License Check Point in N.C.

[smitholdtimer]

A fellow cc holder in N.C. shared with me that he went through a license check last week being conducted by our Highway Patrol officers in Winston-Salem, N.C. he presented his drivers license and cc permit to the officer. The officer inquired as to where the gun was located? Was it loaded? When the officer asked to see the weapon the driver stated he would clear the weapon but the officer insisted on clearing it himself. When he was finished he recorded the serial number of the weapon and returned it to the driver. I agree, the officer has to protect himself and those he is assisting but this is strange compared to my limited experience when being checked. If there has been an offense committed the situation should and would change. Have any of you North Carolinians had this experience with any HP or other LEO? Just seemed a little odd to me.

 

[Dennis The B]

In Michigan,...

...when you're pulled over by a police officer for any reason, you are obligated to advise him if you have a Concealed Pistol License, and if you are carrying. It's up to him as to how things proceed from there.

Since all handguns are registered in Michigan, the officer may run the serial number to see if the gun is properly registered.

Michigan law is such that routine license, insurance, registration, and sobriety checks can be conducted any time.

 

[aterry33]

I live in Charlotte, NC. I have not had this particular experience before, but I don't think the officer did anything wrong at all. If I were an officer, I'd probably prefer to clear the weapon myself--just because someone has a CCW permit doesn't mean they won't do something stupid with a gun. The officer has no way of knowing how careful that person is. I personally would rather have the officer check the gun as I don't want to be handling a weapon AT ALL around cops unless it's at a shooting range.

The officer probably wrote down the serial # to check it against the stolen database. If they want to do that, it's fine with me. I bet they do that with every car's license plate at the checkpoint to check if they're stolen too.

I know there are cops who harass CCW holders, and I'm against that, but I don't see any wrongdoing from the facts you described.

Also, as the other poster pointed out, checkpoints are legal--the Supreme Court says so, so long as they follow certain requirements which I won't list here. It's basically to allow for public safety, i.e. DUI checkpoint. That's probably what it was. You'd be surprised how many other arrests they make at these checkpoints for all manner of things.

 

[Bigpoppa]

Went thru a chkpoint in Eastern NC about a couple of months ago. I handed the officer my DLicense & CHP permit. He said "Perfect" handed it back to me and away I went, the whole thing took about 10secs. Three weeks ago I got pulled over for not signaling a turn, again I handed the officer my Dlicense & CHP permit together. He asked me "Did I have a weapon in the car?" I said "Yes Sir" He said "Next time you make a turn to use that signal, Have a good night sir" I said " Thank You and you do the same."

 

[ladder13]

No need to notify a LEO, here in terrible NY.

 

[smitholdtimer]

No need to notify

Morning Mike, would you care to elaborate on your statement please? I am unsure what you are saying and am interested in your input. Oh yea, Bigpappa, my experiences have been similar to the description you shared. Most officers I have encountered have seemed to consider a CC holder an ally instead of an adversary. May be that that is what I would like them to think as I am a law abiding citizen as opposed to being non law abiding.

 

[yourang?]

i know that this subject has been discussed much here and on
other boards

i also know, being in NY, that there is no legal duty to inform
if you are carrying and you are stopped in your car

the few policemen that i have talked to about it have told me
that they would rather be informed as a "courtesy" by the
person/driver

i have also tried like crazy to find out if there is any way that
the police know, when they run your driver's license or registration,
if you have a "licencse to carry", as we call it here in NY

supposedly, our LTC is not linked to our driver/car info

i am undecided as to whether i would inform or not
i guess i will have to cross that bridge when i come to it

 

[snakeman32]

i picked up my sister from work a couple of months ago at about 3 a.m. While we were driving I made a lane change and was pulled over by the sheriff deputy that was behind me. In Kansas we do not have to tell them we are carrying. It comes up when they run us. She told me the reason she pulled me over was because I started changing lanes before signaling. I knew that wasn't the case and she was just checking if I was drunk. I told her I used to be a deputy as well and handed her my DL and insurance card. She told me I knew the real reason she stopped me then. It was to check and see if I was drunk. I laughed and told her that is what I thought. She went back to the car and ran my DL, came back and told me to have a good night. Not once did she ask if I was carrying a gun, which I was.


snakeman

 

[Jim_Macklin]

exceeding authority?

The man was licensed. But recording the serial number of the gun constitutes an illegal "taking" IMHO.

I would make a written complaint and demand that all record of the gun, make ,model and serial number be purged from all records and databases.

 

[Crazy K38]

I had a buddy a few years back in colorado whowas big into airsoft and he was on his way back from a match when he got pulled over by a state trooper, well his beretta airsoft pistol was by the seat, when the officer saw it, he drew on my buddy called for back up, laid him out on the shoulder of the road and searched the vehicle, after all was said and done they had apoligized for the mix up but they had a fellow officer shot to death in a traffic stop and in their defence the airsoft pistol looked very real

 

[tops]

A fellow cc holder in N.C. shared with me that he went through a license check last week being conducted by our Highway Patrol officers in Winston-Salem, N.C. he presented his drivers license and cc permit to the officer. The officer inquired as to where the gun was located? Was it loaded? When the officer asked to see the weapon the driver stated he would clear the weapon but the officer insisted on clearing it himself. When he was finished he recorded the serial number of the weapon and returned it to the driver. I agree, the officer has to protect himself and those he is assisting but this is strange compared to my limited experience when being checked. If there has been an offense committed the situation should and would change. Have any of you North Carolinians had this experience with any HP or other LEO? Just seemed a little odd to me.[/QUO

I live in NC and it is not against the law to have a loaded gun in the car so it is not the cops business whether or not it is loaded. For a drivers license check why should he give his gun to a cop to record ser#. The driver wasn't doing anything illegal, the cop had no reason to suspect the gun was stolen so in 1776 this would have been an illegal search and seizure. It is beyound my comprehension that law abiding gun owners would support that overbearing, arrogant cop. Larry

 

[dennis40x]

The driver’s license checks are at random in North Carolina. I’ve yet to see one done on a major highway thou it would be fun to see Interstate 40 backed up for miles. This is the first time I’ve head of a law enforcement officer recording a serial number that’s odd. I hand them my drivers’ license, vehicle registration, insurance card, and NC-CHP. They’ve always been professional and I’ve never had a problem. On occasion I’ve been asked “What are you packing today?” other than that no big deal.

