Interesting twist on routine traffic stop

[Force10]

As I was headed home from work in Cincinnati early this morning I got pulled over in Brookville. It was at ~0430, so I'm sure the officer was keeping a close eye out for drunk driving, and my license plate light was out. Normal stop, asked for license, regs, told me "why" he stopped me. No biggie, I know they have a job to do. Went back to his car, ran my stuff, then came back. As he handed me my papers, he said he was giving me a verbal warning for having a bulb out. Still, no problemo. Where it gets interesting is, as a final question he asks, "You don't happen to have any weapons with you, do you?"

Had I been a bit less exhausted or thinking a bit quicker I would have said "Several." or said nothing at all. Instead I looked directly at him and said, "I do not."

I realize the police have the ability to check for larry, but what difference did it make? I was caught off-guard, and am totally befuzzled on how that question was relevant - AT ALL - to the traffic stop.

I am personally no worse for the wear, but my chief of police will be receiving a letter expressing my concern for this practice.

 

[bradmedic04]

Good for you for exercising your right not to inform.

 

[MCgrease08]

In my mind after he gives you the verbal warning, the interaction was over. That final question was just him fishing.

Personally I don't want to be in a position to lie to the officer, so I wouldn't have said no. I probably would have either just stayed silent or said, "have a good night officer. Stay safe."

 

[cziemer]

The question here is what was he fishing for? If he already gave you a warning, he more than likely already called you in and knew you had a Larry. If it didn't bother him to the point of not asking until the encounter was over, why ask?

 

[Force10]

In my mind after he gives you the verbal warning, the interaction was over. That final question was just him fishing.

Personally I don't want to be in a position to lie to the officer, so I wouldn't have said no. I probably would have either just stayed silent or said, "have a good night officer. Stay safe."

Due to the substantial inconvenience of legally carrying a firearm in OH (until 3/23/15), I do not carry when I go to work. I did not lie to the officer, but I have several tools in the vehicle that can be weapons if the situation requires. I played several scenarios through my head after I pulled away, all of them substantially better than what I answered. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight...

 

[MCgrease08]

Due to the substantial inconvenience of legally carrying a firearm in OH (until 3/23/15), I do not carry when I go to work. I did not lie to the officer, but I have several tools in the vehicle that can be weapons if the situation requires. I played several scenarios through my head after I pulled away, all of them substantially better than what I answered. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight...

Ah. That makes more sense. It wasn't clear in the OP that you weren't actually carrying.

 

[Force10]

Ah. That makes more sense. It wasn't clear in the OP that you weren't actually carrying.

Fair enough.

 

[GNRPowdeR]

You: "Thank you for your warning. Am I free to go, Officer?"

 

[looney2ns]

I have nothing illegal in the car officer.

 

[Hogwylde]

"You don't happen to have any weapons with you, do you?"

Just the one I'm driving officer......88 feet per second times 8000 pounds is a LOT of muzzle energy.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

I am confused as to why he would ask at the completion of the stop and not at first contact.

 

[GNRPowdeR]

I am confused as to why he would ask at the completion of the stop and not at first contact.

 

[Brian Ski]

I have nothing illegal in the car officer.

Good answer. I will have to remember that.

 

[Force10]

I am confused as to why he would ask at the completion of the stop and not at first contact.

Agreed. The "reason" he pulled me over had been adequately addressed, and since I was doing nothing else illegal, it was a moot question. Even if I was doing something else illegal such as speeding, it was still moot. If I did have my firearm with me, and had answered "Yes", what would he have done? If he felt in danger, he should have asked when he first approached the vehicle, not as the final question.

 

[j4jenk]

Due to the substantial inconvenience of legally carrying a firearm in OH (until 3/23/15), I do not carry when I go to work. I did not lie to the officer, but I have several tools in the vehicle that can be weapons if the situation requires. I played several scenarios through my head after I pulled away, all of them substantially better than what I answered. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight...

Pure speculation here, but maybe he was just going to warn that if you were coming from OH with a firearm that it wasn't legal yet.

 

[Cowboy1629]

Doesn't Ohio require you to inform the officer? He may have been checking to see if you were following the law by asking if you were carrying.

Nevermind, I see you were in Indiana.

 

[cziemer]

Maybe you got a Gun Friendly cop and he wanted to warn you about Ohio's laws (If he could actually tell you were coming from Ohio?) <-- I wish this came to my head immediately, instead of the "this could of ended badly" that did.

 

[churchmouse]

I am confused as to why he would ask at the completion of the stop and not at first contact.

Same here.

 

[wsenefeld]

Maybe he was conducting business first and asking out of curiosity. If I was an officer I guess I'd wonder, how many people with a ltch actually exercise their right to carry and do so on a regular basis? Obviously they don't have to answer truthfully so kind of skews the survey. What does surprise me is how many people that I know personally do not carry and do have a ltch.

 

[stephen87]

Maybe he wanted to talk shop. Maybe he's looking for a new personal carry gun and wanted an opinion on what you may have been carrying. Maybe he wanted to pull you out of the car and handle your gun to see what it felt like. Apply purple to the last one.

Any number of reasons he could have been asking, none of them had anything to do with the stop itself.