Say what you want, about "being polite."
Welcome back.
Every time I've been stopped by police, I have always disclosed that I am carrying, handed over my CPL along with my DL and proof of insurance.
But that's the law in MI, right? Do you even have a legal alternative, whether or not you'd want to use it?
And
every time I see a gun-owner/carrier talk about how they
always do this or that
whenever they are contacted by cops, I have to wonder what the heck that person is doing besides carrying a gun to be forced into all these multiple contacts with them. I've been carrying since I was 23 (I'm 58 now) and I think I could count on one hand the number of contacts I've had (outside of work) with cops, and two of those contacts were last year at DUI checkpoints. One ticket in like '96 or so, and one contact where the cop either "made" me while walking around Seattle Center or misidentified me from the MWAG report that he said he was responding to (it couldn't have been me if it was the report because I hadn't even entered the building that he said the report originated from). I honestly can't think of another official contact where I was the subject of it. I have given a witness statement or two. I have given statements and just briefly shot the breeze with cops during work hours in the several security jobs I've had, but getting pulled over and/or stopped on the street is an exceedingly rare happenstance for me.
So how many contacts where you were the subject of the stop have you had while you were carrying? It would help lend some context to what "every time, always, never, usual questions" etc. actually means in relation to the discussion.
And I've NEVER gotten a ticket since I got my CPL. I like to think it's a combination of factors that contribute to that. Being polite, not being verbally combative, and doing what I can to help the officer feel comfortable with me. Also, I've never had one take my pistol "for his/her safety" either.
I prefer to help the officer be comfortable with protecting and respecting my
rights. I couldn't care any less whether or not they're comfortable with me as a person, because that's not their
legal bailiwick. If what I am doing (such as carrying a weapon, open or concealed) is legal and I have no statutory obligation to inform them of same, if they give me a ticket or arrest me or get in my face, beat me up or threaten me or whatever, while they would treat someone differently who
failed to protect their
own rights by actually exercising them, then they are no longer law
enforcement officers, they are abusive
criminals, and I will treat them just exactly as what they are. That too, is my right, but one which I consciously avoid having to exercise by leading a quiet, law-abiding life.
Their usual questions regarding my weapon, is what is it, and where is it, followed by "lets just leave it where it is." This is usually followed a few minutes later by, "You're free to go, just slow down a bit or get that headlight/tail light/whatever fixed." And away I go.
OK, this describes your "usual" contact. What happens differently in the exceptions to that rule, and what percentage of all these multitudinous contacts with cops do the exceptions represent?
Blues