Almost handed my weapons permit when stopped instead of DL to a charitable LEO

  • Thread starter Thread starter FNWylde
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FNWylde

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Last weekend I was heading up I-35 in Iowa and along with a few other cars was pushing my luck on speed. I was driving my truck pulling an 18' flat trailer. A state trooper came down a ramp and put his lights on after he cleared a couple of cars behind me so I knew he was coming for me and pulled over and way off the roadway- well off the shoulder and most of the way into the grass, then put all my windows down so the trooper could clearly see me as he approached.

He said they had a plane in the air and asked me if I knew how fast I was going. I knew I was over, but not really watching the speedo as much as just pacing with faster traffic and maintaining reasonable distance with the vehicle in front of me so told him I did not know. He asked for my license, registration and ins. and I pulled out my credit card holder in which I keep my DL, 2 credit cards, 2 weapons permits and my health care card. Usually, my weapons cards are the last 2 but somehow, the cards in front slid out of the holder and as I pulled it and began to slide the top card out I was probably more surprised than the trooper to see my IA permit to carry. He asked if I had a weapon in the vehicle and I said yes, in the door pocket. He said leave it there and I replied that I wouldn't consider doing anything else. I actually had another cased pistol in my field bag and AR15 in a zippered case but didn't say anything about them.

I fished out my DL, he checked it against my ins & reg, went to his cruiser and came back in two minutes with a warning for 81 in a 70... He didn't make another comment on the weapons permit or ask any other questions, just said he was issuing a warning and asked me to sign the ticket. I told him I would slow it down and thanked him and he headed back to his car without saying anything else. The officer was direct but pleasant and had he written a ticket I would have at least felt like he was a good guy doing his job.

I felt pretty good about the way that ended.
 
And yet again another encounter in which a police officer finds out a law abiding citizen has a gun and nothing happens. No rights violated, no people pulled out at gun point, nobody harassed, and not even a speeding ticket.

These encounters happen all the time and never make the news. It's nice to hear people like you share these stories.
 
FNWylde said:
Last weekend I was heading up I-35 in Iowa and along with a few other cars was pushing my luck on speed. I was driving my truck pulling an 18' flat trailer. A state trooper came down a ramp and put his lights on after he cleared a couple of cars behind me so I knew he was coming for me and pulled over and way off the roadway- well off the shoulder and most of the way into the grass, then put all my windows down so the trooper could clearly see me as he approached.

He said they had a plane in the air and asked me if I knew how fast I was going. I knew I was over, but not really watching the speedo as much as just pacing with faster traffic and maintaining reasonable distance with the vehicle in front of me so told him I did not know. He asked for my license, registration and ins. and I pulled out my credit card holder in which I keep my DL, 2 credit cards, 2 weapons permits and my health care card. Usually, my weapons cards are the last 2 but somehow, the cards in front slid out of the holder and as I pulled it and began to slide the top card out I was probably more surprised than the trooper to see my IA permit to carry. He asked if I had a weapon in the vehicle and I said yes, in the door pocket. He said leave it there and I replied that I wouldn't consider doing anything else. I actually had another cased pistol in my field bag and AR15 in a zippered case but didn't say anything about them.

I fished out my DL, he checked it against my ins & reg, went to his cruiser and came back in two minutes with a warning for 81 in a 70... He didn't make another comment on the weapons permit or ask any other questions, just said he was issuing a warning and asked me to sign the ticket. I told him I would slow it down and thanked him and he headed back to his car without saying anything else. The officer was direct but pleasant and had he written a ticket I would have at least felt like he was a good guy doing his job.

I felt pretty good about the way that ended.
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to how they came up with the numbers 81 in a 70. Aircraft can observe you traveling faster than other vehicles but they have no way of actually reading how fast you're going. Did they just relay the ground unit to your location and he got you on radar?
 
Nightmare45 said:
Texas is a must show if carrying, so far showing CC ID has gotten me out of all tickets at stop.
Click to expand...

WA is not a must inform state. I don't inform and that has gotten me out of all my tickets too.

Deserteagle said:
And yet again another encounter in which a police officer finds out a law abiding citizen has a gun and nothing happens. No rights violated, no people pulled out at gun point, nobody harassed, and not even a speeding ticket.

These encounters happen all the time and never make the news. It's nice to hear people like you share these stories.
Click to expand...

Today, I drove around for hours. Didn't break any laws. I didn't make the news either.
 
jcreek said:
I'm curious as to how they came up with the numbers 81 in a 70. Aircraft can observe you traveling faster than other vehicles but they have no way of actually reading how fast you're going. Did they just relay the ground unit to your location and he got you on radar?
Click to expand...

