Carry permit. Would traffic stop make police be more cautious? yea or nay?

[coffeeman]

Hi all,

I have a grandson who went for his carry permit on his 21st birthday. Thinking about, I wondered if having permit, would cause extreme caution during traffic stop.
On the other hand maybe police might look favorably at driver if they had a permit. I am assuming on traffic stop the on board police computer may inform ,
from license tag, a brief history of the driver who owns license plate. In past grandson was stopped once and police asked for his hunting rifle. Officer took it back to his car
for a few minutes, checked it out and brought it back. Interestingly , he was issued a warning for for some small infraction. He is 22 and considering going to
school for police work. He has considered State Police, but he has an arm tattoo and that is a knock out in my state...

It's sad today after Vegas..... Coffeeman

A prayer goes out from me to the folks and I'm sure all of us here too. God bless dead, wounded & family..

 

[cat fever]

The best thing anyone can do is follow LEO instruction and inform the officer they have a CWP and either have a weapon or not at the time being pulled over.

 

[RNeumann]

Shouldn't cause more or less concern for the officer. Your hands, actions and words have more to do with the response from officer- especially as they stop you and approach the vehicle.
Our municipality has a no visible tattoo policy as well. The guys just wear long sleeve shirts or compression sleeves- this is very common. If you pay attn you will see lots of folks who wear one type of uniform or another wearing long sleeves when it's warm out....now you know one of the major reasons. I doubt your state is any different. Good luck to him- difficult time to be in police work.

 

[hawkeye08]

Know your rights, but keep your hands in sight and obey officer. I had a traffic stop last year, kept my hands on top of steering wheel, had my license and registration ready and told him, I have a permit, but am not carrying (which I was not at that time). He took my license and registration back to his car, came back a few minutes later and let me off with warning, but also let me know my trailer lights were not working. I wiggled the connector and they came on, he was satisfied. I think the important thing is to not to do something that puts them at risk.. if I had been carrying, I would have told him and obeyed his instructions. My expectations would be he would ask where gun was, then have me exit vehicle with my hands up. He would remove my weapon, clear it, secure it and then return it to me unloaded when traffic stop concluded.

 

[k0ua]

I don't think it will make much difference. When I was a LEO about a million years ago, I considered everyone in the vehicle armed. And that was "back in the day" before concealed carry. If you treat everyone as they are armed, you won't be surprised when some actually are.

 

[George2615]

I agree that a driver should keep his hands in plain sight if pulled over and inform the PD you have a CCW before moving your hands. The PD may or may not know you have a CCW depending on your State. I think it may be law in some if not all states to inform the PD you have it. Letting them know ahead of time can be favorable to the outcome of the stop. I have been pulled over for a minor violation and let go with a verbal warning because I informed them.

 

[bigtiller]

Don't tell a cop you have a licence to carry and then reach into your pocket to prove it. Philando Castile did that and the cop put 7 rounds into him.

Philando Castile shooting: Dashcam video shows rapid event - CNN

 

[LittleBill21]

i have had a ccw since 21 as well. i also have been pulled over 20+ times. I have never identified as having a ccw. Their systems at least in PA,MA,NY and NJ have no record of your ccw permit. i have only randomly been asked if there are guns in the car. sometimes there have been. they simply ask where they are and move on. Cops care more about your attitude then anything else.

 

[johnk]

i have had a ccw since 21 as well. i also have been pulled over 20+ times. I have never identified as having a ccw. Their systems at least in PA,MA,NY and NJ have no record of your ccw permit. i have only randomly been asked if there are guns in the car. sometimes there have been. they simply ask where they are and move on. Cops care more about your attitude then anything else.

Little Bill...... You have to drive more carefully!! 20X

 

[topbuilder]

I have been pulled over several times. I say nothing. Hand them my license, permit (if I have a concealed weapon) and insurance at the same time. Hands on the wheel. Most of the time they have been indifferent. Once I was asked to exit the vehicle (rookie) while he ran my info "for officer safety".

 

[Redlands Okie]

Keep your carry permit and your drivers license together. Hand the officer both at the same time. Try not to say "gun" etc just in case they or their partner mishear something. Hands in plain sight and others tips as offered above. No need to have a action or comment misinterpreted.

 

[RNeumann]

Don't tell a cop you have a licence to carry and then reach into your pocket to prove it. Philando Castile did that and the cop put 7 rounds into him.

Philando Castile shooting: Dashcam video shows rapid event - CNN

Watched the full dashcam with audio on YouTube and also the police interview of the GF that night. Like I said in my first post- not an easy time to be a cop.

