CCW Question: Interacting with Police

[Greg Andrews]

I have a question. I've had a CCW for about 4 years, and did NOT know that it was a requirement to inform law enforcement personnel that you are armed and/or carrying. I understood that you were only to reply truthfully to the question "are you armed?" Of course, if I feel a police officer is going to see a firearm on me/near me, I will always carefully inform him/her, for the benefit of both of us. However, reading some of these threads, it seems that the impression is that it is not only a good idea to do so, but required. I keep my firearm in a compartment in my car (not the glove compartment) and have been stopped for speeding, and have said nothing. Two questions: First, what is the law? Second, is my CCW status included in my Drivers License profile?

[G36 Steve]

Originally Posted by Greg Andrews

I have a question. I've had a CCW for about 4 years, and did NOT know that it was a requirement to inform law enforcement personnel that you are armed and/or carrying. I understood that you were only to reply truthfully to the question "are you armed?" Of course, if I feel a police officer is going to see a firearm on me/near me, I will always carefully inform him/her, for the benefit of both of us. However, reading some of these threads, it seems that the impression is that it is not only a good idea to do so, but required. I keep my firearm in a compartment in my car (not the glove compartment) and have been stopped for speeding, and have said nothing. Two questions: First, what is the law? Second, is my CCW status included in my Drivers License profile?

It's not a law that you have to advise LEOs of your CCW but it may be a requirement from your issuing agency. It is in Orange County and several others as well.
That said, it is advisable to inform an LEO who is contacting you because if they discover a gun before you let them know about it they will probably not play nice with you.
The California DMV system does not contain CCW information.

[brightside]

First, how on EARTH did you get a CCW in LA? Others here are probably dying to know. (of course, you have the right to keep it to yourself)

Second, I agree with last poster - if LE finds the weapon before you mention the CCW, worst case is you can get killed.

[BonoVox]

Originally Posted by brightside

First, how on EARTH did you get a CCW in LA? Others here are probably dying to know. (of course, you have the right to keep it to yourself)

Second, I agree with last poster - if LE finds the weapon before you mention the CCW, worst case is you can get killed.

Sorry that made me laugh! But true. Of course the worst case, in anything we do in this world, is you get killed!

I do agree it is better to be up front with your CCW status. It is a courtesy thing and as mentioned in some counties or states a requirement.

BTW don't mention your personal GC in the open forum.

[paul0660]

It is not required my my county, but they consider it common courtesy, if done right.

[Greg Andrews]

First, I should offer my apologies. Due to my overwhelming desire for privacy, I said I was from LA County, but in truth, I'm in San Diego, and am using a pseudonym. Please forgive me for misleading. I see now that there is relevance for the other members to know where I am, as I may be in a position to offer advice that is location-specific. I will change my location in my profile. That said, I hear that San Diego is pretty much as restrictive as LA. I own a business, where I carry large sums of cash and valuables, which is how I got my CCW.

Third, I have always debated with myself what the best course of action is, when interacting with Law Enforcement. Because I keep my firearm in my car in a place that is easily accessible to me, but unlikely to be found unless a police officer wishes to conduct a thorough search, I feel it's better to avoid the whole situation entirely. If he was about to conduct a search of my car, I would let him know in advance, as a courtesy.

When carrying out in public, however, I would not hesitate to alert a police officer to the presence of my firearm if I thought for a moment he was going to see it. I have had one interaction at a gun show (I was there for business, and "disarmed" at the firearms check-in, because I was carrying a LOT of cash in the show parking lot on my way in). The police officer didn't even flinch. I told the guy at the table that I was armed, and was going to surrender my firearm to inspection and tagging, and he had no problem with it. The police officer just asked me if I had a CCW, and when I said yes, didn't even ask to see it.

[G36 Steve]

Originally Posted by Greg Andrews

When carrying out in public, however, I would not hesitate to alert a police officer to the presence of my firearm if I thought for a moment he was going to see it.

Don't be overconfident about your ability to conceal adequately. Some LEO's have received specialized training on spotting concealed weapons and are very good at it.
I would advise you to be up-front about your CCW at first official contact to avoid any misunderstandings.
And, thank you for reconsidering your thoughts on hiding your location. You're correct on the advice being geographically specific.

