Posted: 7/11/2007 7:40:10 PM EDT
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I would be happy to get stopped by a cop who isn't insecure about guns. That is the kind of dude you want taking care of the populace and the kind of guy I can respect. You handled it well. I can never stop talking about guns once I get started. Customers who shoot find out that I am a gun nut and that is all we talk about when I visit. Maybe spend 5 min. on business and lots of time BSing. |
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I got pulled over once by a cop like that. I was 20. I had a 9mm on my hip not concealed. No open carry in AR. No ccl under 21 either. He let me go. Then again he was on my fire dept and EVERYONE there carried. You'd get odd looks if you didn't. People open carry in my community all day long. Cops pay little to no mind. But we ain't go them thar new fangled city cops. 
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I've been asked that a dozen times I think they do that so you can't come to court later and say you were rushing home to help your poor sick mother  ETA: OTOH, maybe they would let you rush home to your poor sick mother if you had to |
What's the matter... would you have preferred I said the OP was a liar and that no interaction with LE could ever occur without a revenue generating ticket being issued, a right being violated or a canine getting capped? Sorry, but even with the inflated "Brother's best friend v. asshole PIG" stories that abound here, and all of the press reports of bad cops (which I sadly admit DO exist) the vast majority of public / LE interactions (99%+) on a daily basis don't involve any tragedies, offenses to freedom or other newsworthy events. |
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About 12 yeards ago I was living in Fayetteville AR and my only transportaion then was my Harley. I was an active Highpower shooter then and once a month I would ride my Harley back to North Little Rock to shoot in the matches on Camp Robinson. (about 130 miles or so one way) As you can imagine, riding a Harley with an M1 Garand slung across my back got me alot of worried looks from the other motorists. Back then we had a helmut law here so I used a USGI steel pot for a brain bucket. That didn't do much to aswage the worries of the sheeple either. I was cruising along when a Johnson Co deputy sheriff pulled up beside me and gave a quick burp on the siren. It about scared the dogmess out of me. I pulled off of the freeway and kept my hands where they could see them. When he approached he asked me to kill the engine which I did. He then asked for license, reg etc. I told him that I had a pistol* in my jacket pocket and that I would have to put my hand near it to get my DL. He said ok, but go slow. I did and then he asked to see the pistol. I pulled it out slowly, unloaded it, and handed it to him. He started to walk back to his car when I said that I have another one. He said "another drivers license?" No, another pistol**. He got this kinda strange look on his face and asked to see it. I reached into my bag and pulled it out, unloaded it, and handed it to him. He now has his hands full and it is obvioulsy cumbersome. He asked me to step back to his car. It was then that I saw that he had a partner that had been watching me with his hand on his holstered pistol. We go back to his car and he laid my pistols on the hood. I still had the Garand slung across my back. He ran my DL and such and it came back clean. He asked why I was totin that rifle as he was looking through my bag. ( Yeah, I know now,but I didn't then) He saw several hundred rounds of 30-06 on enbloc clips and asked me if I was going to war or something. I explained about the highpower matches and all that jazz. When it was all over, they both apologized to me for the inconvenience. They could not have been more pleasant about the whole thing. I got all of my gear situated and rode off. I got about a mile down the road when I realized that they had not given me my DL back. A quick phone call at the rest area to the SO resulted in them bringing me my DL and apoloizing again. They said that if I get pulled over again, just tell them to contact Johnson Co SO and everything should be alright. I didn't get pulled over again that day, but I got pulled over 3 times on the return trip. That was a very long day. * 3 screw Ruger Black Hawk .41 Magnum with brass frame, staghorn grips, magna ported 5 inch barrel and the smoothest action of any firearm that I have ever handled. ** Smith and Wesson 657 .41 Magnum 6in barrel and factory rubber grips. |
I thought that it was funny 
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Yep, i notice a lot of the motor officers ask that question. its to rule out that defense at trial. Motor cops are strange. One of hours pulled over a pregnant woman who claimed she was in labor. He gave her to option of waiting while he wrote the ticket or he would have an ambulance show up to transport her to the hospital.  She chose the ticket so i guess her labor wasnt that far along. But shit like that doesnt look good and certainly doesnt cause goodwill in the community. |
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I had an OSP trooper lay my 1911 on the passenger side floorboard while he ran everything. We talked guns for a bit, and even talked about his experience as a CCW holder before becoming a State Patrolman. I got a warning (no front plate). It's always nice to run into one of the good guys. 
