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Old June 4, 2013, 08:06 AM   #19
kevinjmiller
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Join Date: April 15, 2013
Location: MA
Posts: 16
Quote:
"If contacted by law enforcement and carrying a concealed weapon, you must advise the officer of the presence of a firearm either on your person or otherwise present."
Whether this is a legal requirement, or merely a "polite request", depends up the jurisdiction. It sounds like your state may be one where notification may not be required by state law, but issuing authority additions may effectively have the force of law. Maybe you can call the issuing authority and ask exactly what they mean by this statement and whether it is legally binding.

By way of example, my state does not require notification, and although licenses can have restrictions added by the issuing chief I've never heard of this kind of restriction being added or even discussed. The subject of whether to notify in MA is frequently discussed with good arguments on both sides. Some people have had positive experiences when politely notifying at a traffic stop, and have even been complimented by the LEO for doing so. Some have been advised not to notify in the future by the LEO. Others have had rather negative experiences; backup called for a simple stop, removed from their vehicles, proned on the vehicle or even the ground, and disarmed, sometimes unsafely because the LEO(s) were unfamiliar with the person's CCW.

The majority opinion here, but by no means a full consensus, is not to notify unless there is a chance of discovery. If one's gun(s) are concealed and out of sight (ex. being transported in the trunk versus the back seat) then don't bring up the issue unless the situation begins to look like more than a routine stop, such as backup being called, the officer asks you to step out of the vehicle and/or requests permission to search the vehicle. If that happens the suggested approach is to keep ones hands in plain view, inform the officer that you have a CCL, tell them where and what the guns are, and ask them what they want to do next.

Everyone agrees that it is "not a good thing" for an LEO to discover guns on a person or in their vehicle even if they are legally owned/carried/transported. LEOs (like most people) don't like surprises.

Last edited by kevinjmiller; June 4, 2013 at 09:55 AM.
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