“Boynton Beach [Florida] resident Dolkens Bruno, 38, is a man with an idea,” sun-sentinel.com reports. “Moved to action by stories about young black men being shot by police, Bruno, an engineer by training and a construction worker by day, came up with the idea for a car-window sticker to alert police that the occupant has a concealed weapon inside.” As Ellen Folly sang, STOP RIGHT THERE!

Seriously? A sticker “alerting police” to a concealed weapon means . . . wait for it . . . the weapon isn’t concealed! Given the existence of “gun free zones,” and the necessity of leaving a gun in the car when entering same, it’s an open invitation to car thieves to break and enter and tool-up.

Of course, the same could be said for NRA stickers and variations on the Molon Labe theme. Anyway, Mr. Bruno’s scheme is more ambitious.

Bruno created his company, Carrier Shield, with that in mind. He wants to sell annual subscriptions for $79 to $99 to encode the driver’s license, registration and concealed weapons permit in a sticker to be placed on a windshield or car bumper.

“This way, when you are pulled over, if you own a gun the police are made aware of it,” he said. “If you reach, you may end up shot and dead.”

He said he believes alerting the cops ahead of time will reduce the anxiety between police and the public.

Yes, well, Florida CCW information is legally exempt from a public records request. So the scheme might not even be legal without new legislation. In any case, the database would have to be maintained by the police. That’s a problem, too.

His goal is to talk with local police departments to solicit their buy-in. He ran the idea by Boynton Beach District 3 City Commissioner Christina Romelus, who said she believes it may be a workable idea, but difficult to obtain buy-in from local police departments.

“Anything that allows for a smoother interaction between police officers and the public during a traffic stop will be a positive step in the right direction,” she said. “If it promotes transparency and dialogue, it’s a good idea.”

However, Eric Davis, a 30-year police veteran and spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, is not so sure.

“Knowing there’s a gun in the vehicle – that’s not going to make me relax,” he said. “What will make me relax is having the subject comply with my directions.”

And if all that isn’t enough to make you think the sticker idea sucks, Officer Davis points out that the sticker could be on a stolen vehicle or on a car on loan to someone else. Not to mention the fact Floridians can carry a gun in their vehicle without a CCW permit.

Bottom line: Mr Bruno’s desire to reduce the “tension” between police and the general public would be better served by educating people on the best way to react during a traffic stop or other police interaction.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. This is what happens when college degrees are awarded on the basis of race or other attributes that have nothing to do with the person’s qualifications for the degree.

    • A bit presumptuous (though barely plausible) to assume he’s a full-ride affirmative action case who “didn’t earn that.” What isn’t an assumption, is that his skin tone makes him an attractive figure for the media reporting on his dumb idea without context or critical examination. The media loves it when minority figures reinforce the idea that possession of guns is inherently dangerous for them due to prejudice. That’s how we have this status quo where many ignorant demographic groups (practically all urban, but of all races/classes) think “guns aren’t ‘for’ them” or that civilian gun ownership is a construct of racist oppression (yup, we suburban gun owners regularly go ridin’ a whompin’ and a whoopin’ through the black neighborhoods robbin’ & rapin’ legally to show ’em who’s boss, yessir)

      FWIW, I suspect that warning sticker won’t help you much if you make a grab for a gun in your lap when an officer comes up to take your license & registration. I have a feeling that stupid incident was the inspiration behind this well-meaning idiocy, however.

      • “You spare the women?”

        “Nahh. We rape the sh1t outta them at the number six dance later on….”

  2. Terrible idea, but at least he’s trying I guess. The whole point of concealment is to deny the knowledge of carriage to others! Unless you’re planning on shooting the officer, the fact you have a gun on you shouldn’t even come into play in your interaction with them.

    • +1… there are 400million guns in this country, which means a cop is already going to assume you have one. If you aren’t trying to kill him/her with said gun, then they aren’t going to care….. for the most part. There will always be “those cops” who don’t understand statistics, and who don’t understand they are outnumbered and outgunned (literally) 10,000 to 1.

