Should I notify officer of handgun in car if I get pulled over?

Question

While applying for my Indiana concealed weapons permit, I asked the clerk if I ever get pulled over for a traffice violation while legally carying a concealed handgun, should I immediately notify the officer. She told me under no circumstances do that because it will just make the officer nervous. She said if they ask me if I have a gun in the car to just put my hands on the wheel and tell them where it is at, but if they don't ask I should not tell.

If I were an officer, I think I would always want to know if there is a gun in the car, legal or not. Can any officers out there (especially in Indiana) chime in to let me know what I should do if I get pulled over while legally carrying a concealed handgun? Thanks.

Answer 1

You should calmly tell the officer on approach that you have a weapon and present your permit with your drivers and car info. Because if I see it before you tell me about it, I will draw my weapon and have you get out of the car and it can get "harry" if it gets to that point. As far as what happens when you tell me that you have a weapon depends on your conduct and the totality of the situation on what I will do. I usually unload the weapon, give it back to you and advise you to not to reload it until I leave. I do not want to be shot, especially with a weapon I give you. As far as you not getting a ticket because you have a weapon is stupid. Again it depends more on your conduct, your infraction and the totality of the situation if you get a citation.

Answer 2

Some states (and counties) do require to inform the officer of a concealed weapon if you are pulled over. Apparently Indiana doesn't.

If you are unsure, you should err on the side of telling him rather than not telling him. However, make sure you do it in a non-threatening manner. Do NOT, under any circumstances, say "I have a gun", as that is a threat and the officer would be justified in retaliating. Put your hands on the wheel and say "I should inform you that I am carrying a concealed weapon" in a calm and non-threatening tone.

Answer 3

If he asks for registration and insurance, and they are in the glove box with the gun, definitely inform the officer you have a legal gun, and it is in the glove box with the paperwork. Otherwise you risk getting shot if they spot it when you open the compartment. If you do not have to open the compartment the gun is in, you do not have to volunteer the information. However, the question is usually asked "do you have any weapons in the car".
If the weapon is holstered on your body, and you don't have to exit the car, or put your hands inside the garment hiding the gun, I wouldn't think you would have to volunteer it, again, unless asked.
Personally, I wouldn't want the responsibility of having a gun in a car. I worry what happens if a gun carrier is in an accident, and knocked unconscious, waking up to find an empty holster, the gun on the ground, and one shot fired.

Answer 4

Opinions differ on this, you have your concealed permit to protect you from whomever, but you can tell us, we're on your side little buddy. My suggestion is that you give the officer your concealed permit when you hand him your license.. it's a polite way of saying you're packing. Sure, if the first thing you say to a cop is " I have a gun", it's gonna get awkward. He may even show you his, if you get my point. Congrats on exercising your rights, there may come a day when the police need your help and we're damn happy when you come to help with a gun.

Answer 5

Under NC law, failure to advise an officer upon his/her approach that you have a weapon in the vehicle no matter if a friend has it and didn't tell you. You could be charged with failure to notify an officer of a firearm. So be sure you tell the friends to advise you if they carry so you advise the officer. If the officer is not advised upon approach and gains consent to search and then you state " Oh, I have a firearm " You will be charged in NC for concealing a firearm and failure to notify. Just wanted to give you a heads up if you live in NC or visit.

Answer 6

I'm not sure about Indiana, but weapon permits are not valid in moving vehicles in Wisconsin. I would make sure your state does allow it before you get the chance to get pulled over.

Personally, I would want to know where it is, and I would want you to be able to pull your permit without reaching any where near the weapon. Having the permit out ahead of time would be better.

Answer 7

You need to know that. Its part of every state's concealed weapons permit class.

Some states require you to tell officers, some states do not. You had better figure it out though.

Answer 8

Telling will never hurt you.

Informing the officer of the presence of the handgun at the beginning of the stop will prevent surprises, which is good for everybody.

I always prefer to know.

Answer 9

That advice is actually quite sage.

It is actually much much much better to hand over your conceal and carry permit at the same moment you hand over your driver's license, and then put your hands back onto the steering wheel and leave them there until the badge-bearer decides whether or not to have you continue to provide him your registration insurance and/or any other documentation.

The laws of the various states vary quite a lot about concealed weaponry, but they all agree on the exact same thing: that you are required to notify a law-enforcement officer of the weapon if there is a possibility that the officer misinterpreting the situation, which means ALWAYS.

Give every single law-enforcement officer all the time that THEY need to let it sink in that you just handed them a concealed weapons permit, without doing ANYthing that might be misinterpreted as a hostile motion. Sometimes an officer could be in the middle of a second or third back-to-back shift, or could have just left the scene of a horrifying incident, or could have just been served divorce papers, or whatever, so you should NEVER assume that a law-enforcement officer is capable of thinking clearly at the moment. Let THEM be the ones to figure it out that you're telling them you have a weapon with you.

On the other hand, it has been ruled by almost every supreme court of every state and the US Supreme Court itself, that anybody even uttering the words "I have a gun" are allowed to be abusively interpreted to mean "I intend to kill you" and law-enforcement officers then have the authority, power, and warrant to terminate your life and the lives of anybody in the vehicle with you.

So, never say it out loud.

And, never assume that they understand you if you say "I have a permit" or "I have a concealed weapons permit" or anything else, because, once again, they might not have their full attention on what you're saying.

Once they realize what the other card is that you handed them, they can then react however they were trained to react, which does NOT necessarily mean they are all going to react in the exact same way, but, as long as it is then you doing exactly what the officer tells you to do and not doing what the officer doesn't tell you to do, I would estimate it to be about 99.999999% of the time that for whatever reason you were pulled over, you will NOT get a ticket, because law enforcement officers tend to have great respect for anybody who possesses a concealed weapons permit.

Please be advised that Citicop's "Telling will never hurt you" is only true when 'telling' = handing over your permit in silence after being prompted to show ID of any kind. The US supreme court has said over and over and over again that nobody has to communicate with ANY governmental official by means of anything other than WRITING at the insistence of the person. So, again, even in Citicop's jurisdiction, don't SAY so, show so.

As for Trooper blah blah blah's response: I think he needs to reread the statutes and administrative codes again. His response just plain does not even begin to make sense. HOW then is a person with a permit supposed to get his/her weapon from his/her residence, to wherever else he/she feels he/she might need it, if it cannot be put into a moving vehicle?

I would have to say, that, like almost every other state in the union, it is not legal to carry a concealed weapon inside the passenger compartment of a moving vehicle. In other words, just like in almost every other state, you are supposed to either put your weapon into the trunk or under the hood, or into a locked glovebox, or a locked gunbox, before you put the key into the ignition. Some places don't allow it to be in a locked gunbox. Some don't allow it under the hood. Some don't allow it in the glovebox. I don't know of a single place that doesn't allow it in the trunk. I also don't know of a single place that allows it to be anywhere on the outside of the body, like in a wheel well or under a loaded luggage rack, so, be sure to check your state's regulations.

And be sure to take any self-proclaimed badge-beares 'advice' with WAY more than just a pinch of the old proverbial salt.

Answer 10

Of course you should tell them.
Don't listen to Robert G., he is an idiot.