 

[Faulkner]

The man was licensed. But recording the serial number of the gun constitutes an illegal "taking" IMHO.

I would make a written complaint and demand that all record of the gun, make ,model and serial number be purged from all records and databases.

I have been a LE for 14 years and I've NEVER had a problem with a licensed CCW permit holder. But, as for running the serial number on their gun, I regularly do it when time and situation allows and as a result I have recovered about a dozen stolen guns. In every case, the owner did not know it was stolen and our investigations revealed they had bought them used from various places.

I can assure you the "original" owner was glad to get them back. If you want to complain about that, go ahead. We have a special file for those complaints.

 

[Tom Beavert]

I feel the LEO has no right/power to check the ser.# of the weapon.
As to the previous poster with the 'special file' for comments from the public he does'nt like, if we searched the homes and POVs of all LEOs we would find lot's of things of intrest to the public. Should we do this? Let's start with yours.
Comments welcome
Tom B

 

[ladder13]

Morning Mike, would you care to elaborate on your statement please?

As yourang? stated there is no statutory requirement to notify a LEO that you are in possession of a handgun while driving here in NY.
I have been asked to show a license for handgun possession while out deer hunting, by conservation officers.

 

[Faulkner]

I feel the LEO has no right/power to check the ser.# of the weapon.
As to the previous poster with the 'special file' for comments from the public he does'nt like, if we searched the homes and POVs of all LEOs we would find lot's of things of intrest to the public. Should we do this? Let's start with yours.
Comments welcome
Tom B

Thanks for the feedback Tom.

Just for informational purposes to you, we check the serial numbers on lots of items like ATV's, motorcycles, TV's, computers, and guns. Often times that's how we recover stolen items. To my knowledge, we don't "record" them, we only check them against the database of stolen items.

As for comments we don't like, we get those all the time and most LE departments welcome them because it helps us to work better with the community. The "special file" I mentioned (tongue in check, I might add) is only for the stupid ones, and we get lots of those too. What do I mean by stupid ones? For example, these are the ones where people complain that we had no right to arrest them for the dope or alcohol or meth lab supplies they had in their car when the only reason we pulled them over was for speeding. Or the ones where they complain we had no right to the sieze the property they had in their possesion that happened to be stolen.

Lastly, as for your comment, "if we searched the homes and POVs of all LEOs we would find lot's of things of intrest to the public," I don't understand the point. As a LEO and a Christian, I believe I am held to a higher standard of conduct than most so you have my personal assurance there's nothing in my POV or home that I wouldn't want my wife, kids, sheriff or pastor to see. Just for you, Tom, I'd let you take a peek too.

So, in conclusion, checking serial numbers of firearms during certain situations just don't bother me none. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Zilmo]

The man was licensed. But recording the serial number of the gun constitutes an illegal "taking" IMHO.

I would make a written complaint and demand that all record of the gun, make ,model and serial number be purged from all records and databases.

Seems just a tad over the top to me.

 

[HayesGreener]

The reasonableness of the officer's actions is dependent upon the context of the situation. In general, Law Enforcement Officers have good reason to be concerned about weapons on people they are in contact with during an investigation or enforcement action on the street, and have every legal right to ask to see it, to control it, and make it safe while in their presence. Whether or not a person who refuses to comply with the officer's request would be subject to charges depends upon the laws where you are. However, it is not advisable to give an officer further reason for suspicion or fear, especially if he knows a gun is present. You may have only one contact with a law enforcement officer under these conditions once in your lifetime. He will have hundreds of such contacts during his career and the law of averages started catching up to him the day he graduated from the police academy. Consider that he has no idea of who you are or what your intentions are. Once the uncertainty is cleared up you will generally get a more harmonious outcome. Another point to remember is that there are 700,000 law enforcement officers in more than 17,000 agencies in this country. The laws, policies, training, and experience levels of officers and criminal activity varies to all extremes.
Once the officer has the weapon lawfully in his view it is perfectly lawful and reasonable for him to write down whatever he sees, including the serial number. Just like writing down your tag number, or the serial number of a TV in your back seat, etc. This inquisitive nature of law enforcement officers is how investigations are conducted and crimes uncovered-it is fundamental to policing. Your weapon was returned and you were allowed to proceed, nothing lost but a few minutes of your time.

 

[sw44spl]

at my old police dept at check points we just asked if they had a gun and if they did where was it and to keep there hands on the steering wheel.afetr making sure their OL was good we sent them on there way.we never wrote down a number.

 

[Electraclyde]

I don't have a problem notifying that I have a loaded gun on me or in the vehicle (required here in Michigan) However I do have a problem handing over a loaded gun to anyone. Just because he/she is a LEO does not make then fully aware of the operation of all handguns. I would not wish to see a LEO have an AD because they were unfamiliar with my particular gun. I have met and known LEO's that did not know much about any gun except their duty gun.