There are marks on the pavement that are a known distance apart. The observer in the aircraft starts a stopwatch when the vehicle crosses the first mark and stops it when they cross the second mark. Distance divided by time = speed.
 
I have been stopped multiple times where the officer never mentioned my gun or my CPL and let me off with a warning. Biggest one was for something like 42 in a 25. It's just not that such of an uncommon occurrence. I treat the officers with respect, show concern for their safety, I am polite, and I am usually prepared with all my paperwork immediately available when they come to my window rolled all the way down with my driver's license in my hand. Neither my gun nor my CPL has ever caused a ruckus during a traffic stop. They don't ask, I don't tell, everybody's good.
 
NavyLCDR said:
jcreek said:
I'm curious as to how they came up with the numbers 81 in a 70. Aircraft can observe you traveling faster than other vehicles but they have no way of actually reading how fast you're going. Did they just relay the ground unit to your location and he got you on radar?
Click to expand...

There are marks on the pavement that are a known distance apart. The observer in the aircraft starts a stopwatch when the vehicle crosses the first mark and stops it when they cross the second mark. Distance divided by time = speed.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that but the only marks I know of are the white center lines and a vehicle traveling at 81 MPH crosses those marks way too fast for somebody at 2000-3000 feet to count reliably.
 
jcreek said:
I was thinking about that but the only marks I know of are the white center lines and a vehicle traveling at 81 MPH crosses those marks way too fast for somebody at 2000-3000 feet to count reliably.
Click to expand...

Actually, my statement was too limited to include only marks on the pavement. Have you ever seen the signs next to the highway that are nothing more than a bright triangle or other shape at the top of the pole that is angled toward the sky? Also, they could use any two stationary landmarks, such as overpasses, that they have measured the distance between. In our traffic safety standown this is how the Washington State Patrol explained it to us, and he even told us of the locations of some of the more "fruitful" places monitored by aircraft in our local area.
 
jcreek said:
I was thinking about that but the only marks I know of are the white center lines and a vehicle traveling at 81 MPH crosses those marks way too fast for somebody at 2000-3000 feet to count reliably.
Click to expand...

I would think they would have landmarks spaced out a mile or so apart. A particular tree, bridge, house, sign etc etc.

Also why would a plane not be able to pace cars on the ground mathematically by flying parallel directly above?
 
Lines painted on the ground here. And yes stopwatch and a chart to tell your speed. Seen it done in several states. Lines are 90 degrees to the roadway.

Deals Gap gets the sport bike riders constantly on time between distances. Well established routine.

Glad to hear the stop went well.
 
Jcreek; You are illinformed. They have hash marks on the side of the road at marked intervals, and they use a stop watch to time you between these marks and that gives them your speed. I KNOW!!!!
 
Some traffic stops do end well, don't they?
Being a former pilot, I know how hard it would be to "pace parallel" a car and clock it's speed. You'd first have to have a correct reading of the wind direction and speed, and then calculate your ground speed (versus airspeed) before you could calculate the speed of the auto. Too much for a light aircraft pilot to do, when watching out for other aircraft and cell towers. :)
Having known distances of points on the ground and using a stopwatch is how it's done.
Al
 
Firefighterchen said:
Also why would a plane not be able to pace cars on the ground mathematically by flying parallel directly above?
Click to expand...

Several reasons;

1) FAA regulations don't allow aircraft to fly low enough to accurately tell if your pacing with them or not. Minimum safe altitudes as defined in FAR Part § 91.119 are 1000ft over the highest obstacle over congested areas (towns) or 500 ft above the highest obstacle in other than congested areas (things like freeways).

2) Most agencies use Cessna 172s or 182s with have stall speeds of 57kn and 65kn respectively in a clean (flaps up) configuration. Flying that close to your stall speed while so low is extremely unsafe. All it takes is a little bit of turbulence or a few seconds of distraction to send you right into the trees or ground.

3) Air speed indicators in aircraft don't measure how fast you are traveling over the ground. The measure your speed relative to the air around you by using a pitot tune of the front of the wing. As you move forward, air is forced into the tube creating ram air pressure which is then compared to static ambient air pressure by the airspeed indicator to give you a reading. Several variables affect its accuracy. The headwind will force more air into the tube increasing your "indicated airspeed." A tailwind will do the opposite. Temperature, altitude and air density also affect its accuracy.
 
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