What do you think of the TX requirement to inform a cop you are carrying?

[O6nop]

One thing I haven't seen posted yet, correct me if I'm wrong. Your CHL is connected with your DL. If a LEO runs a check on your DL, he will know you are carrying. Same goes if he runs a check on your license prior to getting out of the car. I don't think it will be a secret for long. If he runs a check and sees you have a CHL he will enforce the law and arrest you for non-compliance.

I agree with the post that states that it will likely tell the officer you are an upstanding citizen with a thorough background check. It won't prevent you from getting a ticket, in most cases, however.

 

[pickpocket]

In particular, of late, it seems to be used as the rationale for violent, dynamic "no-knock" warrant service that goes in with a VERY heavy hand, now-and-then killing innocent residents, and the reasoning is, if you hit unsuspecting warrant subjects so fast they don't know what's going on, it's easier to subdue them without them being able to respond with force.

With all due respect, THIS seems to be the real reason behind your vehement arguments against "the man" and the motive behind your dispute with a law that does nothing except ensure that everyone acts courteously as a matter of compliance rather than as a matter of personal preference.

Most of us don't have a problem with this. If you do, then that's on you.
Nobody's saying that you aren't allowed to have a gripe with it - but what confuses me is that when you post an opinion and several people don't agree then you feel compelled to continue to try and convince us why this is just another instance of the anti-gun, anti-society, pro-conspiracy government trying to strip us of our God-given rights to act like children.

 

[buckster]

It is safer for both parties

If you have a legit permit, you tell the officer so, a LEO that has been trained properly shouldn't have problem with it. The officer probably knows already when he runs you. If you lie and your speeding it is a red flag. It's called mutual respect, and by the way, both of you have a common ground to make each other feel at ease, you both are pro gun. You were speeding, you didn't lie and you were nice. They like that.

 

[hoji]

In Austin I had my only run in with a local LEO. I was pulled over for my headlights being out{I was in a rental Dodge neon, I am 6'4" my knees knocked the headlight switch off to running lights only}
I was placed in handcuffs on the side of the road for "My safety" for almost 20 minutes , until a superviser I knew personally arrived by chance and asked what was going on. The officer who cuffed me proudly told the supe "we wanted to make sure his CHL was valid before we let him go"
The supe then said he knew me and maybe they should cuff me if the CHL came back invalid, not the other way around. I was reluctlantly un cuffed.

I posted this before but thought it was worth mentioning again.
I did everything by the book and was treated like a crackhead.
After it was almost all said and done,{I had gotten my warning ticket} I was being handed my gun back, when the little twerp says"oh, hold on a minute" and then runs the serial number to see if it was stolen.:barf:

 

[Dreadnought]

VA does not "require" it, but your CHP is tied to your license and vehicle registration. I have had two CHP friends tell me about their experiences when they didn't inform the arresting officer (yes, getting pulled over is considered an arrest) of their having a CHP. One guy didn't have his weapon with him but the officer came back after running his license and asked him, "Where's that gun, Mr. So-and-so?" This surprised him because he didn't think it necessary to inform the officer of his CHP because he didn't have his gun on him.

The other guy's responding officer was a little more cautious after running his license and finiding he had a permit, the officer drew his sidearm after exiting his cruiser and approached the guy's car very slowly and asked him if he had weapons from the guy's rear quarterpanel.

Both of these happened before the age of in-car satellite-linked laptops in cruisers, now they immediately know just by running your plates in VA (so I'm told). My method is a lot safer and I have gotten very similar variations of it from different LE personnel. I have never been pulled over, but I have a rehearsed plan. Don't fumble for anything before the officer approaches your car, just turn it off, turn on the dome lights, put the keys on the dash and both hands on the wheel. Tell the officer immediately you have a CHL and whether or not you're packing (you should be for the most part unless your are in a CCW prohibited area), where your weapons are, then tell him to direct you step by step exactly what to do and how to do it.

Informing the officer of your CHP is good etiquette because s/he might get very anxious even if your gun is perfectly out of sight under your seat, in a bag, or in the glove box and s/he runs your plate or license and finds you're licensed to concealed carry. Failure to do so is a very easy way to get dead.
You get what you pay for.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

DNS: Why is it a gripe? Because I don't like the fact that legal carry of a gun is something I have to divulge to a person who may very well have a personal problem with that very right I exercise.

You probably don't want to show your DL to the officer either because you are "legal" and all, but it is the law. He may have a problem with you driving. Given your post, you do seem to have a problem with obeying the laws of the road.

The very fact that a CHL holder has to inform the cop if he's carrying a gun stigmatizes concealed carry.

You may be stigmatized, but 'concealed carry' is a non entity and does not suffer emotional trauma.

Why not require anyone ever convicted of a violent felony to immediately tell the cop? He's far more likely to be a danger. And if he doesn't do so, and the cop runs his name and comes up with the history, you can bust him right there for not complying with the requirement to advise the cop of his record.

You need to call your legislature about this. I think you are on to something.

Do I have a lot or run-ins with the law that make this a big issue for me? No, and I already stated that it has NOT been a big issue for me.

Apparently it is since you feel so strongly about it.

If you were paying attention you'd know that I have said I live in Florida and the law does not require me to notify the cop I have a gun. In six stops, I have never done so, and it has never become an issue.

And you have not had a problem in Texas or I am sure you would have said something. You are just afraid of having a problem.

Sometimes you will see people here cynically mocking that line because, well, sometimes that goal is what is used as a rationale for some unbecoming behavior on the part of law enforcement personnel, and as a rationale for the abridgment of certain rights supposed to be retained by the People.

In particular, of late, it seems to be used as the rationale for violent, dynamic "no-knock" warrant service that goes in with a VERY heavy hand, now-and-then killing innocent residents, and the reasoning is, if you hit unsuspecting warrant subjects so fast they don't know what's going on, it's easier to subdue them without them being able to respond with force.

Okay, so the true motivation shows? You aren't so upset about the requirement as instead feel that law enforcement is out of control. You don't trust law enforcement.

 

[tyme]

One thing I haven't seen posted yet, correct me if I'm wrong. Your CHL is connected with your DL. If a LEO runs a check on your DL, he will know you are carrying. Same goes if he runs a check on your license prior to getting out of the car. I don't think it will be a secret for long. If he runs a check and sees you have a CHL he will enforce the law and arrest you for non-compliance.

He'd better not! You don't have to disclose your CHL status if you don't have a gun on you, so arresting drivers who haven't disclosed would be a major problem. Or the driver might not own the car.

Disclosure does not make the officer safer. Most people seem to agree that disclosure puts the officer at ease unless the officer is an anti-RKBA jerk. Disarming the driver doesn't work; there's no assurance that the driver will disclose all guns in the car. If a CHL holder really is a threat to the officer he very well could have two more guns under his seat. Why would anyone want to legally require a cop killer to do something that, empirically, puts cops at ease?

Why not force drivers to disclose their medical histories, force them to disclose the time and content of their last meals, and force them to announce how many times in the last 5 years they've been pulled over? Why not force them to recite their life stories? They're already under temporary arrest, and you never know what information might help an officer, right?