Informing LEO's about your CHL: a helpful courtesy?

[Harry Callahan]

Illinois might as well be a foreign nation. It so oppressed here. The LEOs are sooooo uptight for the most part. I was at my daughter's dance recital in Schaumburg, Il a few weeks back. A guy wearing a White Sox jersey comes in open carrying his Glock. The head usher asks to see his credentials, which he happily displays as he is a deputy for the Cook County Sheriff's department and says he is waiting for his in-laws to show up as his daughter is dancing also. So he's waiting in the lobby with me and we strike up a conversation regarding his Glock, just making conversation. Then, a Schaumburg cop shows up with his hand on his weapon and again asks the deputy to see his credentials. I guess you can never be too safe and the usher was just doing his job, but it was kind of ironic how Illinois residents still get jerked around even when they are legal. I just wish we would all wise up here and learn how to vote.

 

[djohn]

Luvsasmith although do respect your opinion as TFL member and a police officer but bringing guns into a conversation is more information then needed.Its not required by law for me in my state and I do not need to be asked to step out with my hands up like a BG while I am disarmed like a criminal.IMO it creates a public seen making me look like a BG while some rookie old enough to be my kid gets his/her feathers in a ruffle that I have a gun on my belt.

 

[aaalaska]

Here in the greatland we are allowed to carry without a permit , but are required to inform during any stop.

 

[Sigma 40 Blaster]

I have been pulled over a handful times, in TX if you are carrying you are required to inform, but I would anyway. If I were in their shoes I would want the same, so I voluntarily disclose the info and follow any commands.

Out of five times I have had one unpleasant experience and four reasonably good ones. I got issued a warning twice (speeding and rolling through a stop sign), and just let go the other three. The first time I thought it was luck and the more I was let off the hook I decided I would keep approaching the situation in that manner...previously my luck with the law wasn't that good.

 

[Anticonn]

A police friend of mine was telling me about this a while back, when they do a traffic stop dispatch informs them if the owner has a CCW permit, and he said most the time people that are carrying inform him while handing over their license/insurance/registration. He seemed to like that people do it, I havent' been pulled over in quite a while, and I've wondered if I should or not.

In my car I usually have a speed strip in the center console, and at times a gun with it. I don't want the officer to see the gun while I'm looking for my registration and think I'm going for it instead of papers, it's too easy to miscomunicate your intentions when the gun isn't known to him. I Imagine it would simply be something like "I have a handgun in the console with my papers, if you prefer you can retrieve them yourself, or I can clear the weapon and take out the papers."

As an extension of this, I don't start looking for things in the car until asked, I've just seen too many episodes of cops where they're pulling someone over and they can see the driver is rooting around for things while slowing down or whatever, and since it's on Cops it never ends well. I don't like to give them any reason to doubt my actions/intentions.

(as a side note, CO allows concealed carry w/o permit in your own vehicle, home, or business, I do not know if you are required to inform)

 

[trigger happy]

I'm sure they already know by the time I pull over

 

[nemo2econ]

May we search your vehicle?

The "May we search your vehicle?" request mentioned in an above post is a subject for a whole different thread. Without cause, I don't think the police or anyone else should be searching for a problem.

I agree with Doublestack on this: without cause, there is no reason for them to ask, and further, per the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution, any search would be unreasonable if there were no cause. But the detailed discussion on this is definitely worthy of another post.

I haven't been stopped by LE for a very long time, and I've never been stopped while carrying with my CHL. I would probably not volunteer my carry status upfront but would if asked to exit the vehicle.

 

[Crankylove]

I have dealt with the Police once since getting my CWP in Utah. I kept hands on the steering wheel, and told the officer on my side of my truck that I had a permit, that the gun was cocked and locked, and where it was. He thanked me for telling him up front, and proceeded to run my drivers license and registration. After they gave me a verbal warning for parking in a no parking area, they had me step out of my car, they retrieved my weapon and checked its serial number, gave it back, and sent me on my way. The two officers I spoke with told me they prefer to have people tell them up front if they have a weapon with them, since they will find out anyway (linked to your drivers license) and if ya don't tell them, they wonder why you would try to hide the fact. I have no problem letting them know I am carrying, and would rather let them know first thing, than have them find out and think I was trying to hide somethin from them. The law in Utah is kinda grey on the whole "Am I required to tell the police" thing, depends on which law enforcement agency you talk to, what day of the week, and which particular person............so I will always be up front and let them know i have my pistol on me.