  3. You could have some fun with a handful of those stickers…Shannon Watts’ limo fer instance.

    • In her case it would be accurate. Have you seen the guys that accompany her everywhere?

  4. While I applaud the intentions I find the proposed execution shoddy at best.

    Personally I put all my required paperwork in my visor and my wallet in the little cubby forward from the stick in my car. While I haven’t been pulled over in almost a decade, if I am, I will not have to reach for anything the officer can’t see and I won’t have to reach past my burner to get to my wallet.

  5. Not raggin’ on Mr. Bruno, just pointing out that this is a “product looking for a market” instead of the “market looking for a product”.

  6. um, correct me if I’m wrong, but if you hand them your permit along with an i.d. wouldn’t that be a much better approach? luckily I live in a state that you do not have to make police aware that you have a firearm with you, unless they ask, then you should probably be truthful.

  8. As a concealed carry handgun instructor for NC, I teach my students on how to interact when in a vehicle and when on foot. NC has a duty to inform. Education is KEY!!
    1. Smile at the officer and be polite
    2. Keep your hands on the steering wheel at 10-2 with your fingers up
    3. Let him know you have a CCH permit and you have your firearm with its location.
    4. Do not reach for it.
    5. Follow his commands
    6. Tell him what you are doing while you are doing it. (i.e. I am getting my driver’s license)

    I think the sticker idea is just as stupid as the conceal carry badge if not worse!!!

    • that’s terrible advice.

      It’s much better to scream at the cop, “B*tch, you just hassling me because I’m (fill in the blank: black, not black, gay, straight, whatever)! you betta get out my face before I whoop your ass!” while reaching into your waistband….

  9. ‘meh.

    I say go for it and let the market decide how good an idea it is.

    I am not going to pay for one but I am not going to stop anyone else from doing it.

    • “encode the driver’s license, registration and concealed weapons permit in a sticker “

      Sounds like he’s talking about some kind of digital encoding, perhaps RFID. If that’s the case, then you *will* be paying at some point, with your tax money, to buy code scanners for all the cops in your town/county/state. Then again, this has a very low likelihood of actually getting enough momentum to get past the idea stage.

      • “..Sounds like he’s talking about some kind of digital encoding, perhaps RFID. ”

        Possibly.

        Here in Florida our drivers licenses already have a mag-stripe on the back that can be swiped like a credit card and the newest ones have a 2D barcode with even more information embedded in it.

        AND….. most cities and I think all of the Counties have every police cruiser and motorcycle tied into the network and they can type in any piece of your information and get all the other pieces, put in your plate and get all your registration information, which gets them all your personal information, which gets them….. you get the idea.

        Them having all that information being a good thing or bad thing is a topic for a different discussion.

    • The liberals will eventually modify such a law in later years to turn it into a form of gun registration. They always inch forward rather than leap forward with the erosion of rights.

  10. Imagine a world where people thought about something other than themselves for 2 seconds, stored their registration and insurance on their visor, and removed their license from their wallet before putting the vehicle in park, rolling down the window, and sitting patiently with their hands on the steering wheel, holding said documents.
    I’ve never talked my way out of a ticket, and but for one instance I’ve conducted myself as cordially as possible. I don’t enjoy being pulled over or interacting with police officers acting in their professional capacity because it usually means I’m gonna have to dump my wallet, but I also hold a basic understanding of the difficulty of the job and choose not to poke the bear, figuratively and literally.

    • Imagine, instead, a world where nobody ever “pulled you over” for anything, ever. Since you are a “good guy” with no intention to be aggressive, there would never been any need for something stupid like this sticker.

      I’m 70 years old. I was “pulled over” once by a hyperactive idiot California CHP. That’s it, never happened before, and have not been bothered since – especially since coming to Wyoming.

      Just curious why so many folks here get pulled over so much. 🙂 Or find a need to worry about it so much.

      • Because some folks have vehicles built and-or modified to be a true joy to drive.

        The physical sensation of piloting these machines can be pleasant feeling as a squeeze from your sweetie.

