if you get pulled over, do you tell the cop you have a gun on you?

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"if i do tell them i have a CCW and carrying at the present time can they ask me to step out of the car and search it?....thats bull**** if they can."

An officer can do just about anything if he thinks he's in danger. And it makes sense when you really think about it.

I'm always hearing these horror stories. This is the most recent such story. A young man I met after the hurricane related this to me.

A friend (a lot of these stories start this way don't they?) A friend was dragged out of the front passenger window of a car when he told small town cops he had a concealed weapons permit. He kept hollering "it's o.k., I have a permit" as he was getting dragged out of the car. He was disarmed, handcuffed and put in the back of a police car for half an hour. Then released with the rest of his companions.

Sounds harsh.

I'm thinking, considering these guys are big, muscular, have tattoos and body-piercings, probably wearing something that looked like gang clothing- as nice as these guys are, they look like they fit a profile. If I didn't know them I'd be very cautious if one of them was armed. Buffered with the reliability of the secondhand information I received, I don't blame the police.

IMO, police don't get paid enough to deal with the crap they do, much less place their lives at risk when they pull over a car.

On the other hand, I had a bad hernia fixed a couple of years ago. I lived with that hernia for 7 or 8 years and it was never any fun. I don't want another one. The last thing I need is to be dragged out of a car or thrown on the ground.

I love all these experts who tell people to say "I have a legally concealed firearm", interlace their fingers behind their heads, put their hands on the windshield or out the window without the cops even asking. My gosh, why don't I just jump out of the car, and go felony prone? What kind of message does that send? The officer's got to be thinking, "Cops must tell him to do this all the time. What did he do now?"

I don't dress like some kind of "gansgsta" like a lot of these idiot kids nowadays. (Whoa. Did I just turn into my dad?) I don't do anything suspicious. I keep my hands where the officer can see them, and don't make any furtive movements. I give him anything he asks for, when he asks for it. I don't ever hide anything, and I don't volunteer anything he doesn't ask for and I've never really had any problems.

Basically, I'm saying put yourself in the officer's shoes and don't do anything that would seem unnatural to you.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, or expert, or cop. This advice is free and you always get what you pay for.
 
MaNiFeSt, I would never have an NRA or other weapon related sticker on my vehicle or home; it's a clear advertisement that you may have a weapon on board. I'd rather fly under the radar; most of my neighbors & friends don't know what I've got or if I conceal.
 
Exiting a vehicle when you are pulled over around here is practically a guarantee that you will find yourself proned out on the pavement at gunpoint.
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Truer words were never spoken.

If pulled, the CCW info comes back to the officer as part of three pieces of info they get when they run your plate at a stop:
1) sex offender y/n
2) warrants y/n
3) ccw permit y/n

Kinda puts CCW permits in the wrong light?
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We also get school bus driver y/n. I swear I have never looked at a school bus driver in wrong light. :confused:

Makes no sense how having a state issued concealed carry permit and the weapon to go with it gives a cop probable cause to search your vehicle. That's rediculous
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I wouldn't think that yiou could legally base a non-consensual search on the possession of a CCP
 
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Put a gunrack in the rear window:D

I plan (never got stopped yet *Crossed fingers*), on just handing over my CWP along with the drivers license. I don't HAVE to, but I figure it's better to let them know now, than later.

Plus, I ain't worried about a LEO's reaction in MONTANA :D
 
Pulled over

I wonder. I'd as soon keep my mouth shut. Then again, I've been driving for 44 years and haven't gotten pulled over yet so it hasn't ever been an issue.
Pete
 
Tell or not tell?

Maybe it would be a good idea, if we just gave the police officer your driver's clicense and conceal carry permit at the same time (without announcing it verbally that you have a weapon on your person). That way, (if it goes further), at least he is aware that you have a permit and have passed backgroung investigations, etc.

Just a thought, (when I was stopped some time back for a traffic ticket) I told the trooper I was carrying and he got really spooked and asked me to get out of the car, etc. It was at night and on an interstate. I was allowed to procede on after him checking me out, etc. but it sort of rattled me a bit.
 
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They already know that you Conceal Carry

In most states as soon as you receive your conceal carry permit/license they attach a notation to your drivers license number and in some states your license plate.

Here in Idaho they attach it to your license plate number.
License plate purchases here are controlled at the county level and not the state level, CWP's are issued by the local Sherrif's Dept. so they have the info locally to attach the concealed weapons info onto your license plate files.

When the cop runs your plates they get a notification that you have a conceal carry permit and approach accodingly.
I have a couple of friends and even my manager (Gun owners wife) that have been stopped, and the cops always come up to the car with their pistol in hand. The first question asked by the cops is "Do you have a loaded gun in the vehicle" answering yes hasn't seemed to change their actions other than putting thier guns back into their holsters.

The CWP courses up here always go thru the legals, and strongly advise everybody with a CWP that if they do get pulled over, to put both hands on the dash of their vehicle and wait for the cops to get up to them before doing anything else. Tell anybody in the car to do likewise as well, when stopped. Also, if you let somebody borrow your vehicle be sure to tell them what to do in case they get stopped, because the car is pre-considered to have a gun in it, since the owner has the CWP and the cops don't know who is driving it to begin with.
They will always presume the driver is the owner, unless the car is reported stolen. I am applying for my CWP shortly and have been strongly advised to heed the "gun in the car presumption" with the cops here.
 
GeauxTide: Excellent point

That is the perfect question and I will definitley use that in the future. Quick, precise and to the point. It let's the LEO know immediately and he or she would likely appreciate your honesty I would think (if it was expressed in that way).

By the way, Geaux Gators!
 
I'm in CT, I've only been pulled over once when I had a gun in the car. The cop stuck his head in my window and told me I was driving way too fast and to pay more attention to the posted speed limits and then just walked away. I guess that's more of the exception to the rule but, if you are not required by law to tell the cop you have a gun then why do it? The cops that I know have told me that most times they really don't want to know about any weapons you may have on you, and if they did they'd ask you about it. Maybe the cops in my town are just lazy, or maybe they realize that they are not there to just harrass and inconvenience people.
 
This is a necromancy thread. Might want to check out our latest debate -

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=363827

Is there anything new to say:

1. It offends me as I am a good guy - 2nd Amend. etc.

2. The officer might treat me badly because I tell him. Might not like guns.

3. The officer might treat me badly if I don't tell him because it is the law and/or if he or she discovers the gun, that might annoy the officer or even get me shot by some misinterpretation of how I am a noble defender of truth, justice and the American Way.
 
here in arizona your not obligated to. But I do any way. The local police are more willing to cut you a break if you tell them and show your ccw card. I was told this is because to have a ccw card you have to have a back ground check done. and it lets the cops know right away that you a "good person" and as a result they are more likly(not always) willing to cut you a break.
 
if u get pulled over, do you tell the cop u have a gun on u?
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I say
"Hai off uh sir. Even tho i hve b d i's, i'm OK!"

Sorry...:o couldn't resist.
There is too much textin' goin' on 'round here!:D
 
Like others have stated, even if you don't tell them, they will know if you are certified as soon as they run your DL. In Texas where I am, it's required by law to notify the officer immediately and produce your CHL.
 
The one time I've been pulled over since I received my permit, I told the officer, he thanked me and gave me a warning. I don't even want to think how lousy things would get if I didn't say anything, and then for some reason the officer found out I was carrying.
 
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