My first interaction with LEO while carrying

[mr.stuart]

I know a retired cop that worked at the local gun shop for years. He told me this, " if you are legal to carry, and you are not doing some criminal act,don't worry about police and your gun. Inform them,stay calm. If they have a problem that you carry,take it to court"

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[MuchoUno]

I would not tell an officer that I'm carrying any sooner than I would tell the drive-up attendant at a fast food drive thru. Why? Because I don't know the character of either, and I carry to protect myself from the unexpected. Not looking for warm fuzzy experiences. Only to be left alone as a law-abiding citizen minding his own business.

[Hawkerdriver]

I stopped on ramp once in TN to reply to a detailed txt. While pulled over, a trooper pulled up behind me,said i was parked in an emergency lane.I also had a non-alcoholic beer in the console.He saw that and got real uptight,told me to hand it to him and exit the vehicle. I did,he asked me the weapons question to which i responded affirmative. He cuffed me.
He retrieved my weapon from my carry holster.I said i have a permit,with reciprocity in his state.He took it,did vehicle search with my consent,and removed my back up .380 from center console and ran all the checks.3 more units show up.Then i had to do a FST because of the "beer". Everything checked out eventually,he calmed down,but still said my permit was no good in his state.I learned alot about being in the officer's shoes while I served a few years as a reserve trooper in my home state,like being compliant and just wait it out in these type situations.If you get defensive or cocky with them you're going to have a long day.I went to SO @ home and found out trooper was wrong on the permit issue.Oh well,cops are human,think the guy was just having a bad day.

[oakchas]

I stopped on ramp once in TN to reply to a detailed txt. While pulled over, a trooper pulled up behind me,said i was parked in an emergency lane.I also had a non-alcoholic beer in the console.He saw that and got real uptight,told me to hand it to him and exit the vehicle. I did,he asked me the weapons question to which i responded affirmative. He cuffed me.
He retrieved my weapon from my carry holster.I said i have a permit,with reciprocity in his state.He took it,did vehicle search with my consent,and removed my back up .380 from center console and ran all the checks.3 more units show up.Then i had to do a FST because of the "beer". Everything checked out eventually,he calmed down,but still said my permit was no good in his state.I learned alot about being in the officer's shoes while I served a few years as a reserve trooper in my home state,like being compliant and just wait it out in these type situations.If you get defensive or cocky with them you're going to have a long day.I went to SO @ home and found out trooper was wrong on the permit issue.Oh well,cops are human,think the guy was just having a bad day.

If your permit was no good in his state (in his opinion)... I'm surprised he did not detain/arrest you.

I'm not gonna have a near beer in the car... but that's me.

[Alex_C]

I've only ever been pulled over once in my life. and that was just because I had a light out. I told the officer right away that I had a CPL (as per Michigan law) but that I was not carrying at that time (which I wasn't, I was going to work). It was a non-issue, he just told me to fix the light and sent me on my way.

[XD 45]

Glad you and the family are ok

[paching]

Unless I'm being detained, I keep it to myself. I don't how he will react to me being armed.. jumpy cops make me nervous.

[nazshooter]

I keep my insurance and registration clipped to my visor specifically so I won't have to go into the glove box where I may have a gun.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[Bark'n]

Nothing like getting into an accident to cap off your cross country trip. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt.

Every now and then you hear of some horror story of a ccw holder with a bad encounter with an LEO during a routine traffic stop. But I think the vast majority of them go just like yours did.

I always inform the officer even though it's not required. It has always gotten a positive response, and the officers always acted like it was no big deal. I've never been issued a citation either. Whether that has anything to do with it, I have no idea, but the LEO's who stopped me have always been pro-gun and pro-ccw so who knows.

[ANGLICO]

I've been blessed. Only full contact with other vehicles was on the HDs (a couple of times - oops) and not with family, kids or other.

God blessed you on this one.

Semper Fi!

[Hawkerdriver]

OAKCHAS - Altho I found out he was wrong about permit..His state DOES have reciprocity with mine-it turned out to be a non-event.My point of post was just to remind anyone ever caught in same scenario to just be cool..That's all.Actually the other units that showed up were laughing at him because he had never heard of a "near beer" before. One guy said you would have to drink about 2 CASES of that stuff to even blow above .02..just sayin..

[BigJon10125]

Sorry about the accident but glad everything else went well. Nice to hear good stories amongst all the bad. You know what they say, a negative event you tell a thousand people, a positive you tell 10.

[sixgun]

Glad all of you are ok. It seems if your honest with the officer showing you have nothing to hide it seems to go better for the both of you.

[Lish]

I personally wouldn't tell unless asked to exit the vehicle or asked if I was carrying, I've heard cops say it's pointless information they don't want and some even get jumpy.

Because it was a car accident, I was out of the vehicle when the police arrived, tending to my kids through the side door (my epileptic was complaining of a headache which scared me) and checking on the injured driver of one of the other cars. My own back was on fire and I hadn't decided yet if I'd get checked out by EMT's. Notifying the first officer seemed like the way to go with it sitting behind my hip and everything going on. With the severity of the other drivers injuries i decided not to get checked out myself since i could wait with a minor injury. In the past, I hadn't made a hard decision how I would handle interactions with police while carrying, of my closest friend's is an LEO and will typically disarm if someone lets her know they're carrying, which I don't agree with, but I'm also not in her shoes. I do believe most experiences go well and I really don't have a problem notifying up front if I'm carrying, even if I don't have to.