        Wanting more of that wonderful feeling, some drive them faster.

        That can lead to unwanted attention from law enforcement…

      • Geoff is right but sometimes it’s also luck and appearance.

        My senior year in high school the Chief of Police gave us a talk about how to deal with law enforcement and how to avoid dealing with law enforcement. He told us that you put a few people in a car wearing ball caps and you better follow every single rule of the road perfectly of you would probably get pulled over because multiple people with caps = much higher chances of illegal activity so they’d use that failure to signal to shake the tree.

        When I lived in Ohio, the last time I was pulled over actually it was for 0 legitimate reason. I was driving a ’03 WRX with reflective tint and New Mexico tags Eastbound on I-70 just West of Columbus. The car was lit from the Southern side of the road so even though I had a huge dog asleep on the passenger seat it looked like I was alone because you could see my outline on the Northern side of the car. An officer from the Ohio State Police followed me for about eight miles and then pulled me over (pissed off the dog, which tried to jump out of the car and get him), ran my insurance, license, permit, etc then came back, returned my stuff and said I could go.

        So, I asked him why he pulled me over. He glanced around, hmmmed and hawwed for a moment before giving me some BS story about my tailpipe being illegal. Now I know that this story was happy-day-horseshit because I’d been driving that car around in Ohio as my daily driver for four years at that point and never gotten a second glance about the tailpipe and cops LOVED to roll up on me fast because, from a distance, a NM license tag looks exactly like an Ohio “Party Plate” (multiple DUI offender). He knew it wasn’t a DUI plate though because he followed me and obviously had run it before he even pulled me over.

        He was shaking the tree. NM tag, single occupant, I-70 drug corridor. He wanted to see what was going on and if I’d do something stupid so he could search my vehicle. Why he bothered I don’t know. When he ran the tag he should have found the single traffic ticket of my life, issued in Ohio and on that car, a couple years prior. Well that, and the giant university sticker on the back too.

        • Is there a single road in the United States that IS NOT a “drug corridor”?

          I would posit that there is not– every single inch of asphalt is a “drug corridor” for harassment of drivers purposes.

    • They CAN and DO. The public records act exempts LEOs who can run your name through the CCL database whenever they stop you. It is available to LEOs throughout the nation, which is how the MD cops get it.

      • Same thing in Texas. If you’re a CHL holder the cop already knows before he / she walks up to your door. Databases are linked.

    • Maryland…home to a 3rd-world city with among the highest murder rates in the world.

      All that gun control is working as planned. That is, if your plan is to disarm law abiding citizens while doing nothing to prevent crime.

  12. What could go wrong when the idea starts out with “firearms” and “registration” and “database?” Surely there will be widespread buy-in! /sarc

    Seriously, as others have said, admirable goal, WAAAAAAAY wrong execution.

  14. i think its a great idea that can be expanded……some sticker ideas i have…
    Free Candy
    Middle age white guy who keeps to himself on board
    Lucky Charms “they’re magically delicious” (cereal killer on-board)
    roach in ashtray
    No insurance, please don’t ask
    Whatever you find…its the other guys.

  16. I would LOVE to have a case of these stickers! I would put them on the rear window of every anti-gun SJW I know including some family members! I realize the legal issues associated with doing something like that but, Sweet Lord, that would be FUNNY!

    • Especially if they were shaped like those “Baby On Board” stickers. A yellow diamond with a gun strapped into a seat.

