So I Was Shooting Some Guns.....

[Strike For The South]

Why would having guns in the car lead him to assume that you are criminals, especially when your friend let him know ahead of time?

I was taught to give an officer my carry license along with my driver's license when pulled over for a traffic citation. I've only been pulled over once while carrying, and the officer thanked me for the head's up and did not ask to see the weapon or for me to get out of the car. (I also just got a warning )

We're not living in a police state (yet). Exercising a basic constitutional right should not require you to go through extra hassle from the police during a minor traffic stop.

True but I thought the guns were supposed to be out of sight or some such.

Not to mention I've never really handeled pistols I thought there were different rules with them

Not to mention he didnt have a carry liscence nor was he asked to show one (You are talking a C&C right?)

Not to mention I dont think the cop handled it the right way

Not to mention I hit two skeet with one shot

[PanzerJaeger]

True but I thought the guns were supposed to be out of sight or some such.

Not to mention I've never really handeled pistols I thought there were different rules with them

Not to mention he didnt have a carry liscence nor was he asked to show one (You are talking a C&C right?)

Not to mention I dont think the cop handled it the right way

Not to mention I hit two skeet with one shot

Well, transporting weapons is different than carrying. Showing a carry license is just a widely accepted way of letting law enforcement know a person is armed without any awkward (and potentially misunderstood) language. You should educate yourself on your local laws if you intend on making shooting a hobby, but as far as I know you can transport weapons without a license in most states and certainly in the South. For example, not everyone who goes to the range to practice long range competitive marksmanship has or wants a carry license for self defense.

How would you have liked to cop to handle it? A big part of being a police officer is situational judgment. He obviously and correctly judged you not to be a threat. (I don't think most criminals would announce the fact that they have weapons in the vehicle.) Would you have liked him to assume criminal or malicious intent simply for weapons possession?


Congrats on the shot, by the way. I've been skeet shooting for years and have yet to do that.

[Strike For The South]

4 people, white (I assume?), driving a bit to fast, acting with respect, at once admitting to having fire arms for safety of themselves and officer...


What did you expect? To be forced to lay spread eagle with a helicopter hovering above till the reinforcements from the national guard made it there?

2 of us were white 2 of us including whom the guns were owned by were hispanic

Did you feel like a man?

I wake up every morning and feel like a man. Thanks for asking Sven

Well, transporting weapons is different than carrying. Showing a carry license is just a widely accepted way of letting law enforcement know a person is armed without any awkward (and potentially misunderstood) language. You should educate yourself on your local laws if you intend on making shooting a hobby, but as far as I know you can transport weapons without a license in most states and certainly in the South. For example, not everyone who goes to the range to practice long range competitive marksmanship has or wants a carry license for self defense.

How would you have liked to cop to handle it? A big part of being a police officer is situational judgment. He obviously and correctly judged you not to be a threat. (I don't think most criminals would announce the fact that they have weapons in the vehicle.) Would you have liked him to assume criminal or malicious intent simply for weapons possession?

No I just figured he would err on the side of caution. I don't shoot much and have never been pulled over with weapons I was just wondering what the protocol was, guess it wasnt to out of the ordinary

Not to mention I'm generally with older people when I go. I guess now I should probably edumacate my self

Congrats on the shot, by the way. I've been skeet shooting for years and have yet to do that.

Better lucky than good my friend

[Vladimir]

You were in Texas, you immediately announced there were weapons in the car, and you had your hands on your head.

[Cute Wolf]

well, you are lucky then, or your friends may have some kinda baby face, and could got easy trust?

I have some airgun, and know how it feels to carry the real gun when got some kinda conscript training, but still wonder, what is the difference between guns and pistols, except the concealment and firepower?

[drone]

Telling the officer right off the bat was definitely the right thing to do, it lets him know the situation, lets him know you aren't bushwhacking him, and keeps him from jumping to conclusions if he spots the pistols during the stop. He probably saw the long guns in the bed anyway, and put 2 and 2 together.

