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Old May 18, 2010, 10:31 PM   #9
ScottRiqui
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Join Date: January 27, 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 2,905
Quote:
The verification that the driver has a CCL gives reasonable suspicion the traffic violator is armed; this is a lower standard than probable cause. Since a traffic violation is a crime, there would be grounds for a Terry search.
You're mixing and matching like a Chinese menu. In your example, the reasonable suspicion (that the subject might be legally armed) is unrelated to the crime (the traffic stop).

But is a reasonable suspicion that the subject is *legally* armed a basis for a search in the first place? (even if mere possession of a CHL satisfies reasonable suspicion, which I'm not convinced it does - many CHL holders don't carry regularly.)

Possession of a CHL doesn't give reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed, because the possession of a handgun wouldn't be a crime. The crime that's already taken place (the traffic violation) is a completely separate issue. If the cop couldn't search your car on the basis of the traffic stop alone, possession of a CHL doesn't give reasonable suspicion of any additional crime, so it can't be used to justify a search where a search wouldn't otherwise be warranted.

As peetzakilla said earlier, if mere possession of a CHL were reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed or that a subject were armed illegally, than we would in essence be forced to submit to a search of our vehicle any time we're stopped for an infraction, whether we're carrying or not. I can bet you that wouldn't fly in court.

Heck, it would mean that even if we're stopped on foot, we'd have to submit to a pat-down once the cop found out we have a CHL (even though finding a gun in the pat-down wouldn't be a crime anyway.)
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