LEO Interaction while armed

[Range Master]

Recently, a client related an interesting story. It seems he was stopped by HP for speeding. When asked for his DL, our client advised the Trooper he was armed with two guns, one on his hip and one on his ankle. The Trooper appeared a bit befuddled, at which point our client added that he resides in Walterboro. With that, the Trooper smiled, nodded approvingly and wished him a good day.

That makes me wonder, are others having similar experiences?

If you've had an experience with Law Enforcement, positive or negative, post it here.

 

[Bow_breaker]

On 85 south just outside of spartanburg a fue years back I was pulled over by a spartanburg LEO. I was going 73ish in a 60 and no seat belt. I told him I had a pistol in the GB and that it of course loaded. He instructed for me to remove, clear and place it on dash as usual. He was interested in it being a taurus 24/7 and we talked a bit about guns...he finally said have a good day and slow it down a bit.



Now on the flip side I was pulled over this last Tuesday in downtown spartanbug and the cop almost freaked out when i told him there was a CZ on my hip...even after I handed him my license and CWP he was a little shaken by the nonchalant way that I removed it from the holster,cleared the chamber and placed it on the dash....then he gave me a 81$ ticket for 45 in a 35.

Depends on the LEO.

 

[thebrasilian]

Closest I've been is carrying when I went to the grocery store. For some reason lots of LEO's were around shopping. They never noticed.

 

[Low Branch]

My wife and I were heading to Massachusetts so we were forced to leave our weapons at home. Going along 85 in NC we were stopped about 3 AM by a trooper while she was driving 80+ in a 65. She identified herself as a CWP and stated she was not armed and his reply was, "Why not?" I had no choice but to laugh and she told him we were going to Mass. He then laughed and said good luck and slow down. No ticket...

 

[jjwestbrook]

My wife and I were heading to Massachusetts so we were forced to leave our weapons at home. Going along 85 in NC we were stopped about 3 AM by a trooper while she was driving 80+ in a 65. She identified herself as a CWP and stated she was not armed and his reply was, "Why not?" I had no choice but to laugh and she told him we were going to Mass. He then laughed and said good luck and slow down. No ticket...

wow a sc driver getting a warning in nc , thats rare .

 

[rock71]

Do you know which county this happened in?

 

[thebrasilian]

My wife and I were heading to Massachusetts so we were forced to leave our weapons at home. Going along 85 in NC we were stopped about 3 AM by a trooper while she was driving 80+ in a 65. She identified herself as a CWP and stated she was not armed and his reply was, "Why not?" I had no choice but to laugh and she told him we were going to Mass. He then laughed and said good luck and slow down. No ticket...

Nice!!
Kudos for the LEO!!

 

[Shrapnel762]

I was pulled by Hanahan's finest 2 years ago in Eagle Landing subdivision for failing to come to a complete stop at 10:30 at night, at an L intersection none the less. I handed him my CWP with my DL, because this is what I was told was proper procedure. He asked where my weapon was and wanted me to relinquish it to him. I was a bit surprised and knew that he had no right to do so. I complied anyway just to move things along. He went back to his cruiser for 5 min and came back with a written warning. He mentioned my Marine Corps sticker and said he was also a Marine. We had a saying for guys like him in the Corps, "buddy's only half a word".

 

[Bob Ouellette]

I've only been pulled over twice since I started carrying a weapon. The first time I was driving to the Foggy Bottom range in the National Forrest and got pulled over doing 75 in a 55. I told him I was armed and he had me get out and tried to take it out of the holster and kind of fought with it a minute before he had me take it out myself. Then he took my license and permit looked at them for a second then told me to slow it down. That's the only time I've been pulled over with someone else in the truck without getting a ticket.

The second time I was in Charleston and got pulled over for doing 50 in a 35 in a work zone. The officer had me get out so that he'd have a better shot at me if I tried to do anything. I just laughed and told him there's no way I'd try to do anything stupid. I handed him my license and permit and he saw my DoD ID and asked if I'd been deployed. I told him that I'd volunteered to go to Afghanistan this year (they didn't take me), so he wrote me a written warning. Then we chatted about being a cop for a bit then went on my way.

 

[ConditionOne]

I've only been stopped once since I started carrying, by Saluda county police at a DUI checkpoint on 378 near Lake Murray at about 21:30 one night last fall. I didn't realize it at the time, but I didn't have my current proof of insurance with me (I was insured, I'd just neglected to swap cards when I received my new one), and my license plate lights were out.

When asked for my ID, I gave the officer my DL and my CWP. He asked if I was armed, and I told him I was. He asked me to stay in my vehicle while he checked my license. He walked around and inspected my car before walking over to his patrol unit for a few minutes. When he came back, he handed me a written warning for the license plate lights being out and told me to take care of it as soon as I could. He then gave me a ticket for failure to provide valid proof of insurance, but told me if I would just fax my current insurance card and a copy of the ticket to the number on the back, the ticket would disappear, no fine and no points. He said I could be on my way, I told him to have safe evening and that was that.

I'm not a fan of checkpoints. That being said, the officer carried himself professionally and was very polite. All things considered, it wasn't a bad encounter at all.