 

[RandyT]

We were told in our class to tell the officer that you have a carry permit and you are armed and ask how he want to proceed. We are not required to tell the officer in IL unless he ask, but most people either tell the officer or if they already have their license out just hand it to the officer. Also check of Masaad Ayoob, he has a lot of good information and what to do.

 

[Ken45101]

Some cops, especially young ones in metro areas, may overreact. They should not, they should be smart enough to realize that the bad guys don't have licenses and won't tell them, hence they should assume everyone is armed. A CHL licensee is more likely to be law abiding and trustworthy than someone who doesn't inform but may be armed illegally.

Years ago, long before CHL in this state, I was pulled over for speeding. The cop must have been a rookie, he was so nervous that he would probably have pulled his gun if I had blinked. He was scary. I cannot imagine the results if I had told him I had a gun

The best thing anyone can do is follow LEO instruction and inform the officer they have a CWP and either have a weapon or not at the time being pulled over.

I would not inform if I was in a state that did not require it. If a cop is not used to hearing "I have a gun", he may react negatively.

OTOH, the few times I have been pulled over while armed, the cops have been friendly and nice when I informed. Both times I was only given a warning.

 

[Ken45101]

Keep your carry permit and your drivers license together. Hand the officer both at the same time. Try not to say "gun" etc just in case they or their partner mishear something. Hands in plain sight and others tips as offered above. No need to have a action or comment misinterpreted.

Just handing over the license does not meet the legal requirement in some states, such as Ohio. All that does is let them know you have a license, does not tell them that you are armed. Ohio requires that you notify that you are armed. Most of the time, they do not ask to see the CHL, you only have to show it if asked.

 

[polo1665]

i have had a ccw since 21 as well. i also have been pulled over 20+ times. I have never identified as having a ccw. Their systems at least in PA,MA,NY and NJ have no record of your ccw permit. i have only randomly been asked if there are guns in the car. sometimes there have been. they simply ask where they are and move on. Cops care more about your attitude then anything else.

Pretty sure I wouldn't want to be caught with a gun in my car in MA, NY or NJ. Whether I had a carry permit in my state or not.

 

[TCJatko]

Pretty sure I wouldn't want to be caught with a gun in my car in MA, NY or NJ. Whether I had a carry permit in my state or not.

I'm with you. In theory, you'd be protected by the Firearm Owners Protection Act, but the hassles would be enormous. And you'd probably never get your firearm back.

 

[BigBoyToys]

Not a traffic stop, but a little more intimidating when approached by a US Coast Guard vessel with 5 crew on board and the CG Cutter a few hundred yards away.

This summer while fishing in an offshore tournament, we were boarded by the US Coast Guard. My weapon was holstered in a backpack in a lower cabin. As soon as the CO boarded, I informed him of having a weapon on board. He asked if anyone was down below and to show him where the weapon was located. I brought him there and on the way told him there was one in the chamber, safety was on and magazine was full. He cleared the weapon and laid the mag and round on the bunk and held onto the gun.

There was one CO and 2 crew that boarded the boat and all were very nice. It was just a routine boarding where they wanted to insure all the paperwork was in order, had all the required USCG offshore safety gear, and asked if we had any catches in the fish boxes. Upon leaving they thanked us for our cooperation and me for informing them up front about a weapon on board.

As others have mentioned, being up front and warning any officer of having a weapon in/on your possession will usually result in the best outcome.

 

[shaeff]

I live in Commie NY. We don't have to notify an officer if we're armed during a traffic stop. I never do, unless I'm asked to exit the vehicle. That has only happened once when I argued that my license plate lights were NOT out. (I was correct.)

Before exiting my vehicle I notified the officer, a county sheriff, that I have a legally concealed firearm and of it's location on my person. He thanked me and made sure he kept an eye on me as he tried showing me my plate lights being out. I showed him that they were in fact illuminated, and that it appeared that his bright lights made it look like they were out. He shut off his lights which proved me correct, smiled, apologized for the hassle, thanked me for informing him of my firearm and off I went.

He did not ask to see my permit, he did not ask to take the weapon (holstered at 4:00 IWB), just made sure I didn't get fidgety. I made direct eye contact when speaking with him and was not nervous. I also made sure I kept my hands VERY clear of my firearm. I really had an itch behind the holster, but that could have been very bad if I had gone to scratch it!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Of all the police videos I have seen, the bad guys who get shot are either brandishing/firing a gun, or are openly resisting arrest, combative, not following orders and then make some move that is construed as life threatening. Both types of individuals are idiots and it shouldn't be a surprise when they get their *** shot off...and then the press blame the police when it's the perp's fault.. A compliant individual who follows their orders willingly and is still shot has basically been murdered.