FYI ARKANSAS
Please allow me to explain how assinine this situation has become in the state of Arkansas.
Arkansas is not an open carry state; concealed carry permit only. By state law loaded weapons are allowed in vehicles without a CCW permit, but it is a fine point of the law which might get you a "tell it to the judge". The once common "rifle in the pickup rear window" is a thing of the past. I have not seen one in a decade.
In Arkansas there is an UNofficial sticker, about 2" square with black, blue, black horizontal lines. It is some BIG DEAL there to put this sticker on the rear of your vehicle, often in the center of the license plate, and even on the front where the plate would go. Users insist that this allows police officers to know that you are carrying a weapon when being stopped and when approaching an accident situation or road block, the sticker is suppose to let them know you have a gun. Some local police cars and at least one unmarked county sheriff car has an entire front license plate with a full size BBB plate. They have guns in a police car? What a novel idea!
Often I randomly ask people at gas stations, etc., what that sticker means. Elderly people told me that "My son is a state trooper and he put that on there so police won't give me a ticket." (huh?) College students have told me that they have it on their cars so that "police think that they have a police relative, and giving them a ticket is a waste of time." (huh?) Women have it on their SUV, and sometimes I have asked them in parking lots, "What kind of gun do you have with you?" just to see what their reaction is. Usually they look at me like I am crazy.
I hope they feel safer knowing that the general public knows they have a gun.
I have asked state troopers, county, and local police about the stickers and the "usual" answer is, "Stickers are nothing official. People are just bragging that they have a gun." (OK, so why does the police have a sticker on the police car?)
