Starting sometime this summer, Arizona residents will no longer need a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Staring down the barrel of a Republican primary, Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1108. The bill eliminates concealed carry permit requirements for residents 21 or older, and makes a bunch of firearms instructors very, very grumpy. Previously, on who want to pack heat, Arizona required a separate background check (aside from purchase checks) and instruction classes. Arizona joins Alaska and Vermont in this laissez-faire approach to concealed carry. One step forward, one step back? “(Phoenix is the) fifth largest city in the country, and we can’t be the Wild West any longer,” said Hildy Saislow, a member of the group Arizonans for Gun Safety. “We can’t go backwards, we need to go forward.” Another critic, citizen journalist Hugh Halob, reckons the bill will make law enforcement that much harder . . .

Stopping motorists in the middle of the night has never been one of the safer things police do, and now it gets even more dangerous.

There have been a lot of justified police shootings of motorists who made a furtive movement that looked like the driver was reaching for a gun.

So imagine you are a police officer and approaching a vehicle you stopped in the middle of the night. What are you going to do?

Obviously, standing back way from the vehicle you will ask “Do you have a concealed weapon in your vehicle?’

The driver says “yes I do, officer.”

Then what? The officer has the right to ask you to surrender your weapon into his custody during the investigation or the traffic stop.

That means the driver will presumably be holding the gun out his car window to be taken by the police officer.

Imagine you having to walk up and take possession of that gun.

I would suspect many police officers will have their guns drawn and be pointing them at the driver while thy reach over to grab the driver’s gun.

What do you think are the chances some motorist will be shot by the police in this situation?

Slim? I reckon most legal gun owners would surrender their weapon easily. The question is: what’s the protocol?

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Funny, none of these problems are an issue in Vermont, Where I carry daily.

    Perhaps then the good police chief can concentrate on the new law to round up illegals. They are showing up on our farms now.

  2. If in every case, crime goes down when restrictive gun laws are repealed, why do so many mayors want 'em? Could it be that they are uncomfortable with the idea of a citizenry that is capable of resisting tyrany?

  3. When you’re pulled over, the safest thing to do is put your hands on the wheel and keep them there. When you tell the officer you have a gun, he will ask where it is. Don’t move towards it, tell him.

    He will then ask you to step out of the car and tell him where the gun is on your person. Again, tell him, don’t show him. He will then remove the weapon himself.

    That’s the safest way with the least chance of mistaken movements.

    Though why the cop asks if you have a gun is strange to me. I’ve only been pulled over like twice, but never have I been asked if I had a gun.

  4. I have, but it was a traffic stop and the ccw was "showing" (the Dillon case). The LE simply asked me if I had it, I said yes, I followed every instruction. He took the S&W, took the bullets out, went to him vehicle, ran the serial number, came back, talked to me about the original reason for stopping me. At the end, he gave the S&W back and the ammo back (separately). No fuss no muss. That was YEARS ago. In AZ.

    People – if they behave responsibly – will not have a problem – nor will LE have a problem with them. And, BTW, I would not blame LE for having their weapon ready (drawn) on ANY traffic stop. Not will the amount of times their lives have been taken during simple traffic stops.

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