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I have a deputy that shows up to my house regularly, because some neighbor will call bitching about me shooting out back. We both secretly like it when she calls. I always show him my latest purchase and we BS for 15 minutes or so.
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LEOs are MUCH more polite when they realize you are just as well-armed as they are - and you are generally following the law. Here in VA, they know you have a CCW the second they run your plates. In contrast, in gun-free Maryland, I ALWAYS got self-rightious, talking-down-to-you attitudes from the police over stupid shit like 10 MPH over the speed limit (like "Don't you know SPEED KILLS sir!!?!). Sorry - been to Germany & ridden the autobahn many times ; 10 MPH over the posted limit simply does not = instant death the way prick LEOs in non "shall issue" states tend to preach. Its easy for an LEO to talk down to an unarmed sheep. Not so simple when the see the citizen as an equally well-armed human being who you stopped for something, well, actaully quite minor in the grand scheme. |
That is kinda like when this one guy was like are you open carrying? Yep, Can I see your ID? Yep, Can I Finger Fuck Your XD and wish I had one? Yep I would say 60-70% of cops around where I live are genuinely good people. Then you have the rest which fall into categories like so:10%-School Resource Officers who wish they were still in high school bullying kids, these guys ride around in Jim Dangel Shorts all day acting like billy bad ass when in fact there left ass cheek is hanging out. 5%-I was picked on in high school so I have to take it out on everyone and abuse my authority to the highest level. Dont argue with them or they will fuck you in the ass and not give you a reach around. 10%-Community Resource Officers who drive around and catch dogs, evict people and respond to accident scenes to direct traffic. Most all off them are nice people and actually like doing there job and aren't on a power trip. 5%-I am the baddest motherfucker god put on this earth, I should be the chief of police kinda guy. I carry 2 backup guns because 1 and 2 knives isnt enough. And if you think I am making this shit up im not I actually saw a guy like this check 3 guns into this little booth before they would let him go into the jail. These are the same guys that where the 5.11 condoms and bulletproof nipple tassels. 70%-Then there are the good cops who are honest and actually want to make a difference and go home to a better place then they left. These guys put there heart into there work and check there ego's at the door and would not even think about shooting a dog let alone a person unless they were in fear for there life. |
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Most cops are gun friendly, although I've noticed lately there do seem to be a few more badge-heavy nuts out there. When I was 23 I got out of the Army (the first time) and while I was still peeing away the German beer from my bladder I loaded up my truck and drove from San Marcos, Texas to Huntsville, AL to visit a buddy that was PCSing at more or less the same time. I was aware that Texas had a provision for carry of a weapon while traveling, but I had no idea about any other states. Each time I'd cross a state line I'd start watching for a cop car and flag the driver down. I'd explain who I was, where I was heading and I wanted to know the best legal method of transporting a weapon through the state. Each time I got the same answer....leave it on the seat in plain sight and don't brandish it. Each cop would then ask what I had and I'd tell them. (A S&W M-29 4" BBL and a Colt Commander). It was almost amusing to watch the eyes light up at the mention of that revolver. In 1980 .44 Maggies were hard to find and expensive when you did find them! (Clint Eastwood indirectly sold an awful lot of guns!) The Shreveport local cop was an older guy with a raggedy looking .38 but he still seemed impressed by that cannon, and the Alabama State Trooper tried to buy the thing from me. All three wanted to finger it and talk guns. |
Much better luck once I got my permit WRT getting totally off on a ticket. Prior to that, all but one were downgraded or given a written warning. ETA: Your attitude makes a lot of difference when dealing with a LEO on the side of the road and you are in the wrong. Not saying you have to lick his (as opposed to "her", because no man has ever been let off by a female LEO) boots or anything, but being respectful without being patronizing goes a long way. |
I'm sure it was pretty tense there at the end, not really knowing how to say goodbye when you really want to just sit there on the highway and keep talking guns. Actually sounds like a fun stop, if there is such a thing. |
