Very Strange Traffic stop.

[ktm rider]

I have been reading a few of the traffic stops here lately and thought I would share one of mine that was a bit disturbing.

I work for a Federal Agency and I'm also on the our response team. I finally made my way onto the Marksman Observer team and had to drive to Louisiana for training.
Me and my partner had to drive there due to flying commercial with a firearm is just too much of a headache. We were driving back and were only about 3 hours from home when we headed through a West Virginia town that is a notorious speed trap. Well, I got nailed doing 55 in a 50. yep, he pulled me for that. and this is where the fun began.
We had three Rem 700 sniper rifles in their cases in the back seat of our plain white Gov't vehicle with absolutely no markings on it at all. We also had three 5 gallon buckets full of spent .308 and .223 casing (my partner is a big reloading fan) Everything in the vehicle was either tactical black or camo. We also had our issued Sig P226's under the front seats and we were in scruffy beards and civilian clothes.
The officer simply asked for my license. That was it. No questions about the rifle cases, the buckets of spent rounds, the tactical gear, where we worked or why we had these items in the car. I know he seen them right then and there. It was daylight!

He then came back 10 minutes later and asked for the registration for the car. I told him I had no idea where it was, it is a gov't vehicle.
He then asked if the address on my license was correct, and this is my favorite part, he asked if we had any weapons in the car !! REALLY !!!! 10 minutes later and you finally ask?? and you STILL don't acknowledge the arsenal in the back seat !!!!!
After pointing out that we did in fact have a weapon of two in the vehicle he STILL didn't get us out of the vehicle.... He simply went back to his car for a few more minutes and then came back and handed me a nice $185 ticket for 5 mph over the limit ( with a court date for 4 days later !) Nice to know professional courtesy is alive and well in west Virginia... Although he never did ask where we worked.

I got to thinking about this very poorly trained officers safety for a day or two and decided to call his dept and fill his supervisor in on the situation. I already sent the money in the mail by this time. the tickets was not the issue. My vehicle was just peppered with red flags and this guy pretty much ignored every single one of them... Are these small towns so broke that the only thing that is important is the revenue from speeding tickets???

That had to be one of the worst stops I have ever seen. Hopefully this officer found a new profession and quickly.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[goldshellback]

Intresting stop. That's all I got......'intresting'.

How'd the call to his dert. sup. go?

[ktm rider]

He didn't really seem to care either..Just thought I was trying to get out of the ticket. ( even though I explained twice that I already sent the money)

BTW- Is "goldshellback" a navy reference?

[Sandflea13]

Does the vehicle have a government tag? If not, what does the registration come back as when you punch it in the computer? Tags on unmarked vehicles here come back as blocked so most LEO's know what it is then.

[ktm rider]

Yeah they have Gov't tags.

[Biggie313]

he STILL didn't get us out of the vehicle

Why would he? You were a 100% within your legal rights to carry, and have the rifles, and a all the live ammo you wanted. Other than the speeding, you broke no other law warranting taking you out of the car

[Kerby]

He didn't really seem to care either..Just thought I was trying to get out of the ticket. ( even though I explained twice that I already sent the money)

BTW- Is "goldshellback" a navy reference?

Yes it is I am a fellow golden shellback 0 long 0 lat crossing the line is never fun the first time...

[TX expat]

Nice avatar!

[Kerby]

Nice avatar!

I like it...

[tcox4freedom]

Why would he? You were a 100% within your legal rights to carry, and have the rifles, and a all the live ammo you wanted. Other than the speeding, you broke no other law warranting taking you out of the car

That's what I was thinking.

You did nothing wrong except for speeding. I don't know that much about WV laws. But in SC, it is perfectly legal to carry firearms in a case in the backseat; and being in possession of "brass" is in NO WAY illegal.

I have no idea why you would say this was a poorly trained officer.

(Did you do anything wrong to raise suspicion?)

This guy did the RIGHT thing! (He respected your "CONSTITUTIONAL" rights!)

I wish we had more officers like him.

Maybe you need to come to the south more often; just to see what it means for an LEO to respect the "State" and "Federal" contitutionally allowed civilian protections.

(God knows, a lot of LEOs and politicians from your area of the country could use a few lessons on our "Constitutional" protections.)

[HotGuns]

I think he was unimpressed with 3 bolt action rifles. What some call a sniper rifle is just a typical deer rifle in most parts.
As for the buckets of empty brass...it was empty.

So you had weapons in the car. Big deal. He probably sees more weapons in W.Virginia in a week than a Fed sees in Maryland in a years time.

After pointing out that we did in fact have a weapon of two in the vehicle he STILL didn't get us out of the vehicle.... He simply went back to his car for a few more minutes and then came back and handed me a nice $185 ticket for 5 mph over the limit ( with a court date for 4 days later !)

Why would he order you out of the vehicle? Certainly you don't expect to be outed just for guns. Fact of the matter is, in most places, unless you have done something wrong, guns in a vehicle is NOT a reason to be harassed.

That had to be one of the worst stops I have ever seen.

It only serves to show how different the attitudes are between Feds and local cops. The Feds expect to be treated harshly because they have guns in the vehicle. The local cop saw no more than a guy speeding...that happened to have some guns in the back.

That says a lot about training.

[sigmanluke]

Agreed HotGuns.

The OP expected to be treated as he would have treated someone under the same circumstances. The only problem with this stop is that the OP has a problem with it.

To the Officer who pulled over the OP: WELL DONE

[TXcougar8000]

@ ktm rider - So you would prefer to be harassed despite being within your constitutional rights? Sounds like it was a good stop to me.

[orangevol]

Just curious...

What Fed agency do you work for and why didn't you show him your agency ID? Are you a full commissioned officer?

Why were your service pistols under the front seat instead of on your side?

[Chad Rogers]

Why exactly would an officer want to remove two people from a vehicle and now have them out and mobile?