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Old 02-28-2011, 01:45 AM
  #25  
Nomercy448
Nontypical Buck
 
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,907
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I've almost always had a gun in my car, usually just a .22 pistol, or a .17 HMR revolver for cleaning up coyotes around the farm should one present itself. I've had two instances where I was "caught" with a gun in my car. Both were before we passed CCW in Kansas.

The first time I was only 17, I had a Ruger Mark II pistol loaded with one in the pipe sitting on my dash. It set nicely in the molded dash tray, so that's just where I left it all the time. I always kept it locked and loaded in case I'd spot a coyote. It never even crossed my mind when I saw the red lights in my rear view. I quickly dug through my glove box looking for my current registration. As soon as the officer walked up, I offered my license and reg, but the officer spotted the stainless pistol right away. He smirked and asked me if I had any weapons in the car, blatantly leaning to look at the pistol, and I said, "oh #$@!, yes, I always keep that pistol up there for coyotes". I assumed I was about to have a gun drawn on me, or at least have some big to do where he'd have to secure the weapon, etc. However, the officer just asked me to step out of the vehicle for his safety. He had me stand in the ditch beside our cars as he ran my info. Once I checked out, he gave me a verbal warning and sent me on my way. Never even touched the pistol, never said anything else about it.

The second time was a few years later, I had the same pistol in my glove box. The magazine was in a cubby in the dash. I didn't even think about the pistol being in the glovebox, along with about 3 or 4 other written warnings for speeding. Again, the officer quickly spotted the pistol as I reached for my registration. He quickly stopped me and asked if it was loaded, I said no, and pointed out that he mag was in the cubby on the dash, and he could clearly see the mag well was empty. He instructed me to set it on the dash, and we went on with the traffic stop. He ran my license and reg and came back and gave me another written warning, and even joked that I could add it to the "collection" of others I already had in the glove box. Never said anything else about the pistol.

I was pulled over in Oklahoma once in college and when the officer asked if I had any guns in the car, I answered honestly and said I had a pistol (same Ruger Mark II) in the glovebox. He pointed out a pistol bag I had on the rear floorboard and asked if that was another one, but it was empty. He said to comply with OK law, I really needed to take the pistol out of the glove box and put it in the pistol bag in the back seat... It SHOULD be locked, but zipped up was close enough.

On the other hand, I was pulled over AGAIN in OK a few months later for crossing the center-line (eating an icecream cone while driving), but DIDN'T have the pistol on board, but when the officer spotted the magazine in the dash tray, he instructed me out of the car and I spent 3hrs handcuffed to his grill-guard while him and 3 other officers searched my vehicle for drugs and guns. Of course they didn't find anything and eventually they let me off without even a ticket.

I personally wouldn't have OFFERED any information about the gun or your permit. The point of the CCW program is to keep the weapons CONCEALED. Officers are trained to approach EVERY stop as if the driver is an agitated tweaker with an AK-47 and a deathwish, and they are fully aware that they work in a CCW state, so they'll be pretty non-chalant about someone legally carrying.
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