Without a CCP in Virginia, you have to have the firearm in a locked closed container (usually the trunk) and unloaded. Never really thought about it before, but a pickup is not ideal for this. Many people get the CCP just so they don't have to worry about this. Not sure what the rules are in the Republic.

[Hosakawa Tito]

You were in Texas, you immediately announced there were weapons in the car, and you had your hands on your head.

For any traffic stop, whether firearms are suspected to be present or not, police like to see your hands visible. Putting your hands on your head is a bit dramatic, and I'm sure the cop had a chuckle when he told the story back at the station. However, reaching/rifling around under the seat or the like will definitely put the cop on high alert. Complacency can get a traffic cop dead.

Telling the officer right off the bat was definitely the right thing to do, it lets him know the situation, lets him know you aren't bushwhacking him, and keeps him from jumping to conclusions if he spots the pistols during the stop. He probably saw the long guns in the bed anyway, and put 2 and 2 together.

Without a CCP in Virginia, you have to have the firearm in a locked closed container (usually the trunk) and unloaded. Never really thought about it before, but a pickup is not ideal for this. Many people get the CCP just so they don't have to worry about this. Not sure what the rules are in the Republic.

I agree, announcing there were handguns in the seat pouches out of sight was the right thing to do. State laws vary for transporting firearms but no state allows transporting of loaded firearms that I'm aware of. States that require pistol permits would have definitely had the cop checking for that, but Texas doesn't require a pistol permit. If it was hunting season they might check to see if the guns are loaded, but I think the cop read the situation correctly, 4 young men out target shooting.

I never shot an AK, that must have been fun. Notice the recoil difference between that and the AR15 ?

[Kadagar_AV]

For any traffic stop, whether firearms are suspected to be present or not, police like to see your hands visible. Putting your hands on your head is a bit dramatic, and I'm sure the cop had a chuckle when he told the story back at the station. However, reaching/rifling around under the seat or the like will definitely put the cop on high alert. Complacency can get a traffic cop dead.


I agree, announcing there were handguns in the seat pouches out of sight was the right thing to do. State laws vary for transporting firearms but no state allows transporting of loaded firearms that I'm aware of. States that require pistol permits would have definitely had the cop checking for that, but Texas doesn't require a pistol permit. If it was hunting season they might check to see if the guns are loaded, but I think the cop read the situation correctly, 4 young men out target shooting.

I never shot an AK, that must have been fun. Notice the recoil difference between that and the AR15 ?

Hell yeah, AR15 feels like a pebble gun in comparison.



Strike for the South>>> Ok so some in the car was mexican... I didn't really want to make it a race issue, and it was rather clumsily stated of me. I rather meant "you probably looked and acted like well behaved citizens".

I think the cops attitude would have been different if it was 4 black guys in the car, hard rap music pumping on the stereo and crack smoke streaming out the window as it was rolled down. Get my point? *and again, not really a race issue, 4 black guys in ordered clothes who behaved well should of course be treated the same as you guys*

[Reenk Roink]

You're white...

[Kadagar_AV]

You're white...

Almost overly so.

[spmetla]

You're lucky, my brother was returning from hunting and pulled over for speeding as well, with his buddies in the truck. The rifles were in the back and the pistols under the seat but all the ammo was in the back too. My brother also fessed up to the weapons and their location right away but this caused the officer to have everyone get out of the car, put my brother on the hood, searched him, arrested him and confiscated all the pistols for failure to keep, ( pistols need to be out of reach of any passengers and in a lockable container so as to make drive-bys less easy to do).

Thankfully the judge ruled in my brother's favor that the officer didn't have the right to do what he did. Needless to say having him call from the police station needing to be bailed out as well as have his car picked up from the side of the road got him in A LOT of trouble with pop.

But for Kadagar's theory well it was three occupants two white and one hapa-haole (white/hawaiian). The truck was a beat-up 80's 4-runner painted camouflage, and my brother wears shirts with the sleeves torn off. He was to the point and says he was polite but i wasn't there so I can't testify to that (experience says he was probably polite but agitated sounding).