From a quick reading of the article it appears as if the officer did have P.C. to believe that the party in question was breaking the law, (officer observed a concealed weapon) so the officer had the right to determine if the suspect had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
This right here irks me.
Carrying a concealed weapon is LEGAL. The assumption that it is immediately illegal irks me.
Less than 1% of the population in any given state with a CCW permit system, carries. Because getting licensed to do so is a deliberate process rather than a casual one.
But: So is a class A driver's license. Do police pull over every 18-wheeler they come across to check for a class A license? of course, not. But, probable cause works the same way to assume that the driver is not licensed and is operating a commercial vehicle without proper licensing.
It has been inculcated into our Law Enforcement Officers that they are to deliberately dissuade the populace through harrassment tactics, from carrying concealed weapons.
The assumption that it's even APPROPRIATE for an officer to initiate an approach on a man who is minding his own business and just going about his day's work, purely because he has a pistol on his hip, is so antithetical to the America I want to live in, that I am struck (relatively) speechless.
Lord, give me peace officers, and no Law Enforcement Officers, in my encounters in life.:barf: