The guy who wrote the article is a dork.

First of all, at least in my state, the fact that you have a concealed permit is attached to your driver's license record, so when the officer goes back to his patrol car to run your license, it will come up that you have a permit. The reaction of the officer at that point will vary.

But cops who are stick in the muds, most often, newer officers who've listened to their training intently about how every man, woman and child on planet earth is a blood thirty murderer who is dying to a kill a cop the very second he or she is given a chance...will probably not react kindly to finding out by surprise that you have a gun in the car.

In fact, many cops have chewed many a poor permit holder's a-hole out for not telling him or her that he had a permit and especially if he/she had a concealed gun in the car.

This may vary by state, since law enforcement training does tend to vary widely around the country and is usually conducted on a state level, but in my state, you are far better off telling the officer up front, first..that you have a permit...second that you have a gun and where it is...all VERBALLY..while doing exactly as this idiot claims you should not...both hands on the steering wheel and in plain site.

In my experience, most gun owners and especially gun rights advocates actually don't want to tell the cops they have a gun, for whatever fear that they will be hassled, even if they posses it entirely legally. In that case, there is no law in this state that they have to be up front with the officer, but I highly recommend that they are. I personally would rather not tell the cop what I have, because I don't know if I'm going to get some hot shot cowboy or rookie who wants to give me a hard time for being armed and play the "let's search your vehicle" game. But knowing what I know from my past life in their position, I know that strategic cooperation is the best policy. "Strategic" meaning that you are ALWAYS careful what you say or admit to the police, but that there are some circumstances, where cooperation actually makes sense. While at the same time, there are situations when you definately do not want to cooperate or talk to the police, even if your instincts tell you that you have nothing to fear.

The last time I was pulled over, which was several years ago, once I told the officer just as I wrote here, the officer did not want me to even get my license and registriation out, nor did he want to see the gun. He simply ran my name and DOB and when I was cleared I was on my way. Original probable cause was just the lack of a front plate and driving a rice burner (yellow CRX). I guess when it was seen that I was clearly a law abiding full grown adult, he didn't need to waste him time any further. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Had I followed the advise of this numbnuts writer, I most likely would have gotten an earful from a pissed off cop and a ticket for no front license plate.