Traffic Stop

[frito1]

Last night I had my first traffic stop/encounter with a LEO since getting my carry permit. Me, the wife, and my 20 year old daughter had been out furniture shopping. Just about a quarter of a mile from home there is a state highway intersection. As we approached I saw the blues and figured it was someone getting a ticket. We were speculating about what was going on when I realized there were 4 cars and multiple officers at the intersection. As I stopped an officer approached, introduced himself and said they were checking for license, registration, and insurance. I made some wise crack that I wasn’t sure if I had any of those things, pulled out my wallet and went to digging. About that time I realized my daughter, in her attempt to help me, was opening the glove box and was fixing to have a hand full of my truck gun. I quickly & firmly told her to stop moving and finished the sentence to the officer with “I have a carry permit and she is just about to put her hands all over *one* of my guns to get the registration”. He just chuckled and said no problem; you’ve done what you’re supposed to. I told him I was gonna move the pistol to the dash so she could dig for paper work. “No problem” he says. He took a quick look at the requested documents (didn’t even check my CC permit) and wished me a safe journey.

I told my daughter not to be so fast to help me out next time. I was very pleased with the demeanor of the officer and his response to me being armed.

 

[Springfeildkid585]

Last night I had my first traffic stop/encounter with a LEO since getting my carry permit. Me, the wife, and my 20 year old daughter had been out furniture shopping. Just about a quarter of a mile from home there is a state highway intersection. As we approached I saw the blues and figured it was someone getting a ticket. We were speculating about what was going on when I realized there were 4 cars and multiple officers at the intersection. As I stopped an officer approached, introduced himself and said they were checking for license, registration, and insurance. I made some wise crack that I wasn’t sure if I had any of those things, pulled out my wallet and went to digging. About that time I realized my daughter, in her attempt to help me, was opening the glove box and was fixing to have a hand full of my truck gun. I quickly & firmly told her to stop moving and finished the sentence to the officer with “I have a carry permit and she is just about to put her hands all over *one* of my guns to get the registration”. He just chuckled and said no problem; you’ve done what you’re supposed to. I told him I was gonna move the pistol to the dash so she could dig for paper work. “No problem” he says. He took a quick look at the requested documents (didn’t even check my CC permit) and wished me a safe journey.

I told my daughter not to be so fast to help me out next time. I was very pleased with the demeanor of the officer and his response to me being armed.

Glad to see the officer handled everything appropriately and responsibly. Good example of how most officers I personally know would behave, though there are a few that are hostile to find that they are in the presence of an armed citizen.

 

[I'm3rd]

It's a good thing you weren't in downtown Atlanta. The cop would probably have had you and your daughter face down at gun point in the dirt or on concrete while he ran a check on you and your gun permit. I haven't experienced that kind of harassment myself because I avoid that area like the 7 year itch, but quite a few GFL (GA Firearms License) holders allegedly have. Our GFL allows open or concealed carry and any law abiding civilian can legally have a gun anywhere in his/her vehicle without a GFL. However, the Metro Atlanta LE departments and the entire city government is adamantly opposed to any kind of carry whether with or without a GFL. According to what I have read online at Georgia Packing Org by GFL holders who live or work in that metro area, you will be hassled by LE personnel if they see a gun or even suspect that you may be carrying one. OTOH, up here in the north GA mountains where I live the local LE agencies either support civilian carry with a GFL or at least don't oppose it to the extent that they would hassle GFL holders for carrying a gun or just for spite.

Notice: Some of what I wrote in re Atlanta metro area LE is based primarily on hearsay and unverified allegations, not my own personal experience. So take it for what it's worth as such.

 

[papajohn428]

I work in a nasty section of town (North St Louis) and there is a heavy police presence all around the area........it's sorely needed. The local cops are VERY happy to have other armed officers working in the area, we've taken down a few of the local miscreants, including some local gangsta's who were involved in a shootout on our worksite last year.

I asked one of them how he felt about Missouri's CCW laws, and he was very supportive of local citizens exercising their right to self-protection. The cops in the bad areas learn pretty quickly how to tell the good folks from the bad folks, and they're happy to know there are armed citizens around.

Conversely, in other, less crime-ridden areas of the St Louis area (including where I used to work), police have far less to do, so they have time to run a lot of traffic enforcement and some of them have apparently been using traffic stops to harass lawful CCW holders. I've heard horror stories from several people about how they were detained after professing to CCW, officers separated them from their weapons and ran the serial numbers thru NCIC to check and see if they were stolen. None were, and the drivers were eventually cut loose, after a 15-30 minute delay. Having worked with many of those same cops, I know that many of them considered civilians to be stupid, untrustworthy, and too incompetent to be trusted with weapons. As a former trainer I saw many of those same cops have ND's in the range, sweep each other (and me) with muzzles a dozen times a day, and accidentally shoot out overhead range lights with shotguns more than once.

While I'm a fan of Law Enforcement, the blatant harassment of CCW holders really bothers me. I've worked for anti-gun administrators before, and the problem isn't just rogue officers abusing their authority, quite often such activity is sanctioned and encouraged by those in power.

