Got pulled over while carrying

[MerkXRTurbo]

Last night I got pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a 4 way stop. When the LEO approached I informed him that I was currently carrying concealed with a permit. Note that I had turned my dome light on as soon as I had shut my truck off and kept my hands on the steering wheel the entire time. The fact that I was armed seemed to make him exceedingly nervous, changing his demeanor from when he initially walked up, as he demanded that I keep my hands where he could see them (which I always do and consider it basic protocol when dealing with Law Enforcement, whether I'm carrying or not). He asked where my gun was and he even asked what kind of gun it was. I can understand why the physical location of the gun would be a concern, but I'm not sure why what kind of gun it was mattered to him. He then asked me to slowly get my wallet out of my back pocket and produce my driver's license and CCW.

He then walked back to the front fender of his cruiser and I could hear him as he radioed for backup, relaying the information that "The subject is armed with a 1911 on his right hip." Backup came and stood by while he brought me back my driver's license and CCW and gave me a verbal warning about the rolling stop, which I appreciated.

The LEO treated me as if I was a bomb that could go off at any moment, which seems very strange to me. Any vehicle that a LEO walks up to could potentially have a firearm in it, and when one walks up to mine I remove the uncertainty, saying that my vehicle does indeed contain a firearm, and that it is of no threat to the officer. Obviously anybody who's planning on attacking a LEO is not generally going to announce that he has a weapon up front. Do you LEOs find it surprising or out of the ordinary that the officer seemed to be really bothered by this encounter with an armed law abiding citizen?

Note: I have no complaints about the interaction between myself and the LEO, and hopefully it does not come across that way. I'm just trying to understand his thought process a little better.

[mobrien316]

It sounds like you behaved reasonably, and so did the officer. Some officers would not call for back up in that situation, and others would.

If you get stopped again you should do what you did in this circumstance and you shouldn't have any problems.

[mcsap]

Officers are KILLED by people with guns.

We don't know if you are John Dillinger or the President of Rotary International.

The best way for officers to practice officer safety is to practice officer safety.

EDIT TO ADD....

Just because you were decent enough to tell the officer that you have a carry permit and are armed doesn't make you any less of a threat. We can't always tell the good guys from the bad guys. If we get it wrong , we can die. So understand that we will take whatever steps we can to prevent anything bad from happening.

It's called officer safety. We like to go home at the end of our shift. Not all of our brothers and sisters get to do that.

[kendral77]

Last night I got pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a 4 way stop. When the LEO approached I informed him that I was currently carrying concealed with a permit. Note that I had turned my dome light on as soon as I had shut my truck off and kept my hands on the steering wheel the entire time. Good Idea
The fact that I was armed seemed to make him exceedingly nervous, changing his demeanor from when he initially walked up, as he demanded that I keep my hands where he could see them (which I always do and consider it basic protocol when dealing with Law Enforcement, whether I'm carrying or not)Again a good idea on your part.
He asked where my gun was and he even asked what kind of gun it was. I can understand why the physical location of the gun would be a concern, but I'm not sure why what kind of gun it was mattered to him. It up to me to determin what is important to ask, not the person that I'm asking
He then asked me to slowly get my wallet out of my back pocket and produce my driver's license and CCW.

He then walked back to the front fender of his cruiser and I could hear him as he radioed for backup, relaying the information that "The subject is armed with a 1911 on his right hip." Backup came and stood by while he brought me back my driver's license and CCW and gave me a verbal warning about the rolling stop, which I appreciated.Some Officers would have you get out of the car, cuff you, and then secure your weapon then worried about getting your identification

The LEO treated me as if I was a bomb that could go off at any moment, Any person we come across is, even someone who gives us a heads up like you did
which seems very strange to me. Any vehicle that a LEO walks up to could potentially have a firearm in it, and when one walks up to mine I remove the uncertainty, saying that my vehicle does indeed contain a firearm, and that it is of no threat to the officer. Again, just because you tell us, does not mean that there is no threat, it just informs us of the danger
Obviously anybody who's planning on attacking a LEO is not generally going to announce that he has a weapon up front. Do you LEOs find it surprising or out of the ordinary that the officer seemed to be really bothered by this encounter with an armed law abiding citizen? NO! He was handeling it professionally and in a manner that kept HIM safe. At the same time, the way you informed him kept you safer.

Note: I have no complaints about the interaction between myself and the LEO, and hopefully it does not come across that way. I'm just trying to understand his thought process a little better.

Response in bold

[Legoate]

To be honest with you I've never run into anyone who was legally carrying a gun in their car who was not a cop. CCW's are rare in my area. However, I like to be the one who controls the guns on the calls. If I made the stop I wouldn't step away from your window and go back to my car while you were sitting in the car with a gun. Either you, or your gun would be going back to my car with me.

You may think it is paranoid, but normal law-abiding citizens sometimes act like complete fools when they realize they are going to receive a citation. I've had people with no criminal history decide to assault me because they don't like the fix-it ticket they received. Instead of paying $10 for a corrected violation, they decide they would rather go to jail beat up with a new felony charge tacked to their arrest record. Go figure.

If cops act oddly on traffic stops, it's because that is where most of us end up dead.