Arizona Carry rules.

[mulehide9]

In Arizona, you are allowed to carry if the weapon is visible. You can also carry in your vehicle as long as it is not concealed.We really don't need a permit to carry unless it is concealed.

I was pulled over for changing lanes with out a signal, and I automatically showed my permit along with the other things they want to see. He asked me if I had it on my person, or just in the vehicle.I had it under the seat, and he told me not to keep it there. They just don't like guns under car seats I guess.
He did not give me a ticket because I volunteered to show him my carry permit.

 

[mulehide9]

In Arizona, you are allowed to carry if the weapon is visible. You can also carry in your vehicle as long as it is not concealed.We really don't need a permit to carry unless it is concealed.

I was pulled over for changing lanes with out a signal, and I automatically showed my permit along with the other things they want to see. He asked me if I had it on my person, or just in the vehicle.I had it under the seat, and he told me not to keep it there. They just don't like guns under car seats I guess.
He did not give me a ticket because I volunteered to show him my carry permit.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Originally posted by mulehide9:
I had it under the seat, and he told me not to keep it there. They just don't like guns under car seats I guess.

If Arizona law does not specify how the pistol is to be carried concealed in the vehicle, then his instructions are nothing more than his personal opinion, carry no weight, and are for you to accept or ignore as you wish.

Originally posted by mulehide9:
He did not give me a ticket because I volunteered to show him my carry permit.

Did he say so?

 

[2000Z-71]

You did the right thing in this situation. According to the statutes, a gun may be carried in the car loaded provided it is cased or holstered. However DPS and a few other departments have interpeted it and handle it differently.

DPS instructor's manual on their website used to have their interpetation of the issue. Basically the weapon either need to be concealed on your person or visible within the vehicle. They have since revised their manual and it no longer mentions carry within the vehicle. Not all officer's may be aware of this.

I had to go to traffic school a couple of years ago for a photo speeding ticket. A portion of the class was taught by a Mesa PD officer. He went over weapons in vehicles and gave out information that I knew to be false. I asked him about on the break and was able to pull up the state statutes on a computer in the room. His response was, "I don't care what the statutes say, this is my department's policy. If you have a loaded weapon in the vehicle, expect a weekend camping trip at tent city."

It's definately better to err on the side of caution when dealing with law enforcement down here. Even though you may be right, it's not wise to argue about it.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
"I don't care what the statutes say, this is my department's policy. If you have a loaded weapon in the vehicle, expect a weekend camping trip at tent city."

What a prick.

I would have replied: Good, then you expect to have me own your ass after I get out of tent city.

 

[Rob P.]

Originally posted by Wyatt Earp:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
"I don't care what the statutes say, this is my department's policy. If you have a loaded weapon in the vehicle, expect a weekend camping trip at tent city."

What a prick.

I would have replied: Good, then you expect to have me own your ass after I get out of tent city.

+1,000,000 (plus fees and costs and reasonable atty fees)

 

[flop-shank]

Perhaps the concern with the gun under the seat is the potential for it, or any other object on the floor, to find it's way under the brake pedal?

 

[Wyatt Earp]

I personally would NOT carry a pistol loose under the seat or anywhere else in the interior of the car.

Besides the fact that in Ohio the pistol must be in a closed compartment (glovebox, center console, etc.) or in a holster on your person, the chance of the gun staying where I put it is slim to none during any maneuver that imposes even the slightest G force on the vehicle.

 

[310Pilot]

"I don't care what the statutes say, this is my department's policy. If you have a loaded weapon in the vehicle, expect a weekend camping trip at tent city."

Man, that has Mesa PD written all over it. That department has a real bad attitude towards everybody who is not part of their department ("everybody is a criminal, they just haven't been caught yet"). Remember, that is the department whose officers surrounded a teenager and his girlfriend in a car at a Circle K a few years ago, blocked them in with 5-8 cruisers, then all the officers on the scene opened fire, emptying their magazines (some emptied two high cap mags), when the kid didn't turn off the engine - killed both of them, all for a traffic stop. Looked like a modern version of Bonny and Clyde's car afterward. It is also the most vocal department in opposition to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his tactics in combatting crime (not only against illegal aliens). A bunch of fascists - I generally stay clear of Mesa because of them, just don't need the hassle. You're right, he's completely wrong, and "department policy" doesn't mean anything, unless you're on the wrong end of it. Better to steer clear of problems than to be right and in jail (or dead).

 

[The Shottist]

If you have a concealed weapon in your vehicle and you have a passenger n the vehicle. If the passenger (spouse, GF, buddy, etc) does not have a CCW, then that passenger will be jailed. The moral here is that if you are CCW'ing in the car, keep it on your person. If you have it in a holster and in the glovebox, then it is not concealed. A loose gun under the seat is just asking for something bad to happen.

 

[jkc]

Good Grief. Arizona law is mercifully specific on this issue. If you don't have an Arizona acknowledged CCW, your handgun must be "visible" to an approaching officer. Having a CCW trumps this issue. Read the statute, and if you can't understand it, read Alan Korwin's
Arizona Gun Owner's Guide, which elaborates this circumstance. The opinion of some Mesa PD officer, or any other cop, is irrelevant.

 

[KeithCarter]

Last guy subject to false arrest in Rockford, IL (a fanny-pack carry question) walked away with $50,000.00.

As long as I'm legal, I wouldn't mind a false arrest. That's good money.

And if a guy wanted to do a false arrest on me, I wouldn't quote him the law. I'd go for the money. Mesa, here I come!

Keithcarter
NRA Life

 

[scoutsdad]

In car carry was most of the reason I CCW. My wife didn't like it when I put my J frame on the console. I like New Mexico in that your car is treated just like your home.