Surrendering your weapon

[RTroy29035]

Just a quick question.
Suppose you are pulled over for a supposed traffic violation and you have on your person a concealed weapon and you are properly licensed to do so.
The officer asks you if you have any weapons and you answer truthfully to the affirmative. The officer then asks for you weapon and permit. Does the officer have the legal right to take your weapon? I know that the officer does have the right to inspect my permit, but I have never been keen on the idea of handing my weapon over to anyone unless absolutely necessary.
I would appreciate any comments especially if you can reference Indiana Code to this type of situation.

 

[booey50]

I don't think it is illegal for them to check it, never heard of the law saying they cannot but if they do ask to see it and you don't let them you are probably going to have more troubles on you.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Other forum members have faced this situation. No LEO has ever asked me to relinquish one of my weapons. I dont think case law in Indiana is very clear on the matter. At least the threads dont seem to clear it up. I dont know the RIGHT answer, but I'd like to think that my response would be something along the lines of "Officer, I will comply with your order but I do not consent to this apparent violation of my 4th Amendment Constitutional right. Why are you seizing my property?" If the answer is "Officer safety" I will ask "how shall I safely unholster and hand you my weapon as you have ordered?" And I will follow their instructions.

 

[ATM]

I wouldn't hand it over or even touch it.

If they feel like they need it, they're gonna have to to take it. (I don't mean that I would resist.)

I'd follow up with a complaint that would be ignored.

 

[grimor]

I'm not sure if you legally have to give up your weapon if asked, but possibly being shot by your own weapon beats definitely being shot by theirs...

 

[tjgilbert89]

I think it would be weird for them to ask to see your weapon... wouldn't most officers feel more comfortable/safer if I didn't go to pull out my weapon just so they could inspect it?

 

[ryknoll3]

I think it would be weird for them to ask to see your weapon... wouldn't most officers feel more comfortable/safer if I didn't go to pull out my weapon just so they could inspect it?

It's a crapshoot when it comes to this.

Some LEO's ask for you to hand them your weapon. Some make you get out of the car and take it from you. Some pat you down. Some make you get on the ground. Some unload your weapon, take the bullets out of the mag and throw them in the back seat. All depends on their mood.

 

[Love the 1911]

ATM has the best answer you could do. Refuse to give it to them but allow them to take it if they insist. After vebally stating that you don't wish to hand your gun over, you would have a case for a complaint. The complaint would likely be ignored as officer safety would trump the inconvenience of you having your gun removed from your possession for a few minutes in the opinion of the brass. If the gun is stolen and they run it and arrest you, you could one day find yourself in a high court room and get a ruling that sets a precedent for the entire country to follow. Not sure if that's good or bad though.

 

[kludge]

In my reading of the code/case law, unless the LEO 1) reasonably believes that I have committed, am committing, or am about to commit a crime, or 2) reasonably believes that I am a danger to myself or someone else, then no, the officer does not have the legal authority to disarm a citizen.

You probably won't find very many LEOs that agree with me.

 

[bassplayrguy]

It seems like it would be safer for everyone involved to not handle the weapons at all and deal with the reason for pulling you over. I would never resist either if asked for it. I would tell them that I would be more comfortable with them retrieving it so I don't get their issued gun jammed in my face.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Not sure about the legality of it HERE, but in MN it is against the law for them to disarm you.

 

[Marc]

I don't think it is illegal for them to check it, never heard of the law saying they cannot but if they do ask to see it and you don't let them you are probably going to have more troubles on you.

its called failure to comply

i have only 1 incident where an officer in greenfield confronted me about OCing my gun and all he did was ask for my ltch and then went on to give me a long and strenuous lecture that went in one ear and out the other, i am was and still am legal therefore
i dont need a lecture.

 

[INGunGuy]

Failure to comply is total and complete BS. I am not giving up my firearm for any reason whatsoever. Officer safety is another BS reason, hell there are plenty of other professions that are more dangerous than being a LEO. If you want to see my drivers license because I was speeding, ran a red light, etc FINE, you can have it along with my insurance and registration. If I am asked if there are any weapons in the vehicle, I will answer that there is nothing illegal in the vehicle. The LEO can take that as he wishes. And in the state of Indiana just the mere fact of carrying a gun is NOT PC or RAS for a terry stop as per the Indiana Supreme Court. If I am walking down the street minding my own business, then my only answers will be "am I being detained?", "am I under arrest?" and "am I free to go?"

My question is this why are some LEO's so GD stupid that they want to remove a gun from leather? A gun in leather is MUCH safer than a gun out of leather. I personally dont want to be covered by my own gun because some ignorant LEO has no clue about the proper handling of a firearm.

