Over the weekend, my brother visited from GA (I'm in AL) and driving back to my house, he and I switched cars. He drove my Tiburon and I drove his Santa Fe. He was following behind me and ended up getting pulled over by an apparently bored cop. There were a couple reasons he was pulled over, but ended up only getting a warning. My licence plate lights are supposedly out, the cop said something about accelerating too hard or being too loud or something like that, and then he ended up writing the warning for "Following too close". License plate lights was a valid reason but not mentioned on the warning. He did accelerate a little harder but didn't squeak the tires and my exhaust is completely bone stock. He was just starting up from a stop sign and fortunately was only doing 42 in a 45 when he clocked him. But the following too close was absurd. I was ahead of him, and he was easily 100ft back. A car had gotten between us earlier, so he was about 5 seconds behind at the stop sign and certainly didn't catch up to me that quickly.



Anyhow, the point of my story and my question, my brother was carrying his .45 Glock on him. When the cop came up to the window, he still had his hands on the wheel and let the cop know right away that he was carrying a loaded sidearm ("A loaded Glock is a happy Glock."). The cop requested that he remove it carefully and give it to him, which he complied with. During the "interview", the cop had the Glock on the roof of the car, then took it back with him to his car while writing up the warning. After giving him the warning, he asked my brother to put his hands on the wheel and lean forward while he returned it to where he kept it on him.

I have a serious problem with the cop confiscating his weapon during the stop. I can understand cops are jumpy about people carrying, but I'd have a very hard time letting anyone take my sidearm away from me, even during a traffic stop. The cop had no reason to suspect anything, so his he within his rights to take it away? Could my brother have said no?



On a lighter note, the cop was impressed at him having a .45!

 

I see no problem with what happened. It's for the cops piece of mind to take the weapon during the stop. Better to be safe than sorry. Both parties handled the situation very well.

 

The laws vary from state to state. Here I am not required to inform an officer that I'm carrying unless I am asked directly. In some states you're required to inform them. I believe the officer has the power to temporarily take your weapon during the traffic stop though.

 

I'd much rather voluntarily hand it over when asked than have it forcefully taken at gunpoint when told.

 

depending on the law, I wouldn't have told the officer I had a weapon unless I was specifically asked, or if I was asked to get out of the car. It was a normal traffic stop and there was no reason for the officer to be suspicious of a weapon or to ever know/see it.



I probably would have handed him my CCW permit along with my license and insurance when he asked.



I'm fine with the officer taking the weapon temporarily. I'm not sure how I feel about him holstering the weapon for me, one slip and ouch? Maybe laying it on the dash with my hands at the lower part of the steering wheel.