Tell a LEO you have a ccw

[remington660]

I have just talked with a good friend in Tenn. about carrying. He told me that a fellow he works with got stopped by a policeman and when he came back to speak with the driver the policeman jumped all over the driver for not informing him that he had a carry permit. Being on his way to work he did not have his gun with him because he can't have a gun on company property. I guess the law is you have to inform the police you have a carry permit even if you are not carrying. I was wandering if it is the same here in Arkansas.

[HK4U]

It varies from state to state. Here in Texas you have to show your CHL if you have your gun with you. Even if you do not tell them when they run the drivers lic. it will show up. Here we are told it is best to show the CHL if you have the gun or not.

[DrLewall]

Here in AR, you do not have to "volunteer" that you have a permit. When they run your info, it will pop up as it is attatched to your drivers license info.

Some states will require you to notify immediately and if you have a non-resident permit, you need to be up on that states law while traveling thru a state that requires you notify.

I highly suspect that in the states that you are NOT required to notify, the LEO will perhaps look upon you as a "wannabe bragger" if you spout off that you have a permit to carry your big badass gun..so know the law.

[NDS]

With computers in police cars able to pull up a profile of anyone; it just seems prudent to tell Police you have a permit. My permit and license are together and I will hand both to the officer at the same time if pulled over.

The one that scares me a bit is California. I travel there several times a year and my pistol is properly stored for that gulag's law. From some of the stories I've heard it might be frightening for me whatever I do. I can easily visualize one of CA's 'finest' pulling me over, drawing sidearm, and ordering me face down on the ground just because my NV license plate links to my DL and that 's linked to my CHL.:Poep2:

[Grumpy]

I'm afraid that the Arkansas Law changed in July of 2007 that we are required to submit both licenses when dealing with LEO's in Arkansas. Plus it is good policy to do so whether or not we have possession of a handgun or not. When they discover that we have the license after the first contact, they have been known to less friendly.

[PascalFleischman]

For clarification, in TN, you ARE NOT required to inform LEO's. But to read the guy the riot act for not informing, especially when he's NOT ARMED?!?!?!?!

Click Click Click go the Jackboots!!!!

[DrLewall]

5-73-315. Possession of license — Identification of licensee.



(a) Any licensee possessing a valid license issued pursuant to this subchapter may carry a concealed handgun.
(b) The licensee shall:
(1) Carry the license, together with valid identification, at any time when the licensee is carrying a concealed handgun; and
(2) Display both the license and proper identification upon demand by a law enforcement officer.

the key words here are "Display BOTH" & "upon demand"..Grumpy is right. :bigsmile:

[gordo]

It would appear to me that Pascal is correct. B1 states that you need carry your license only if you are carrying a concealed handgun. Therefore a leo could not demand you show it if you are not carrying.
I pesonally would carry the license and show it even if I was not carrying, as most officers are well trained in the ways of getting around restrictions placed upon them. They possibly could consider that not having your lincense with you as probable cause to search you and your vehicle for a violation of the cc laws. Since AR does not recognize NV CC and my drivers lincense info would show I have a NV CCW, I would expect at least some pointed questions.(If I could still afford to take a cross-country driving trip nowadays)

[DrLewall]

according to (B-2) Display both the license and proper identification upon demand by a law enforcement officer.

seems to me that when the LEO "demands" to see your drivers license and insurance, the law says BOTH the license (permit) and proper ID (drivers license)..thats how I am reading it so I will be handing over 3 documents, Licence, Permit and Insurance...

[ishi]

The law simply means that if an officer says "May I see your concealed carry license"? You must produce the license, and also another form of identification.

As for spontaneously informing, I see no need to do that. It's best to keep your conversations with LEOs as short as possible in my opinion. Obey the letter of the law.

If an officer wants to get bent out of shape because you didn't wave your license for him at first, that's on him. And it most certainly would NOT be probable cause to search your vehicle. Probable cause means the officer has cause to believe there is evidence of a particular crime hidden in your vehicle. Since the officer knows that you have a license, even if there was a gun there, no crime would have been committed. Such a search would be a violation of the 4th amendment.

This also means that if you are asked for your license and you produce it, and the officer decides to ask further, "are you carrying a weapon today?" you do NOT have to answer. In fact, outside of providing your driver's license, registration and insurance (and carry permit, if asked), you do not need to say ANYTHING AT ALL during a stop, no matter what questions the officer asks you.

There is no law that compels you to answer a police officer's questions, and they can't arrest you for not answering. Just because they're wearing a badge doesn't give them the power to question you about any particular thing they feel like. "Sir, what did you have for breakfast this morning? What, you don't want to answer? You don't have anything to hide, do you?"

This type of tolerance for police harassment is sometimes prevalent on internet gun forums, where people tend to worship Authority and police power. I find it pretty distasteful.

-ishi