 

[oldman45]

It's a good thing you weren't in downtown Atlanta. The cop would probably have had you and your daughter face down at gun point in the dirt or on concrete while he ran a check on you and your gun permit. I haven't experienced that kind of harassment myself because I avoid that area like the 7 year itch, but quite a few GFL (GA Firearms License) holders allegedly have. Our GFL allows open or concealed carry and any law abiding civilian can legally have a gun anywhere in his/her vehicle without a GFL. However, the Metro Atlanta LE departments and the entire city government is adamantly opposed to any kind of carry whether with or without a GFL. According to what I have read online at Georgia Packing Org by GFL holders who live or work in that metro area, you will be hassled by LE personnel if they see a gun or even suspect that you may be carrying one. OTOH, up here in the north GA mountains where I live the local LE agencies either support civilian carry with a GFL or at least don't oppose it to the extent that they would hassle GFL holders for carrying a gun or just for spite.

Notice: Some of what I wrote in re Atlanta metro area LE is based primarily on hearsay and unverified allegations, not my own personal experience. So take it for what it's worth as such.

I have a large number of relatives in Atlanta and have been stopped twice there. Never had a problem at all. The officers did as they should, were very polite and I deserved the stops. I did not get tickets but warnings.

There are incompetent officers on any large department but they are certainly few in number.

 

[AirForceShooter]

Rule:
Never have your papers where you keep the gun.

AFS

 

[TDR911]

In my wallet stacked in this order. Drivers license, Concealed permit, vehicle registration, & insurance card. Everything in one stack.

 

[dwever]

I am so sick of these threads.

You typically have an OP relating a positive or negative experience involving their CCW and a stop by LE, no problem there, but then people use that as a springboard to jump up and start posting hearsay.

I'm3rd says, "It's a good thing you weren't in downtown Atlanta. The cop would probably have had you and your daughter face down at gun point in the dirt or on concrete while he ran a check on you and your gun permit." A father and his young-adult daughter at GUN POINT in the dirt? I'm thinking wow, what's happened to this guy? Then I'm3rd immediately says, "I haven't experienced that kind of harassment myself. . ." Okay, so why besmirch the reputation of an agency with a sweeping generalization that you haven't ever experienced one time or know about beyond anecdotal hearsay evidence? And then I'm3rd authoritatively write about the the attitudes of elected officials in Atlanta, and what they ostensibly encourage as a matter of police conduct, "the entire city government is adamantly opposed to any kind of carry." Then, and this is the kicker, I'm3rd posts, "Some of what I wrote in re Atlanta metro area LE is based primarily on hearsay and unverified allegations, not my own personal experience." Are you kidding me?

Then PappaJohn428 comes along and says, "I've heard horror stories from several people about how they were detained after professing to CCW, officers separated them from their weapons and ran the serial numbers thru NCIC to check and see if they were stolen." More hearsay posting. Look, I've never ever seen in pappajohn428's words, "blatant harassment" of CCW holders, and I'm not going to besmirch an agency because, "I've heard stories."

Hearsay is bad enough. But when the hearsay is anecdotal, and those anecdotes are used in order to make sweeping judgements and characterizations of a larger body of people or an agency that a handful of stories by themselves could never support, it is unjustifiable because it runs a high if not probable risk of of being fiction. When it's done on a public forum it is reckless.

Three weeks ago or so in a poll of people who'd had problems with the S&W lock, the owner of this site admonished everyone to post actual experiences not what they had heard from someone else. That's pretty good counsel.

 

[Chuck1217]

Cops are people, too
Some are good, some are bad. I have relatives like that....I just pray if I get stopped it's by someone like the one that spoke with you.

 

[Rastoff]

I'm glad you had a reasonable experience. All the cops I've talked to say that as long as you aren't trying anything funny or trying to hide anything, they won't have an issue with you.

 

[Oldsoul]

I am so sick of these threads.

You typically have an OP relating a positive or negative experience involving their CCW and a stop by LE, no problem there, but then people use that as a springboard to jump up and start posting hearsay.

I'm3rd says, "It's a good thing you weren't in downtown Atlanta. The cop would probably have had you and your daughter face down at gun point in the dirt or on concrete while he ran a check on you and your gun permit." A father and his young-adult daughter at GUN POINT in the dirt? I'm thinking wow, what's happened to this guy? Then I'm3rd immediately says, "I haven't experienced that kind of harassment myself. . ." Okay, so why besmirch the reputation of an agency with a sweeping generalization that you haven't ever experienced one time or know about beyond anecdotal hearsay evidence? And then I'm3rd authoritatively write about the the attitudes of elected officials in Atlanta, and what they ostensibly encourage as a matter of police conduct, "the entire city government is adamantly opposed to any kind of carry." Then, and this is the kicker, I'm3rd posts, "Some of what I wrote in re Atlanta metro area LE is based primarily on hearsay and unverified allegations, not my own personal experience." Are you kidding me?

Then PappaJohn428 comes along and says, "I've heard horror stories from several people about how they were detained after professing to CCW, officers separated them from their weapons and ran the serial numbers thru NCIC to check and see if they were stolen." More hearsay posting. Look, I've never ever seen in pappajohn428's words, "blatant harassment" of CCW holders, and I'm not going to besmirch an agency because, "I've heard stories."

