Titanium_Frost
Grandmaster
I always find these threads interesting. Our civil rights which and interpretation of the "law" verses officer safety and arguably common sense. My LEO friends are quick to point out that if a person they don't know has a gun then how do they know that person won't lose their temper? So to have better control of the situation and increase officer safety they want to hold the weapon. Also like it has been mentioned the pinky itself does not neccessarily varify it is valid. (They even used to run serial numbers but the cheif put a stop to that). Now lets interject a little common sense.
1) If an officer pulls over a non-LTCH holder. How does the officer know they don't have a gun?
2) If an officer pulls over an LTCH holder how do they know they don't have a gun?
3) If an officer secures the LTCH holders gun, how does the officer know that person does not have a second gun?
Hmm...seems to me that securing the gun does not increase officer safety much. Still boils down to situational awarness. Hey at least they know I have the first gun right?
Now we know that removing guns from the holster and messing with them on the side of road and in parking lots is dangerous. (Seems an INGO mod keeps preaching this.)
All this leaves us with three options that will in reality makes it safer for the officers. Pick one please:
1) Leave the darn guns alone! Stop playing with them.
2) Remove every person from the car at every stop and cuff them. Better yet call back up.
3) Find a safer profession. (I don't recommend farming, truck driving, traveling sales, fishing, logging, mining, etc - all of these have a greater percentage of injuries and deaths then law enforcement) May I recommend telemarketing, everybody loves those guys.
REPPED!!!!! Great post and it brings up a good point: multiple guns not necessarily on the person. When I was disarmed I was allowed to get back in my vehicle where I had 3 more loaded and accessible guns. My wife was also armed in the passenger seat. Taking my pistol was nothing than an unnecessary danger since I still had weapons and he put my wife and child in danger when he pointed it at them trying to unload it!