But before we all go and find something better to do with our time let me again (?) put in my two cents worth. Whenever (I mean WHENEVER) I am nose to toes with a LEO or security or border guard or whatever, especially in the dark (and we all know what we need to do in the dark right?) and am going to hand over ID - the first thing I do is state that I hold a concealed carry permit and am/am not carrying. If the firearm/weapon is in the vehicle in storage (I have two minisafes bolted into the back of the SUV) I state where the weapons are, if they are loaded and that they are locked in a minisafe securely.
I think the key is 'no surprises'. I'd rather have a face plant than a swiss cheese experience. As recent events have shown us, someone hollering "gun" or requesting backup for a guy with a gun is likely to lead to something less than a desirable outcome, safe or otherwise.
In the five years that I have been carrying, I have been in such encounters several times, have always shown the greatest of courtesy and have always received the greatest of courtesy and appreciation in return. In fact, many if not most times I just get a "thank you" and I am on my way. Once I had them ask me to open the back of the SUV when the guns were stowed, they saw the locked safes and never even asked me to unlock them. I was on my way 5 seconds later.
That is MY personal take on things - I have numerous LEO friends and that has been their advice to me all along the way and I take that as good advice.
I'm still waiting to see what the heck happened at that Walmart in Nevada when the upstanding guy got drilled like swiss cheese. I'm guessing "gun!" followed by the carrier going to pull up his shirt or something to show them it was holstered and that he had a permit for it and adrenaline took over. I can't say that I would have reacted (on either side) any differently at that time, but I sure know the rules now. Hands in the air or behind your head or turn around and back towards my voice carries a whole new meaning to me now. It carried weight looking down the barrel of a .45 or a shotgun in any event, but it is DRILLED into my subconscious now and my son and I even practice same at the range as part of our IPSC/IDPA drills.
Courtesy and absolute understanding of the many LEO mindsets that you may face are absolutely essential to an encounter ending well for both parties.
I 'sorta' speak from experience I suppose.... all my encounters have been good and indeed have been pleasant encounters, but there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the LEO on the other end was prepared to take whatever reflexive action their terms of engagement dictated, training notwithstanding.
And anyone who has witnessed a single volley begin a string of volleys with no target in sight (or indeed existing) understands that training is not the panacea in these situations, on either end of the deal. Common sense and action/reaction plays a huge part of the interaction.
I am grateful that we have the LE communities that we do and I am also grateful that we (son and I) have taken the training that we have and understand our own terms of engagement. Things, however, do have a seemingly undesirable way of going off track in a big hurry if a small error is made and it is our job to avoid that happening. Thus, my personal policies and terms of engagement.... they may not be yours but they are indeed mine.
I'm the guy that has had an attempted carjacking in broad daylight in Orlando FL (home of Mickey!) and two attempted home invasions and I can assure you that ANYONE entering my locked home without identifying themselves and being invited in are going to leave feet first henceforth. I am just so very glad that, although prepared to use lethal force the moment the bad guys entered my home, I did not have to as they were taken down at gunpoint by local LE.
It is and at the same time, is not, a simple subject to discuss but certainly is a subject that each and every one of us that carries or owns a lethal weapon needs to postulate on at length and understand what our terms of engagement are depending on where we are. And then we need to get the training and practice under our belts to undertake 'the business' should we need to. There can be nothing worse than needing a gun and not having one - neighbors around the corner learned that the hard way. A few weeks ago he had a home invasion. He is dead and his wife was likely raped and left for dead but survived. I can only hope that he did not have to watch. The point being, that if you are going to carry, understand the rules. And practice them.