Hearsay is bad enough. But when the hearsay is anecdotal, and those anecdotes are used in order to make sweeping judgements and characterizations of a larger body of people or an agency that a handful of stories by themselves could never support, it is unjustifiable because it runs a high if not probable risk of of being fiction. When it's done on a public forum it is reckless.

Three weeks ago or so in a poll of people who'd had problems with the S&W lock, the owner of this site admonished everyone to post actual experiences not what they had heard from someone else. That's pretty good counsel.

Dang, who let the drama lama out? Gun guy is always the first to scream freedom of guns, freedom to carry, freedom to do anything with gun whatsoever.
What about freedom to write a dang thread without somebody have to go all 3rd person speculating about what somebody might say.
If somebody wants to write about a traffic stop within the forum guide lines, who is anybody to say he can't or start off a response with "I am so sick of these threads". maybe were all sick of your threads but were not in business of bring people down.

 

[dwever]

Dang, who let the drama lama out? Gun guy is always the first to scream freedom of guns, freedom to carry, freedom to do anything with gun whatsoever.
What about freedom to write a dang thread without somebody have to go all 3rd person speculating about what somebody might say.
If somebody wants to write about a traffic stop within the forum guide lines, who is anybody to say he can't or start off a response with "I am so sick of these threads". maybe were all sick of your threads but were not in business of bring people down.

Well, as you've been a member here for just over a couple of months, I'd like to welcome you and respectfully let you know that there's this anti-leo low-grade fever on this forum to the point that it is the only profession that under the site's usage rules bans, "General LEO Bashing" (http://smith-wessonforum.com/announcements-rules/161421-rules-general-posting-rules.html). Why would that be necessary?

I may be being over sensitive, but for whatever reason, people love to post in the way I complained about, I believe that was my first complaint, and if you trace threads where LEO's are the topic, they often have to be closed by a Site Administrator. Here's one from just last week: http://smith-wessonforum.com/concea...tell-another-officer-im-carrying-again-7.html

 

[frito1]

Rule:
Never have your papers where you keep the gun.

Point well taken.

 

[AITG]

Cops are people, too.

Wow. Good thing I got in before they started THAT ****.

 

[papajohn428]

So let me get this straight.........posting what my friends and coworkers tell me is "just" hearsay, so it should just be ignored? Would it be better if they wrote it down? Maybe had it notarized?

Do you hang around with a bunch of pathological liars? I work with, and deal with people I can trust with my life, but I guess I should ignore anything they tell me, because they're probably lying, is that it? If it didn't happen to me it's apparently all a load of BS.

Never mind. You seem to have missed the point.

 

[nawilson]

I would love to see the dash cam video from the complainers' encounters with police. I am sure they did NOTHING at all to sour the encounter with police...

 

[Marshwheeling]

I would love to see the dash cam video from the complainers' encounters with police. I am sure they did NOTHING at all to sour the encounter with police...

Your attitude and demeanor have a great deal to do with the tone and outcome of any contact with the police. If I am angry about being stopped, or about something else completely, the officer invariably picks up on it, and the encounter never goes well.

I pretty much stopped getting tickets when I learned to check my attitude and to project an air of affability and calm. I can't say for sure, but I think having a CCW permit may also have helped in my encounters with the police. It comes up when they run my name. I can think of a couple of occasions where I might easily have come away with a big ugly citation, but instead concluded the encounter quickly and with a cordial tone.

 

[BearBio]

Your attitude and demeanor have a great deal to do with the tone and outcome of any contact with the police. If I am angry about being stopped, or about something else completely, the officer invariably picks up on it, and the encounter never goes well.

I pretty much stopped getting tickets when I learned to check my attitude and to project an air of affability and calm. I can't say for sure, but I think having a CCW permit may also have helped in my encounters with the police. It comes up when they run my name. I can think of a couple of occasions where I might easily have come away with a big ugly citation, but instead concluded the encounter quickly and with a cordial tone.

I agree!. I've had one ticket since moving to Washington 10 years ago. It was deserved. I have also been stopped and warned. When stopped, I roll down my window and place my hands on the wheel. I inform the officer I have a permit,that I am carrying, and ask how would HE like to handle it. Invariably, I have been asked what I am carrying, where I am carrying it at, and am thanked for telling him. I have never been asked to remove or show the officer my weapon.

 

[StanNm19]

I believe that because I have my CC permit and was carrying at the time, I have missed out on 2 citations, that I definately deserved. I treated the officer with respect and it was returned along with a "just slow her down a little and be careful".

My dad was a LEO and I was always taught that you will get back what you give out in those situations. You can still be given a citation, but you can still be given respect if that is what you give the officer. After all, he's not the one that screwed up, I did.

 

[Chuck1217]

LOL @marshwheeling- "can't say for sure, but I think having a CCW permit may also have helped " Not only helped with my attitude if stopped- made me watch speed limits more closely. and BearBio, I actually practice what I will say, which is virtually identical to your format.