invention_45
New member
I'm starting to quote myself.
I think it would be pretty odd to ask an officer to hold my clip, too. I like to keep it with me because I don't want to return to my vehicle to find a thief pointing it LOADED at me. Some police stations here have metal detectors (Pompano Beach didn't, but I had no way of knowing). I simply felt it would be less apt to make me look bad to speak up first rather than to set off the detector I thought could be there and THEN have to say "oh, it's only a clip".
My goal in this whole thing is I don't want to surprise somebody with the power to arrest me or to detain me unnecessarily. I have things to do.
I've often wondered if I was going overboard. I guess I look at the matter in a way analogous to making threats. If I am really going to do something, I would NEVER threaten it (except possibly through my lawyer). That would give my target a chance to neutralize my actions in advance. I expect (and maybe this is a flaw) that an officer who sees that I am pointing out that I have a firearm would then expect me to be pretty stupid to then try to use it on him. I expect this would put him at greater ease than not knowing (a lot of cars in Florida have guns in them, and I'm sure the cops are quite aware of that).
Making sure they see the holster is my way of putting a little more context around what I say to the officer when he's taking information from me. I have a stalking problem. I don't want to announce to the officer "I have a gun and ....". But when I get advice, which I nearly always do, from the police, I want advice that fits an armed person, not an unarmed one.
I'm sure a lot of people would tell me to just ask the cop what I can do and can't do with the gun in his opinion. I feel very awkward asking that, like I'm asking for permission to shoot somebody.
Also, Even though I bought my first gun about 6 years ago, I've owned a handgun for a total of maybe 4 years. I'm trying to err on the safe side of things. Probably once I have 10 or so years under my belt I'll do things a little differently. That's one reason I'm here.
