subject. APD is a honest police department, like they would fire you if you took so much as a free cup of coffee (unless the coffee was provided free to everyone as in Auto Parts Stores or other places that didn't sell coffee). I like to think I was an honest cop and refused to accept any favorable treatment because I was a cop, or now, ex-cop.

So this brings me to my personal problem with informing an officer I was carrying. I screw up like everyone else, its hard to be a perfect driver. I carry per LEOSA or HR 218, which means my permit is my retired LE ID card. If I screw up and get stopped, I want to be treated like everyone else. I'll take the ticket because I deserve it. Twice in the 17 years I've been retired I was stopped and when the cop found out I was carrying, asked for a permit, I had to show them my Retired ID. I'm sure being a retired cop got me out of the ticket which in my opinion is wrong.

I no longer inform the stopping officer I carry at traffic stops. Some times I got a ticket, sometimes I didn't but being a retired cop had nothing to do with it.

Before you jump down my throat, I'm not that bad, I've only gotten two tickets since I retired,one of those was a seat belt ticket in TX, one was speeding 10 over), I deserved both, and was given a warning on three occasions (without informing them I'm a retired cop).

Wyoming doesn't have such a requirement, I guess I should research other states to see which have the requirement.

What do other LE or Retired LE officers do in such situations?????
 
But shouldnt everyone else worry about you based on the way you worry about him?
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No, because I was not commiting any crime, infraction or ordinance violation. However, the officer pointed a loaded gun at me and the rest of the world.

Hes a citizen too, is held to the same or higher standards than you, he poops and has a family just like you and he wants to go home to his wife and kids just like you
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Ummm, no, the law exempts law enforcement from many laws that I must follow. He is a higher class citizen, but I am still not going to tell him that I am carrying guns as I want not to get shot.

Despite your arrogance, I am compelled to inform you that any and all LEOs believe that the exact opposite is true. Unfortunately for others that share your opinion on the matter; the law of the land tends to favor the LEO in this debate.
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If you call concern for safety arrogance, then I am arrogant, but I have only Nature-issued holes in me. Any and all LEOs will have to agree to disagree as I will not suffer another pistol pointed at me.

I do not know about tends as I have not taken a survey, but the law of my land favors me. I will take advantage of it and not endanger myself or my fellow citizens by the officer's actions as I would have to in Alaska or some other place.
 
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Since I don't pose a threat to a police officer, why do I need to inform him/her that I have a gun? So I can be hassled by the officer if he/she isn't knowledgeable in the law or doesn't like the fact that citizens have the right to be armed?
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Up here, the vast majority of our police force are very knowledgable about gun laws. We don't really worry about being hassled. I have been pulled over several times, and when I carry the first thing I say as I hold out my DL (and registration and proof of insurance just to save a step) is "Hello, how are you? State law requires I hand this to you and advise you that I am carrying today."

The only time that resulted in anything fun went something like this:
Spiff: "Good morning, state law says I must show you my license and inform you I am carrying today".
Officer 1: "Okay, thank you. Where is the gun at?"
Spiff: "Holstered and under my right leg."
Officer 1: "You mean under the seat?"
Officer 2 is at the passenger window and in my peripheral I can see him trying to get the other officers attention. Since my holstered pistol is wedged between my thunder thigh and the seat, I know he must have seen the butt of it sticking out. I choose to ignore him, and focus only on Officer 1.
Spiff: "No its right under my leg."
Officer 1: "Okay, I am going to ask you to exit the vehicle and my partner will secure your weapon."
Spiff: "Sure, I need to unbuckle my belt first." After unbuckling I kept both hands on the door frame, opened the door with the outside handle and stepped out. Officer 1 walked me a few feet away, and started to frisk me. Oh yeah, its 4 in the morning, I was getting off work at the bar, still had on my two pairs of cuffs, bottle of pepper spray, knife, and vest with trauma plate. (it was a rough bar)
Officer 1: "You wear this vest for work?" (starts taking my cuffs, knife, misses the pepper spray though)
Spiff: "Yes, I work at the Gaslight."
Officer 2 (is a FTO): "Your weapon here, is this a decocker?" (has just manipulated the safety to the off position of my 1911 and the muzzle is pointed at my feet)
Spiff: "Nooo, thats the safety, and you should know there is one in the chamber".
Officer 1 is not sure if she should put me in cuffs for their safety, she takes hold of my thumbs as if shes about to, then changes her mind. She then tells me she pulled me over for not making a turn into the closest possible lane, which was bogus, it was more a fishing expedition for drunk drivers, which of course I had not had anything to drink.
After they ran my info, they let me go. Officer 1 thanked me for following the law and letting them know I was armed. Officer 2 returned my weapon to me unloaded.

I found it odd that a FTO would seem to be so unfamiliar with a 1911.
My point being, advising a law enforcement officer is in my opinion, a good idea. Nearly every time, the officer is unconcerned with it, not a big deal. That could be due to the reasons they pulled me over in the first place, they were all minor traffic infractions.
A few times the officer has recognized me from my work at the bar, having been the officer who responded to an arrest or disturbance that we had reported.
 
That's just ridiculous. Telling the cop, "Oh yeah, its been that way for months and I've just been waiting for the car to die because I hate to put another $400 into it and then have it die," is a sure way to get yourself a ticket.
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The fact is that a muffler system is required by law for both emissions standards as well as noise pollution requirements. Your car was not in good operating order. You are responsible for maintaining your vehicle in good operating order and should have been ticketed on the spot. The LEO showed you that he was willing to cut you a break by issuing a warning only. You should have extended the LEO the same level of courtesy that he/she showed you.
 
Common Sense....

...is what it is.

Officers here almost always give you the opportunity to announce by asking is there anything you have that I should know about? I'm sorry if I happen to think that not announcing that you have a gun is asking for a notched up situation in which there may be an unfortunate shooting incident. I want an officer to know if I have a gun and be relaxed about it because I am. Funny how that works, if you are relaxed and matter of fact so will the officer most likely be.

The police and sheriff departments in El Dorado County went through a very rough one year period where they lost a lot of officers, two and more wounded in one standoff situation where the guy had tunnels all over his property and kept popping up and shooting officers. This was a jumpy bunch and not a good period of time to make an officer nervous. Open carry could have easily gotten out of hand.

There's a lot to be said for if you are relaxed so will an officer be. In the case of having a concealed permit you have the law on your side so you should be comfortable with it. If you have an attitude or aren't comfortable with it you shouldn't even have a gun on you. Nervous people make a cop very nervous, that's survival skills, a nervous cop is going to be very close to drawing and using a gun.

It seems like there is a lot of discomfort exibited by a lot of people with concealed permits.
 
This really just comes down to safety and common sense. If you tell the officer your armed, there aren't any surprises for you or the officer. In the minds of most police if you come out tell them you have a weapon of some sort at onset of the conversation you become less threatening. Someone doing something illegal or planning to get violent won't usually volunteer that type of information.

In my experience the more open you are with cops the more they treat you like a person instead of a potential felon.

In NJ though, god help you with ANYTHING gun related.
 
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You should have extended the LEO the same level of courtesy that he/she showed you.
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Well...

1. I was not carrying a weapon.

2. I lied to the cop before he cut me a break because I assume a cops job is to give tickets and collect revenue. That is what cops do in Rhode Island, enforcing the law is only secondary as it relates to revenue collection. So after he cut me a break should I have fessed up and told him that my muffler had been missing for months and since he gave me a break, I want to do the honest thing and now tell the truth? If I had told him it had been gone for months, I most certainly would have gotten a ticket. I don't want a ticket. Maybe you do, I'll let you pay the next one I get.

3. In Rhode Island, we have an inspection process which assures that your car is functional and safe. Missing a muffler is not necessarily an unsafe practice but at the next inspection, it would have been detected and I would have had to pay to fix it. Yes, it increases the noise of your car and will increase your mileage. However, even without the muffler the car is too old to be held to pollution standards in my state so your point is moot.

4. If I should have been ticketed on the spot, what does it matter what story I tell him?

Does anyone actually live in the real world anymore?
 
^^ Actually I probably would have appreciated the honesty and told you to get it fixed. I think most cops are very much aware that some people are hurting more than others in the current economy. I know I haven't written a ticket in the last 2 weeks, made plenty of arrests, but no tickets. Nobody needs a ticket 2 weeks before Christmas.
 
I'd just like to point out that cops have absolutely no right to ask you whether you are carrying or not and absolutely no right to know whether you are carrying or not. It is none of their business.

But, seeing as it's the law, it's probably better to play it safe than sorry.
 
Hate to break it to you, but it isn't about any "right to ask." It's about simply asking questions. Anyone can do that. Including cops.

What you answer, may or may not be to your own detriment.
 
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