A question for the LEOs who do traffic stops:
A few months ago I was driving a bit too fast in a residential neighbourhood (no excuses, I was doing it). I was pulled over after passing an officer with a radar gun.
When the officer approached, I had the engine off (it was a nice day, so no climate control issues applied); the windows were already down. It was mid-day, so there was plenty of light. I had my hands at 11 and 1 o'clock on the wheel.
When the officer asked if I knew how fast I was going, I said, "not exactly, but probably too fast, officer." When asked for my license and registration, I told him (politely) that I had a CCW permit, and was carrying a handgun.
Immediately he became aggressive. He took a step back from my window, and asked where the gun was. "On my right side, in an IWB holster." He asked where my wallet was. "In my left rear pocket." At this point my hands were still on the wheel.
He told me to retrieve my wallet, which I did, slowly. I opened it, one-handed, and slid my DL and CCW permit out with my thumb, and handed them to him.
He asked where my vehicle registration was. "In the center-console glovebox, beneath my right elbow." (If I *had* a passenger-side glovebox, I'd use it, but the Camaro IROC is lacking such a handy thing).
Then he asked for my gun. At this point, I became very worried, because there's no way to pull a gun from an IWB SOB holster without gripping it as if to use it. But. He asked for it, and I wasn't sure of the legalities about it, so I complied. Slowly and calmly, I reached down with my right hand, drew the gun (keeping my fingers outside the trigger guard the whole time). Once it was clear of the holster and visible, I turned it so that it was upright, pointing away from the officer, and I verified that the safety was engaged. I said, "It's loaded, chambered, hammer down, safety on, officer."
He reached in and took it with his left hand, which caused it to naturally point at the front passenger seat. Then he removed it from my vehicle, allowing the muzzle to cover my lower abdomen on the way out. I was *very* unhappy about that.
He went back to his motorcycle, presumably to call in my info. When he came back, he asked me what my job was, and why (as a Software Engineer) I felt the need to carry a gun. Then he asked where my friends lived, and if I felt like I needed to carry a gun when I visited them. I felt like these questions were *way* out of line. Virginia's a shall-issue state, so the only justification I need for having a CCW permit is that I want one.
Eventually, he gave my my gun back, wrote me a ticket for 37 in a 25 zone, and let me go. But I really didn't like the way his attitude shifted when I (following the guidelines on the county police department website) told him I was carrying. If I'd been a bad guy, I wouldn't have said a thing.
So. For the LEOs out there, is there anything I should have done differently? Or did I just catch him on a bad day?
I seem to attract police attention regularly (part of it, I know, is the car...a matte-black Camaro IROC looks like trouble on wheels). I imagine the long hair doesn't help, but still, I would expect that without probable cause, I have a reasonable expectation of not being treated like a suspect.
Thoughts?
-BP