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Its not any unsafer (is that a word?) than the traffic stop itself. We are not in a position to determine if it was irrelevant or unecessary. He could have wanted to "admire" it for more reasons than are apparent, maybe just to ease tensions between the two. We will never know.
If a LEO wants to disarm me during the stop, it's his call.
But I would rather he didn't for two reasons:
1) anytime you handle a gun you risk an accident. I'm not afraid to unholster and unload in the car; I do it frequently. But under the stress of a stop, the risk goes up slightly. Not a big deal but why risk it?
2) my main point of confusion is when as cited above, the officer is worried about my frame of mind. If I am a bad guy or a wacko and the officer asks me to unload, isn't he giving me a huge advantage over him since he has just agreed to stand by and watch as I unholster my gun? Wouldn't that definitely put him behind my OODA loop?
Maybe one of the LEO's on the forum can point out the flaw in my thinking.
I love a happy ending....sniff, sniff....Awesome.....
PaulG,
You could be right. Still is a good traffic stop. Its not that big a deal to me. I've had more than my share of traffic stops. I feel more stress waiting in line at Wally World.
Wow, this thread has spurred a lot of good discussion and healthy debate. All good points and probably no right or wrong answers.
Everyone seems to have their own opinions. And that's good, everyone has one.
Thanks for starting this tread!
If I had a sneaky feeling like the person legally armed might have an issue (ie majorly depressed and possibly suicidal) I might ask them to unload their weapon under the pretext to checking it out. By giving them a task to do, it takes their mind off of the situation. That is a psycological tactic.
Now that was to answer a specific questioned asked.
However on my stops of legal CCL holders, many a time it turned to different weapons and modes of carry. We as gun lovers are prone to show off our toys and in that situation it is much safer to do than when sitting at a counter of a gun store.
Its also being polite, to be able to praise the owners weapon selection ext ect.
I know there are those who regardless of the situation would be happy with anyone having their weapon taken from them no matter what, and even more so when its a leo doing it. Something about the leo and his authority. Thats ok. Just like there are over the edge leos just the same there are CCL holders who are over the edge as well.
In His service