Got laid up for a day or two and turned on the "Idiot box". I really do not watch much TV,... but came across a "Cops" marathon. So, ... I am watching about 15 episodes (Thank the gawds for TIVO) and was stunned,... stunned at all the guns pulled off of KIDS. When LE is securing the gun, the question always arises....."Is there one in the chamber?" The answer,... 10 out of 10 times was "Yes". Is there a difference in what the charge is if a round is chambered?

One officer,... an older guy,... gave this young buck ONE HE&& of a pursuit and caught him by diving at him,... grabbing the back of his saggy britches,... pulling them down enough where the kid shoe-stringed himself and went down. They ended up pulling his pants off in order to duck walk him to the car. In the post interview COPS always does, he was talking about the take-down when the other officer calls out "Gun while looking through the kids pants. The officer giving the story, stops in mid-sentence and asks if a round is chambered... (yep) and takes a deep swallow.....

I'm thinking the charge is ramped-up if one is in the chamber...

Sounds like a good safety protocol to remind the cop with the yahoo's pistol to check !

Lots of 'unloaded' gun nd's arise from not checking (sometimes by reversing the manual of arms and checkng chamber before dropping the mag).

I watched one of those shows a while back and the fellow they were arresting said he had a concealed carry permit but not on him at the moment and the cop said they would check on it but he was still being charged with illegal transportation of a firearm.

If you have a permit how can you be charged with illegal transportation? I must have missed something on that one.

I think the charges should be the same, chambered or not. What if it's a revolver?

Bad guys don't carry a revolver, it ain't cool.

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Recycled Bricklayer

It is not . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I have a hard time watching Cops anymore. It seems like the car chases always go the same way. Some guy totals a nice car, often slamming in to 3 or 4 others in the process, before the police nab him. It is then discovered that the bad guy was driving a stolen car.

The total property damage must come to tens of thousands of dollars. And of course the guy has no assets or legal means of support, so no chance he pays anything. If he does go to jail, you can bet he's back out before you arrive to work on Monday. So he does it again and again because there are no real consequences to him.

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You're shy a few manners.

Typically they have never seen the gun before, so how would they know if it's loaded?
No matter what the answer is, seems like a useless question.

That's not my crack pipe. No idea how it got in my pocket.

I always figured that they are talking for the camera. Making sure that they get a chance to speak a few more lines in their brief time in the lime light.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Why does "These ain't my pants." never work?

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

I had two more episodes to watch and just finished up. On one,... they chased this guy down an alley and after they "hooked him up"... they started looking around. Found a real nice 3rd gen S&W (45 cal). Asked the "detainee" where he got it. ....answer.... Garage sale,........ (this was in California BTW). On the other one,.. . a kid had a sawed off .22 down his ghetto pants. He was on his way to settle a score,... over a soda pop...

Thanx for the answer gents. The last time I watched an episode of COPS had to be about 10 yrs ago. Don't EVER remember them finding guns on anyone,... much less kids back then.

Guy is driving a stolen car that he just borrowed from his best friend but cant remember his name. Stolen gun under the seat that he has never seen before. Dope in the glovebox that someone else must have put there. The drunk hooker in the passenger seat is just someone he was giving a lift on his way to work. Must have been a mistake on the warrants cuz he ain't never been arrested before. Is there a round in the chamber?

Gun-handling is right behind criminal law in the top two things you DON'T learn from TV.

I'm thinking it makes for better ratings because the gun sound more evil and dramatic if it has a loaded chamber

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Retired Career Security Guard

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In some states it is a distinct offense to carry without having the permit on your person. If it is under a subsection of the same offense, the name of the charge would be the same. In some states it is a BFHD to carry without having your permit on you.

I can't see a good reason to ask. Criminals lie. I would always check for myself because of that, unless this was an effort to add a charge for lying (called false or misleading statement here; a gross misdemeanor, but also an impeachment offense since it is a crime of dishonesty).

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NHI, 10-8.