      Get it? Strapped? Hahahaha! I’ll show myself out…

  17. I have had my CWP for over 30 years, and been pulled over more times than I can remember (lead foot syndrome), and like everything else in the world, there’s a right way and lots of wrong ways to do it.
    1) Always stop in a place that’s safe for the officer to approach.
    2) Run BOOTH DRIVER SIDE WINDOWS DOWN! (tinted windows).
    3) Turn off the car, unbuckle the set belt, get your wallet out of your pocket and put it on the dash.
    4) Turn left in the seat, and HANG BOTH ARMS OUT THE WINDOW!
    This should all happen before the officer reaches your car. Don’t screw around, get it done.
    When the officer arrives and says “License and registration”, you say “Officer, I have a permit for a concealed weapon, and I am carrying one at this time.”
    NEVER say the word GUN! It’s a “trigger word” police say/yell/scream when things are going to shit! The officer will ask where you weapon is and where your permit is. Tell him, but DO NOT MOVE! Do exactly what he tells you and ONLY what he tells you and ONLY when he tells you to do it. Don’t argue with him. The time to argue is in court, not out in the street. Be polite, save the attitude for court if you must.
    Things to remember: Every cop you meet has been assaulted, beat up, insulted and threatened with death, and has every reason to be nervous near you …. and he has a GUN! DO NOT threaten, scare or startle the man with the gun!
    Follow these guidelines and the worse that will happen is you will get your ticket.

    • I find it much more effective when dealing with cops who pull you over to scream, “muthfucka, why you hassling me? If you din’ have a badge and a gun I’d whoop yo ass!”

    • Your brain is burned wrong, Geoff. Ellen Foley IS the singer on the album, and it’s her voice in the video. Karla DeVito did the Bat Out Of Hell Tour, and was shot in the video, but she’s lip syncing Foley’s voice.

      The only thing Farago got wrong was the spelling of her name…

  21. Dumb solution for an almost non-existent problem that could be solved in much easier, safer ways.

  22. My guess would be the gentleman is not a gun owner, so has no clue re some of the repercussions, and became so taken with his idea that he plowed forward without any preparatory research.

    Not all that uncommon, really, with people trying to enter a new-to-them area of endeavor.

    But … yeah, it’s a really bad idea for a lot of reasons.

  23. It’s a great idea. In fact after a handful of questionable epidemiological studies comparing groups of people with stickers against other groups of stickers demonstrating this is a safe and effective practice, this should be mandated for all gun owners, for public safety.

  24. Dumbest idea I’ve heard in quite awhile, and I’ve heard some doozies. It’s also totally unnecessary, at least here in North Carolina where CCH permits are linked to your Drivers License. If you get pulled over, the Officer always does a “Wants and Warrants” check on his computer. If you have a CCH, he/she will automatically know that you are permitted to conceal carry. I can only assume that most States are setup similarly. How long would it be before every criminal on the streets know what those little stickers mean? Break-ins and stolen guns would go into the Stratosphere. Stupid, stupid, stupid idea!

    • Many states prohibit sharing the CHP database. Colorado does, and the article mentions that Florida does as well.

  26. Why stop with Drivers license #, Vehicle Registration #, CCW #, give the idiots the option to put their SSN on the sticker for an extra $10. Don’t know if this will improve relations with police but for sure will facilitate relationships between idiots and criminals.

  27. good intentions, but as the famous aphorism goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”

  28. Can we stop putting every half-baked black supremacist fever dream through an intellectual obstacle course? there is no black genocide, except that perpetrated by other black people.

  30. I haven’t been stopped since about 1979. I don’t speed, all the lights work and I even signal most of the time.
    Every cop I know and have known assumes that a car full of Nuns and Priests are bank robbers in disguise until proven otherwise.
    Cops are generally lazy so they don’t just stop people who are driving safely, not playing their stereo at 166 db or in brawls on the street about silly nonsense.
    In some states an NRA sticker and an American flag are seen on almost every pickup truck, Jeep and most of the cars. In some states pickup trucks and Jeeps are not common and NRA stickers and American flags are rarely seen.
    If you live in one of those places, I hope you can move.

  31. Makes as much sense as a requiring a would be criminal to obtain a no cost permit
    24 hours in advance before they want to commit a crime.

  32. Great article.

    I put nothing on my car or home to indicate that I have guns or that I will use force to defend my home and family. That’s the definition of “concealed.” That is just asking for trouble. On the rare occasions that I am pulled over by a cop, I simply tell him up front that I have a CCP. I’ve never had a problem yet, but then I don’t usually drive around at 2:30 am in dodgy neighborhoods acting suspicious.

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