Oh c'mon... You usually have great posts, but this one stinks...

Do you want someone to roll down their window and start yelling back at you "I have a gun! I have a gun!"

No, you approach, keep your wits about you, and ask for license, registration and do you have any weapons? Easy, quick, and if the driver is a crazed lunatic, high on meth and straight from killing the entire neighborhood and looking for a cop to blow away to complete his initiation into the 'Satan's Demons' biker club, I'm sure he'll tell you he is armed and keep his hands at 10 and 2.

Or if he's a war hero who just saved 200 people in a cruise ship sinking on his way to pick up the Nobel Prize for humanitarian efforts and he says yes, I have a licensed firearm at my 7:00 position, then the cop can freak out and scream at the poor man for having the audacity to drive into your neighborhood and act so recklessly putting the cop's life and the lives of nearly every human on the planet at risk... (and while that seems ridiculous, we have video of that happening )

Man I just don't see the point. Please tell me again why if it's a big concern to the officer, why he can't come right out and ask if the citizen has a weapon? Even in states where a citizen HAS to offer that he has a weapon, why can't the officer just ask?

I think it has something to do with the way some officers are nowadays...

Remember back in the 70's, maybe this wasn't true everywhere, but in my little community if a guy came stumbling out of a bar, or if an officer made a pass through a tavern (which they used to do) and the officer noticed someone may have had a bit much to drink, the officer would stop the man and ask him to get a ride, or even help the man get a ride. In our little town some people actually got the cop to take them home.

But nowadays, I have seen cops watch a drunk come out of a bar, stumble around, fumble with the car lock, get in his car and sit for 10 minutes while the cop watches, then when the drunk starts the car and drives a couple of blocks, the cop hits the lights and makes the arrest.

Which is more dangerous, letting a known drunk start his car and drive down a busy street or stopping the drunk from driving in the first place?

And why the change? Maybe this is the same as demanding someone declare they have a weapon instead of just asking. I don't know...