You're a newbie, but bear in mind you had no requirement to answer his questions and had no requirement to answer if you had your firearm on you. The trooper can ask the driver if they have ID, and =might= be able to ask you if you have your CHL as a passenger, but I doubt it. If he sees your firearm (say, bulging or the grip visible) he can ask if you have a =permit=.
By answering his question you're training him to violate 4A rights. You could have said:
1. Officer am I required to identify myself to you? If so what is your reasonable suspicion I've committed a criminal offense?
2. Officer, I am a law-abiding citizen and I desire to remain silent.
IANAL, but IMO, he caught you off guard and made you give up info which he had no right to ask.
The law is very tricky here. So tricky, I suspect if it ever reached a higher court, they would make them rewrite it to be clearer.
The pertinent part of
Paragraph H of 18.2-308 states*:
"The person issued the permit
shall have such permit on his person at all times during which he is carrying a concealed handgun and
shall display the permit and a photo-identification issued by a government agency of the Commonwealth or by the United States Department of Defense or United States State Department (passport)
upon demand by a law-enforcement officer."
There is nothing in the code that says the officer must know that you are carrying a concealed handgun before they are allowed to demand it.
I see this as a Catch-22 situation: You are not required to inform the officer that you are carrying, but if you are carrying, and the officer demands to see your permit, then you must display it for him.
I suppose the truly paranoid officer could make it a point to demand to see the CHP of every person they encounter... They would probably get one of three responses: I don't have a permit, I'm not carrying a concealed handgun, or here is my permit.
I think that would be a legal way for an officer to effectively ask every person they encounter if they are carrying a concealed weapon, even though there is no state code which requires them to divulge such information, generally.
It's a bad part of the law, and it should be fixed.
TFred
*
At least until July 1st, after which not having the permit on your person changes from being a Concealed Handgun crime to a civil penalty with a $25 fine:
"The person issued the permit shall have such permit on his person at all times during which he is carrying a concealed handgun and shall display the permit and a photo identification issued by a government agency of the Commonwealth or by the United States Department of Defense or United States State Department (passport) upon demand by a law-enforcement officer.
Failure to display the permit and a photo identification upon demand by a law-enforcement officer shall be punishable by a $25 civil penalty, which shall be paid into the state treasury. Any attorney for the Commonwealth of the county or city in which the alleged violation occurred may bring an action to recover the civil penalty. A court may waive such penalty upon presentation to the court of a valid permit and a government-issued photo identification. Any law-enforcement officer may issue a summons for the civil violation of failure to display the concealed handgun permit and photo identification upon demand."