[Greg Andrews]

I can totally see your point about alerting at "first contact." I would ALWAYS do it if actually carrying. However, when it's hidden away in my vehicle, and would not be exposed except in a very thorough search of my car, I just choose to avoid the whole issue entirely.

[Feather]

When a LEO asks to see your driver's license, I think it is best to also give him/her your CCW without saying anything. If you are asked why you gave it to him/her, just say that it is another form of ID and you thought the person would like to know that you are armed. I think they appreciate knowing. Frankly, most LEOs in San Diego and Los Angeles County have never seen a CCW so they will be quite surprised and will, for the most part, treat you with more respect and courtesy. I think it also puts them at ease knowing that you have been fully checked out prior to the issuance of the CCW. Traffic stops can be very dangerous because the LEO does not fully know your history. A person with a CCW is viewed as a non-threat.

[EM2]

Of course there are many opinions on this topic already but if I may.
The instructor during my initial CCW class advised to be careful and understand where you are, ie law enforcement jurisdiction, and the likelyhood they will find out that you are carrying. We were told of a client of his that was 'made' while in SF and while he was carrying legally with a CCW permit his handgun was still confiscated by the police and it cost him around $3000 to get it back. It was said that most law enforcement have not ever seen a CCW and some believe you cannot get one.
Tread carefully in this area and of course obey the law and avoid interaction with law enforcement if at all possible.

[RECON]

The instructor for our class told us don't say anything, concealed means concealed, they should have no idea you have it with you in your car. Now if they want to search your car I would think you have more problems than legally carrying. Thinking your a drug runner or ?. They also warned about S.F.Was that really $3,000 or did you mean $300?, $3,000 they could keep it.

[Greg Andrews]

Overall, excellent comments that does make me reconsider my position. I do agree - a reasonable police officer will be put at ease if he knows you're a CCW. Same goes if you're military (I used to give my military ID for that very reason). But then you could get the copy who gets pissed off at you, thinking you're trying to gain favor during the incident. For me, the issue comes down to safety. if I have a contact with a police officer and carrying and on-foot, I'm going to alert him because the chance is strong that he could see it, resulting in a very uncomfortable (and dangerous) situation for us both. If I'm in my car, and it's stashed away, that's where the firearm (and my CCW) is staying, because the likelihood of him discovering it is slim. In other words, I want the traffic stop to be as routine as possible - with no complications.

[EM2]

Originally Posted by RECON

The instructor for our class told us don't say anything, concealed means concealed, they should have no idea you have it with you in your car. Now if they want to search your car I would think you have more problems than legally carrying. Thinking your a drug runner or ?. They also warned about S.F.Was that really $3,000 or did you mean $300?, $3,000 they could keep it.

Yes I believe the $3000 is close to accurate, the cost was due to legal fees in fighting the SFPD. It was recommended to us to have on our permit a relatively inexpensive firearm that we would not mind loosing if we ever had to go to SF.
A sad state of affairs to be sure.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by EM2

Yes I believe the $3000 is close to accurate, the cost was due to legal fees in fighting the SFPD. It was recommended to us to have on our permit a relatively inexpensive firearm that we would not mind loosing if we ever had to go to SF.
A sad state of affairs to be sure.

A few months ago I posted a story our CCW training Sergeant told the class.

If you’re in SF or any of the Bay Area counties and an officer confiscates your weapon (assuming you’re not being an idiot) you must allow the officer to take it. Be sure to request a receipt for it and get the officers information.
He said you just made $50K.

He went on to say that SF tries to tell you the CCW is not valid in SF and at some point they were trying to enforce their illegal rules.

The way he told the story with some details it sounds like this happened to one of our Lake County CCW holders.

So, when I took my family to SF to see the Blue Angels (they canceled because of the fog) I was on high alert.

I must have walked past 15 uniformed SF police officers but it was a little windy and a nice unzipped wind breaker worked great.

We had lunch at Pier 39 and a tourist walked in the upstairs restaurant with a NRA jacket, the one with a really big logo. The lady next table over said, “Can you believe that” pointing to her friend in this guys direction.

I giggled to myself and thought, lady if you only knew that 4 feet away from you is a man with a Real Gun, safely holstered and if the **** hit the fan and I was forced to defend myself, that by doing so I’m also defending you since your right next to me. Of course we all know nothing bad has ever happened in restaurants and surely nothing bad would happen in San Francisco…