 

[Bud Helms]

The two officers I spoke with told me they prefer to have people tell them up front if they have a weapon with them, since they will find out anyway (linked to your drivers license) and if ya don't tell them, they wonder why you would try to hide the fact.

Well, here's one problem: a mindset: "... if ya don't tell them, they wonder why you would try to hide the fact."

The truth is, they may or not think you're trying to hide something. That's an assumption you are using to guide your actions, so it's advisable to get it right or don't assume too much. A failure to inform does not equate to trying to hide the fact that you're totin'. When you inform is a decision also. Blurting it out can be misunderstood. So waiting for the right moment in the "conversation" to introduce the subject could be construed by the enforcer as an intention to hide, up until the moment you do, I suppose.

There is no requirement to inform here in GA. I make my decision based on the progress of the encounter and the behavior of the enforcer. I get an attitude and he/she gets legal compliance. I get respect, he/she gets it back, doubled.

Don't make the mistake of having the same attitude with all enforcers. You are under no requirement to make the enforcer feel good about you. It is not a social encounter. You are under the requirement to comply with the law. The attitude posture brought to the encounter by the enforcer is set before his cruiser rolls to a stop.

For the most part, enforcers here in GA are very professional and respectful in their dealings with us in the herd.

 

[Uncle Billy]

It seems clear to me that if there's even a remote possibility the presence of a gun (any gun) could become known during an interaction with an LEO wherein you are the focus of his or her attention, telling the officer at the outset of the weapon sets the interaction in a safer, less tense direction than having to explain the gun AFTER the officer becomes aware of it; after you didn't tell him and he's wondering why you didn't.

When a cop walks up to my car in a traffic stop (the most probable reason I'd come into the interests of an LEO), he or she has no idea what agendas I might have, what my mental state is, whether I'm drunk or stoned or really pi**ed at my ex-wife or livid because I just got a parking ticket or really mad because I was stopped at all, or whether I had just committed a crime and am intent on escape, maybe murder so I have nothing to lose by "offing" the officer- and any alert police officer will approach me with all the caution and readiness they can muster. Telling them of a weapon at hand and asking for directions at the outset prevents the escalation of the situation, already tense and at "DEFCON 3 or 2" from becoming "DEFCON 1" on the part of the officer. I'm just an average, law-abiding, responsible guy with no evil intent or anti-social agenda, but the LEO can't assume that.

It's probably different depending on which state you're in. New York's CCL is maybe the hardest to get of all the states- background checks and fingerprints to the FBI, the State Police and your local police agency; three references that are interviewed by local police along with your wife, who sometimes is asked out of your presence if it's okay with her if you have a gun and if she says no then no license and no explanation of why not; a stated reason to own and carry a weapon which may or may not be adequate depending on which county you're applying from- and it usually takes 6 months. You can't have anything to do with handguns if you don't have a license; it's even illegal to allow your kid to shoot your K-22 at the range with you standing next to him or her if they don't have a license. The point of all this is that if someone is seen to be in possession of a handgun here, it's all too easy to assume it's illegally carried. That makes it more prudent to tell an LEO of a legally-carried weapon here than in other states with less rigorous gun control. Here, anyone walking around with an openly carried handgun is going to get jacked up immediately- that's illegal for "civilians".

 

[Mr. James]

Boy, Uncle Billy, if that isn't about the most damning account of all that's wrong with "may issue."

To the topic, I do not inform. I am not required in Virginia and I do not see how needlessly mentioning a tool I happen to be carrying is in any way relevant to the business at hand. If asked, I'll answer honestly. If ordered out of my vehicle (extrememly unlikely), I will inform the officer of my status, ask how he wants to proceed, and comply with his instructions.

Under no circumstances will I consent to a search of my vehicle. No way. Uh-uh. Ain't happening. If officers want to go ahead and search, they will. We can sort out the legal niceties in due time and in the appropriate venue.

Bob James

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

I'll tell the officer simply because it's the nice thing to do. We're talking about something like a traffic stop here. The officer is not your enemy, the officer is not "big brother" who "has no right to know" blah blah blah. The officer is a person doing a job and I can make it easier and make them feel safer. Often times, as others have indicated, they will express their appreciation in the form of no ticket, which is always nice. Sometimes they will write the ticket anyway, doesn't matter. Just tell them, there's no reason not to.