Emphasis added

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Retired Career Security Guard

Some of the smarter ones do when the intent is to assassinate somebody without leaving brass for forensic testing, or having to pick it up before leaving the scene.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Here's an idea...

Lying criminal or not... there is always a round in the chamber until you drop the magazine and pull back the slide and know for yourself.

You must stop equating movies and television to real life. You are giving way too much credit to the average criminal. Actually, too much credit to what would constitute an advanced criminal as well. These guys don't think like that. They shoot what they have . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Actually I heard that from a cop.

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Oh well, what the hell.

What's this "Cops" show...?

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NRA Life Member

I was watching a cop show recently when somebody was turning in a pistol. First he racked the slide (empty), then released the mag and handed it over. And the show went on.

I taught my son gun safety and operation of a semi pistol, a revolver, a rifle and a shotgun. He's a really smart kid but somewhat hyper but when I was teaching him this stuff I made sure that I had his full attention and he did very well.

Enter the 'street thug' mindset and a total change in character. During the 'narc raid' he was found to have two guns. A Hi Point (naturally) and a Taurus semi of some kind. One of them had MIXED CALIBERS OF AMMO IN THE MAGAZINE, AND MY SON KNEW ABOUT IT!

People frowned upon 'beating' lessons into kids, but now I think it's a good idea because maybe it would stick. If people wonder why a "really smart kid" with would do something like this, when they get with the wrong people, find the worst stuff they can on cable TV and the internet, listen to 'music' that encourages nothing but self destruction, get into drugs and that street gang mindset, then intelligence and training go out the window. That's the reason I kept my guns in the safe all the time. I don't care how much a kid has been taught/trained. When they decide to go stupid there is no limit to what they can accomplish and I wasn't taking any chances.

I'm sorry I got off on a rant, but the question about getting picked up holding guns hit a nerve and led right into this. Besides, it's something that people should hear regardless of how unpleasant it is as an example of just what can go wrong.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Was watching an episode of First 48, (I know, another TV show), where the police responded to a fatal shooting in the projects. While canvasing the area for spent brass, the officer said "We probably won't find any, the locals pick it up before we get here." Don't know if that's the norm or not. If it is, it seems the locals would rather protect the bad guys than help the police catch them.

I have never talked to an officer of the law that assumed anybody was unarmed until they had searched them.
Then there was an old boy so fat that he hid a gun in the folds of the fat and it was discovered after they had him IN jail.
Houston Texas !
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

i remember that it was a 9mm auto

Some states you have to have the permit with you if your carrying concealed so if the permit is not with you your carrying concealed illegally.

A lot of the bad areas of town are very anti police and will do just that.
Before I moved the power line went down and the punks who would yell at the police treated the electric company workers the same way. If I were the electric company workers I would have left and told my mgmt it was not safe to be there and left the punks without power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4POmPxa1Vpk

1. Nice 5904

2. Penny racks the slide then inserts the magazine.

3. When Leonard takes the gun from her the decocker/safety is clearly in the "safe" position.

4. Leonard still manages to shoot his Rebocks.

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Retired Career Security Guard

I watch "COPS" a lot on tv. It never ceases to amaze me when an officer (more often than not it's a youngster with not a lot of experience) disarms a suspect and when he goes to check/clear the weapon he has no clue how to operate the controls. Some of them even let the muzzle stray to a dangerous direction as they struggle with the slide, magazine release or safety etc. The potential for disaster seems enormous. Don't most agencies offer instruction on at least some of the more common weapons they are likely to encounter. Seems like it'd be a good idea to me. Could save a life.

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Real men love cats!

No. I have heard/seen some stuff would make you run and hide just to avoid reading it, not to mention actually being there. Well, I should not say no as a complete answer, but not near enough agencies do what they should. I have seen some really clownshoes stuff.

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NHI, 10-8.

Going from memory, in certain jurisdictions it is legal to carry an unloaded gun without a permit. These same places define an automatic with an empty chamber as unloaded. Thus whether or not a round is chambered is important in determining if one can be charged for the gun.