INGunGuy

 

[Hop]

I was pulled over, had no idea why. He saw my LTCH when getting out my DL. Asked if I had a gun in the car, "yes" then ordered to "hand it over please". It was returned unloaded (one taken out of the pipe too). It didn't really bother me at the time. No ticket, no warning, he just thanked me and said I could go. I never knew why I was stopped.

I was in Pops once when a guy brought his in a bag. The LEO field stripped it for some reason. The owner obviously wasn't very good with guns as he didn't know how to reassemble the thing.

 

[Sylvain]

I was pulled over, had no idea why. He saw my LTCH when getting out my DL. Asked if I had a gun in the car, "yes" then ordered to "hand it over please". It was returned unloaded (one taken out of the pipe too). It didn't really bother me at the time. No ticket, no warning, he just thanked me and said I could go. I never knew why I was stopped.

I was in Pops once when a guy brought his in a bag. The LEO field stripped it for some reason. The owner obviously wasn't very good with guns as he didn't know how to reassemble the thing.

That's sounds like very stupid and dangerous things to do from the LEO.
Anytime you load/unload a gun with a live round in the chamber it can go off.Its much safer to keep the gun in the holster.
And field stripping a gun??? That's behind me, even more dangerous if the guy can put it back properly fire it like that.

I wouldnt let a LEO handle my gun.Especially when I know how little training some of them have with firearms.

 

[sj kahr k40]

Failure to comply is total and complete BS. I am not giving up my firearm for any reason whatsoever. Officer safety is another BS reason, hell there are plenty of other professions that are more dangerous than being a LEO. If you want to see my drivers license because I was speeding, ran a red light, etc FINE, you can have it along with my insurance and registration. If I am asked if there are any weapons in the vehicle, I will answer that there is nothing illegal in the vehicle. The LEO can take that as he wishes. And in the state of Indiana just the mere fact of carrying a gun is NOT PC or RAS for a terry stop as per the Indiana Supreme Court. If I am walking down the street minding my own business, then my only answers will be "am I being detained?", "am I under arrest?" and "am I free to go?"

My question is this why are some LEO's so GD stupid that they want to remove a gun from leather? A gun in leather is MUCH safer than a gun out of leather. I personally dont want to be covered by my own gun because some ignorant
LEO has no clue about the proper handling of a firearm.

INGunGuy

What about a gun in plastic?

Great post, I'd rep you but I'm out as usual

 

[Hop]

At least he took it back to his car when he unloaded it. lol

 

[Rookie]

If an officer asks for my weapon, I am going to politely decline and let him/her know that they can take my weapon without my consent. If they think they need to slap on cuffs, then fine. I look at it this way, if you were to hand your gun to an officer and it discharged, do you think he would say, "oops, that sucked"? Better to let him control it from start to finish...

 

[Hemingway]

In NC, where a LOT of people carried, open and concealed, it was routine when officer's stopped you to ask if you had any guns, drugs, etc in the car as just part of standard questioning (a surprisingly large amount of people answer "yes" to "Do you have drugs in your car.") Also, it was law that you had to inform an officer if you were carrying as part of the CC regulations.

It was then routine for the officer to take the weapon back to his vehicle while he did his paperwork. He would unload the weapon, check the driver for warrants, check if the gun was stolen, write the traffic ticket, or whatever he was doing. When he was done, he'd hand it back and request that you not load it right there (as you may be pissed about your speeding ticket, I guess ). Sometimes they would be in NCIC as stolen. (unless you run the serial number in a private sale, you never truly know where the gun came from)

This was standard. I never heard of any issues with anyone from either side, citizen or law enforcement.

You could have a gun open carry in your vehicle with no permit. So, all the gang bangers would ride with one up on the dash (until they ended up with some felony conviction or another which prevented them) so just having a gun in NC didn't necessarily mean you had gone through a course, were a responsible citizen, etc. I guess cops didn't want to sit in their patrol cars writing a speeding ticket with a gang banger sitting on a pound of marijuana under his seat and a gun within reach. I don't really blame them.

Anyway, that's how it was in NC. I don't have any experience here in IN with that yet.

 

[E5RANGER375]

no way am I handing my gun over to a leo if stopped. i will get out of the car if ordered, but I will not hand over my gun. I wont fight him physically, but you better believe if it comes down to being forced I will make sure to take it to court.

but I unlike people who have problems in stops, will keep my mouth shut. So they will never know about any of the gunS in my car or on my person. problem solved and everyone goes home with egos and freedom in tact.