 

[Uncle Buck]

As a former police officer, I would like to be told.
As someone who is stopped, I only tell if the officer asks for my registration and insurance AND I have a weapon in the glove box with the papers, or if I am carrying and I am asked to step out of the vehicle.

"Can I search your vehicle?"
"Why? What are you looking for?"

This is usually enough to stop an officer from going any further. I do not consent to a search unless they provide a good reason (And I have time to sit along side the road while waiting for them to bring a dog in to sniff). Again, as a former police officer, I am a stickler for other officers to follow the law and be professional.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I am in the camp that believes that unless I am asked outright, or asked to step out of the vehicle, that there is no reason to offer that information.

Pretty much the same for me here as well (Va laws).

However, I will say that if an officer asks you to step out of the vehicle I strongly recommend that you calmly inform the officer if you are armed and ask for instructions before you make any movement.

Having been on both sides of that equation I would much rather be informed than have the surprise of finding out someone is armed.

Regardless of what many may feel, right there on the roadside it's ALWAYS about making the officer feel that they have the situation under control.

 

[Skans]

I don't generally cary a firearm on me or in my car. Where I live, I just don't feel the need. But, when I travel, I will have a loaded firearm locked im my glove compartment box. And, when I'm coming back from shooting I'll have more guns than I can fit in my locked glove box.

FWIW, I drive a stick shift and can pull my key out of the ignition and unlock my glovebox, get my gun out and put the key back in the ignition, if needed. I know, because I've tried this before.

If I happen to have a handgun exposed in a way that a cop could possibly see it, I would pull over, and slowly put my hands outside of the window and tell the cop that I have firearm(s) in the car as he approached. None of them are worth getting shot over due to some nervous cop with an itchy trigger finger.

 

[J.Netto]

Any time I have ever been pulled over, (just once or twice) - I turn the car off, go ahead and retrieve my driver's license and ccw license, proof of insurance and registration, BEFORE the officer comes up to the car. That way, I'm not reaching for anything while they are standing outside my car talking to me. I make sure that I keep both hands on the wheel, and hold all of my documentation in my left hand.

I always tell them I have a firearm(S). They already know anyway. They have never asked me to step out of the car, or remove my firearm from the holster, or anything like that. I have never had a bad experience with a police officer, when it comes to carrying a concealed weapon.

There was one time about 10 years ago - I got pulled over, and he was really nervous when he ran my plate and realized I might have a firearm on me. He asked, I told him I did, he asked me to get out of the car and stand by the front bumper. I did, he asked me to put my hands on the hood, I did - he asked me where It was, I told him, he retrieved it, and asked me why the hammer was cocked back like that. (It was a 1911). He didn't like that at all.
I had to explain that I carry it that way all of the time, and not because I was at the ready to shoot him, or whatever. He made me stand at the front of my car , with my gun on my driver side seat, until he got in his car and drove away.

 

[armsmaster270]

As A former officer I appreciated it if I was told up front on a vehicle stop and I have always told officers that I was armed when they stopped me it's not the law but courtesy.

 

[Colt1911forever]

It is my practice for the sake of mine and the officers safety to inform the officer when I present my Lic and registration. I also hand them my CHP and inform them verbally that I am armed.

I have been told, fine leave it there to having an officer take control of the pistol. That makes me nervous but there is not much you can do.

In VA they have the info but there is no law notify....

 

[Conn. Trooper]

I agree with Doublestack on this: without cause, there is no reason for them to ask, and further, per the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution, any search would be unreasonable if there were no cause. But the detailed discussion on this is definitely worthy of another post.

I haven't been stopped by LE for a very long time, and I've never been stopped while carrying with my CHL. I would probably not volunteer my carry status upfront but would if asked to exit the vehicle.

Actually they don't need a reason to ask you. Asking is getting consent, which is perfectly legal. Thye need a reason to search without your consent. There are exceptions to needing a search warrant, depending on your state. But asking someone to search their car is legal. You don't have to consent, thats legal as well.

I always let a LEO know I am carrying if I get stopped ( I don't get stopped much anymore, maybe its the off duty use of my cruiser). I like when someone tells me they have a gun on them, definitely makes me lean towards a written warning, but I don't write many tickets anyway.

 

[ronto]

It's the law in my state to inform. Interestingly, there is no penalty if you don't. However, once the LEO runs an in-state license he'll know anyway so there is no reason not to inform other than turning a warning into a ticket.