First question I have is how did he know:
Ten minutes later he’s back, and he wants John out of the Expedition. Retreating to the space between the SUV and the unmarked car, the officer orders John to hook his thumbs behind his back and spread his feet. “You own a gun,†the officer says. “Where is it?â€
“At home in my safe,†John answers.
“Don’t move,†says the officer.
And they say we have nothing to fear from registration? Bullshit. Apparently the guy is thinking about giving up his permit. I’d consider a civil rights lawsuit before I considered anything else. This guy was lucky. When I drive through Maryland, I’m usually transporting the gun in compliance with FOPA. I’d probably have been arrested and charged. I really hope this guy files a lawsuit, because we need to send a message to Maryland authorities that it is not OK to harass law abiding gun owners transiting through their state.
Second, we all need to ensure that permit information is private in our states. Pennsylvania provides a means to verify a license given one in hand, but as far as I know the cops can’t pull up whether your licensed or not on their systems. Though, we do have that PSP registry I do believe the authorities, at least in Pennsylvania, can pull up. I’ve heard of cases of people getting pulled over in Pennsylvania and challenged by officers who had brought a gun with them when they moved from out of state, and thus it was not “registered” to the owner.
The State of Maryland should end up buying that guy a nice new House.
There have been many discussions here about what to say or not say when stopped by a LEO. This article points out the importance of also having these discussions with family members. If his wife hadn’t contradicted his story by “just trying to be helpful” this might have had a different outcome.
I have a really hard time believing that the wife was “just trying to help.” She knew he didn’t have the gun with him, because he was driving to states that prohibit him from having it (unless in a locked case, etc., and a glove box does not count). So of course she knew it was home. If she believes her husband follows the law, she knew it was at home.
So…why did she say anything beyond “I don’t know,” and even as far as “maybe it’s in the glove box”?
Seriously, I’m trying to find a reason. Why did she say those things?
Why did she say those things?
She probably had one of those “blond” moments. She was quoted in the original article as saying a lot of dumb things, like her being scared of her husband’s gun, not wanting anything to do with it, she thinks that she might shoot herself accidentally with it, etc.
This story ought to serve as a lesson to all married couples which have a husband with a CCW permit, a wife that does not have one, and who is not much into guns either. I’m thinking that couples such as these ought to have some “talking points” ready before going on road trips out of state.
My brother and sister-in-law drove from PA all the way out to where her parents live in KS last summer. They had my brother’s handgun with them in their vehicle during this trip. My brother does have a LTCF, but they did not drive through MD or any other gun-hostile states. They did not get stopped at any time during their road trip. If they had been stopped, however, I could not even imagine my sister-in-law saying any of the dumb things that this wife of the guy in the story did. My sister-in-law does not run her mouth like that.
I can TOTALLY see the wife saying that and not meaning to get the husband in trouble. They probably had a “out of sight, out of mind” agreement on the gun. She just panicked.
And I grudgingly admit that she probably didn’t understand that the things she said, if they were true, would put her husband in jail for a long long time.
She never thought about how his (their) gun-ownership means that different state’s police see them so differently that the police in their home state.
We really, really need to get rid of the PSP’s registry. I think that should be the top priority for PA gun owners.
Its unfortunate that our side only seems to get motivated when we’re on the defensive. We’re not nearly as effective at rolling back existing infringements.
In Texas Concealed Handgun will appear on the police MDT for both DL and license plate. If you have a CHL you have to inform the cops if you are carrying. You can legally carry in your car without a CHL and don’t have to inform them.
I have been thinking about sending my CHL back to the TX Dept. of Public Safety.
I recall the question “do cops get concealed carry info when they run a driver’s license” being raised at a police forum.
A Maryland cop replied and swore up and down that information is not available during a traffic stop. No other cops weighed in.
It only stands to reason in this digital day and age that info is indeed available. When in doubt, it’s always wise to assume the worst and hope for the best.
My lawyer husband assures me that a license plate look-up gives you the owner’s name and DL number, and thus the CL status.
Maryland Transit Authority Police are the Super Troopers of MD.
and by ‘super troopers’ we mean jackasses angry they couldn’t get jobs as cops who have jurisdictions large enough that you could not walk their whole world in under five minutes.
In Travis County, home of Austin, TX, I had to sit in my car for 15 minutes until backup arrived, for a supposed traffic infraction that ended up with only a verbal warning after I explained that I pulled over not to avoid the officer behind my car, but to check my pager which kept buzzing from work. The first officer, the one who stopped me, knew I had a CHL from his computer and wasn’t gonna confront me without another officer there.
In Williamson County, home of Round Rock, TX, I was pulled over for inadvertently speeding. The officer accepted my DL & CHL, and immediately said, “Thank you for supporting 2nd Amendment rights.” Then he gave me a $150 ticket for driving over the speed limit.
Texas is schizophrenic about guns, revenue enhancement and many other issues, but it is also immensely entertaining in the process.
how he knew
Florida plates and knowledge of the Florida number go call to verify permit data, used by leos nationwide all day, every day. The officer only has to guess the dude has a permit and then call to ‘verify’ its existence.
the state has a bounty on guns. if you find an ‘illegal’ gun your next promotion is a sure thing. perverse incentives breed perverse outcomes.
fwiw, I know of the things I write on this topic. even if my phone disallows decent capitalization at the moment.
As I said up-thread:
My lawyer husband assures me that a license plate look-up gives you the owner’s name and DL number, and thus the CL status.
(he’s a crim defense attorney, and 2nd Am. supporter)
In any state? I’m pretty sure that’s not the case for PA. I know it is for Virginia. PA licenses are processed by the sheriff. The state police has license info for verification purposes through a toll free number, but you need to be in possession of the LTC first.
North Carolina also ties it’s concealed permit to your drivers license. I would hope now that our legislature is in R hands across the board, we might get this fixed. We just got restaurant carry and a few other things passed.
Yeah but this is an “officer safety” issue. I don’t see it changing just because Republicans are in charge.
How many cases have there been of a person with a CC permit whipping out the handgun and shooting a police person during a traffic stop?
I can see this guy with his Sergeant:
SERGEANT: Son, what the F’ were you thinking?
TROOPER: Sir, he was from Florida!
SERGEANT: Oh. Very good. Carry on.