Alternate title: What to do if you get pulled over while carrying a gun (legally).

That right. I was pulled over for speeding and my CCW got me out of it. Here’s how it went.

Sunday night I decide there is nothing in the refrigerator worth eating and I should run to the store so I don’t have to do it during the week. It’s around 10:00 pm, its dark but the store is not that far and in a really safe area. I was on the fence about taking my gun, but I had a new Raven holster I wanted to try out, so I strapped it on and ran out the door.

There is a long very straight road that connects my house from to the store, I turn onto it and zip right up to 60, after all there is no one around and I am destination focused. Glancing behind me I see the signal change and a pair of headlights zoom toward me and ride my bumper. Now sometimes it’s ass hole kids but I flip over my mirror and see the cop’s light bars. At this point I am second guessing my speed. I waffle a bit before turning into the stores parking lot. The cop is still riding my bumper.

As soon as I pull into the parking lot, he turns on his lights. At this point I am thinking OK, this sucks. I have never had an encounter with a cop while packing. So I roll down my window and keep my hands on the wheel.

A young Clark County Sheriff with black hair and a tight cut, approaches me as asks for my licence. I say, “before we go any further I need to tell you I am a CCW guy and I have my gun.” He says ok. In retrospect he did not sound surprised.

He asks where is the gun. I say on my right side. He asks if I have a permit I say yes with with my drivers licence. He asks where thats at and I respond also under my right side.

He must have made a judgment that I was not a bad guy by that point. So he says, ‘I am going to have you reach for your wallet but I want you to hold it out so I can see what is in your had before bringing it back toward your body and me.’ Now I am paraphrasing because I had so much adrenaline going at the time I cannot remember exactly what he said. Anyway, I repeated the directions back to him, as I understood them, before moving my hands. He nodded and I did as he told me, slowly.

Once I had my wallet out, I had my licence and carry permit out in a snap. He looked over the permit and gave it back. He held onto my licence. He says that I was doing 60 in a 40 zone. He also comments about how I probably noticed him run up behind me. I stupidly say, “ya sometimes kids do that too.” Before he headed back to his car he asked what gun I was carrying. I said “Springfield XD.” Then I glance at his belt and immediately recognize the gun he has! I say, “thats what you have too.” He nods and heads back to his car. That relaxed me a bit.

I chill. A short while later he comes back and says, “obviously I am going to give you a warning, I also want to tell you, you handled the gun thing really well.” I thanked him and said that I was nervous about that happening for the first time. He also said that in cases like mine where the driver is not moving around the car, its a tip off that something like CCW is up.

With that he said good night and I re-parked and headed into the store. Later I called my wife to tell her how strangely carrying my gun just got me out of a ticket.

In talking to people after the fact it was suggested that the officer may have been looking for drunks and when it turned out that I was not, it helped my case. It was also suggested that he knew I had a permit when he ran my plates. I am going to ask the SAR coordinating officers about that on Wednesday, to settle my curiosity.

Basically I walked away with the following lessions:

• As a CCW you can have positive encounters with officers.
• When the officer stops you keep your hands on the wheel or make no threatining moves.
• Tell the officer you are carrying as soon as possible (I think this increased the trust level between us, further helping my case).
• Do exactly as they say. Repeat the instructions back so there is no communication problems.
• Move slow.
• Be polite and honest.
• Have your papers together.

I am left with a few questions though. What if I did not have my gun, should I still tell him that I have a permit but am not packing (See Update)? Also, what if I am in a friends car and they get pulled over, should we tell the officer then?

In summary I was happy to not get a ticket but happier to hear from the officer that I handled the situation correctly. Caleb (of Top Shot fame) says at the end of every Gun Nuts Media Podcast, “Carry Your Guns People.” This experience is likely to increase my carry time percentage.

Update: TriggerPullTactical.com weighed in. Take a look over at his blog. He also answered my “not armed” question. He says, “NO DO NOT BRING IT UP IF YOU”RE NOT CARRYING. The cop will think you’re stupid. haaa.” Well that answers that!