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Originally Posted by sunaj
In my state if you are pulled over by police and inform the police you have a gun in the car, the officer has the right to search you and your vehicle (supposedly for officer safety),
this is my understanding;
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Your understanding is flawed.
If an officer stops your vehicle and knows or has good reason to suspect that you may be armed, he/she is allowed to conduct a "Terry frisk" of your person
for the limited purpose of detecting concealed weapons -- nothing more, and to conduct a limited sweep of the portion of the vehicle within the immediate reach and control of the operator, again for the limited purpose of detecting weapons that might endanger the officer. The officer is not allowed to search the entire vehicle unless he has probable cause and obtains a warrant (or unless you give your consent).
If you tell him there's a pistol in a locked case under the passenger seat, then he doesn't even have to search. He may tell you to leave it there, or he may ask to remove it for the duration of the stop. He has no right to open it or ask you to open it -- even if it isn't locked.**
There's always discussion about this on the PAFAO (Pennsylvania Firearms Owners) forum, because PA State Police maintain a sales database (NOT a complete registry) and both local and state cops are notorious for taking handguns during traffic stops and running the serial number against this database.
Terry does not give them a right to do this. It's a violation of 4th Amendment rights, and it's all the worse because I may own a handgun completely legally that does not show up -- perhaps in my name or perhaps not at all -- in their database, and they'll proceed as if I stole it even though I obtained it completely legally by purchase or gift.
**{Edit to Add} Correction - the officer certainly has a right to "ask" you to open a gun case so he can look inside. But you have a right to decline to do so. If you decline to do so, the officer then can open the case only if he obtains a warrant.