 

[Clicker]

I have to come back later when I have the time and tell you all about the incident at Boggy Head. Yup ole Barney Fife approached me after watching me do a 30 round mag dump with a machine gun to ask if that gun was a full auto weapon.
WTF - I'm thinking is this guy blind or just stupid?
Yeah it wasn't a comfortable situation with him threatening to arrest me. Since the deputy was an idiot I finally gave up trying to reason with him. I simply answered all his questions in the fashion HE wanted so he would leave and I could just go home.

 

[Bob Ouellette]

I have to come back later when I have the time and tell you all about the incident at Boggy Head. Yup ole Barney Fife approached me after watching me do a 30 round mag dump with a machine gun to ask if that gun was a full auto weapon.
WTF - I'm thinking is this guy blind or just stupid?
Yeah it wasn't a comfortable situation with him threatening to arrest me. Since the deputy was an idiot I finally gave up trying to reason with him. I simply answered all his questions in the fashion HE wanted so he would leave and I could just go home.

My friend used to be a Berkeley Co. Deputy. From what I hear, that's a real fine department...

 

[Frost]

I have a very good friend who was an officer there for a while.
In any line of work there is always the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

[Clicker]

Let me be clear here I know some fine folks at the BCSD but this one individual is not among them.
I knew he was an asshole and speaking with one of his superiors confirmed it. The guy has a chip on shoulder and a burr in his ass.

 

[Frost]

I took it to be about a single individual.
The dept. was not identified so unless you are from nearby you would not know.

 

[P-1]

Would he have the right to arrest you when the Full-auto is an ATF thing? You should have your stamp with you at all times.

I have had the police come to my business and blatently (sp) told me there is nothing they can do about ammunition, but wanted me to answer a couple of questions and have a copy of my license. I answered them to an extent ( to show some of the lack of their power, but enough to satisfy) and would only let them look at my license. I told them if they wanted a copy, contact ATF, they have it on file.

 

[Clicker]

Would he have the right to arrest you when the Full-auto is an ATF thing? You should have your stamp with you at all times.

No only Federal agents have the authority to impound your NFA weapon. However it won't stop local LEO's from arresting someone and tossing it into their squad car because most simply don't know the regs.

As to the stamp thing you're not required to keep the stamp with you. But I do carry a copy of my stamp (forms) most of the time. You should never carry the originals those should remain in a secure place like a safety deposit box or fire proof safe.

In a nutshell the problem I had with said officer stemmed from the fact that he wouldn't let me finish a sentence. Had he just STFU and let me answer his question instead of interrupting me in mid sentence the whole thing would have been painless for both of us.

It went like this............
Him: Do you a license for that gun?
Me: No sir, what I have is a....
Him: WAIT RIGHT THERE - I'm going to ask you again do you have a license for that gun?
Me: No sir, what I have is a...
Him: WAIT RIGHT THERE - I'm going to ask you again and if you answer NO you're going to JAIL - do you have a license for that gun?
Me: No sir, what I have is a...
Him: LISTEN TO ME - IF YOU ANSWER NO YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL!!! - DO YOU HAVE A LICENSE FOR THAT GUN?
Me: Yes I have a license, I have what you want.

At this time I retrieved the form 4 from my vehicle and gave it to him. Now I can tell he has no clue as to what he is looking at and I offer to help. Lets just say my offer of help was not well received and he voiced his protest strongly so as to assert his control over the situation.

I returned to the tables with my buds and we loaded up the rest of the guns, ammo and accessories into our vehicles as the LEO called the station.

7 or 8 minutes later the officer calls me over and returns my forms and states the next time someone asks if you have a license the answer is YES. He has a much softer vocal tone and finishes his lecture.
By now I've had enough and w/o yelling and jumping up and down I proceed to explain the finer details of NFA ownership. Like how I'm under NO legal obligation to show him any of my CONFIDENTIAL FEDERAL TAX DOCUMENTS! Also that only federal agents can demand I produce said documents.
I explained I don't have a LICENSE but rather a tax form to prove legal ownership of my gun. How I'm not a FFL/SOT holder and therefore I don't have the LICENSE he asked for.
He replies: "in the future when asked for your license, uhh I mean forms, I should simply say yes."
I reply: "I was trying to tell you that but you wouldn't let me answer you."
He replies: "well you had an attitude when I asked if that gun was a full auto MG."
I reply: "I answered why yes it is - how was that showing an attitude?"
He replies: "well just simply say yes next time."
I reply: "man you're the one with the attitude........(pause as he looks at me kinda confused).... OH YEAH YOU THREATENED TO TAKE ME TO JAIL.....YUP YOU THREATENED TO TAKE ME TO JAIL."
He replies: "well uhh I'm just doing my job"

The rest is kinda boring but lets just say he had a much different attitude after he called in and confirmed my paperwork. So know the regs and your rights. Stand your ground but be polite and in the end it should all work out OK.

BTW he declined my offer to shoot the MG, claimed he had no interest in FA stuff.

One last thing - he never looked at the gun in question and never verified the serial number of the registered MG. Never got closer than 30 feet to it. That's some good police work right there man!

 

[Frost]

Was probably a football star in high school.

 

[P-1]

Yeah....his freshman year...LOL

It is amazing on how some officers react to different situations. You would think that if someone brought a full auto to a range, 9999out of 10000 it is going to be legal. And that one, the officer would not of been able to ask for a license.

P-1

 

[lafayette gregory]

A prime example of why police should be paid more and the requirements to serve should be much more stringent.