NHP incudent

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No voice recorder so this is what I remember.

Got pulled over on US 95 south bound about an hour ago. Trooper told me to keep my hands on the handle bars. Comes up on my left side and takes my .44 out of my cross-draw holster. I was riding my Harley. He takes my gun back to his car then comes back. He says he pulled me over for speeding and not signaling, which I didn't deny because I was and I did.

"Why are you caring a gun?"

"I always carry a gun."

"Lets see so ID."

I give him my DL. He goes back to his car and comes back a few minutes later.

"Lets see some paperwork for the bike and you better have your blue card(Clark County Registration)for that gun."

I hand over registration and insurance.

"The gun is registered."

"Wheres your blue card?"

"I'm not required to carry it."

"Could arrest you right now."

:shock:Huh?

It goes on like this for a few minutes. He wants to know how I'm going to prove that its registered, I keep telling him I don't have to prove it.

He goes back to his car. He's back there for about 20 mins. Looked like he was talking on his phone. Probably trying to find out if I'm right or not.

He comes back. Now he is telling my he could keep my gun and I would have to come pick it up later.(What? no arrest anymore, weird!)

He keeps on about how does he know its register and theres no serial # on the gun.(Its covered up by the Hogue grips I put on it. I keep on with "I don't need to carry the blue card, I don't need to prove its registered, yata yata yata."

"What if I wasn't a resident of Clark County?"

"I would arrest you."(We're back to that? Which is it?!)

"But I would have 60 days to register it."

"You gotta have a blue card."

"What if I bought it yesterday? I have 72 hour to register it."

"I would arrest you. You still have to have the blue card."

:banghead:My head hurts by this point.

"I need you to give me a reason not to take your gun."

:shock:What?! I'm starting to lose it!

"Sir, you do whatever you feel it necessary."

Guess what? I got my gun back.

"I need you to open those saddle bags. You stand over by that fence(about 40 feet away). I'll put your ammo in one and your gun in the other. After I leave you can come back and collect them."

:lol: This is such a blatant ploy to look in my saddle bags that I almost laugh out loud! He is so stupid and my saddle bags were so empty so I just said whatever.

He leaves, I get my gun back and a date to appear in court for not using my turn signal. Don't no why he didn't write me up for the speeding, maybe he thought I was cute. And who ever heard of going to court for not signaling. Seems like a waste of everyones time. Just let me pay the fine and be done with it.


"A friend will help you move, a real friend will help you move a body."

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Thanks for sharing your encounter with NHP. I ferquently ride my Harley and O.C.. I did call Washoe County Sheriff to make sure if I was good to go and was told I was legal. Reno area so far for me has been insodent free. I've even had L.E. pull up behind me at traffic lights. Sounds like the Trooper needs to bone up on some "stuff" or he was having a bad day.

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Another ridiculous encounter.

I hope you write a "complaintive" letter to his superiors.

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Welcome to the forum!

This guy new it was legal, he just wanted proof that it was registered which isn't required. He just wanted to see how far he could push me. Not to far.

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varminter22 wrote:

Another ridiculous encounter.

I hope you write a "complaintive" letter to his superiors.

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Oh I plan on it.

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Glad you got your gun back! This seems to be the norm on traffic stops - placing the gun out of your control till the cop leaves - ...did he take all the rounds out of your magazine, or just put the loaded magazine in a separate bag?

Every report I've heard of similar incidents (minor traffic infraction in which the alleged violator was OC or CC) include these unlawful orders to open your private storage to inspection (aka SEARCH). Officer safety may be a justifiable reason to temporarily seize a weapon in some circumstances (the armed individual must be considered "dangerous" (cite please!) and the stop must be non-consensual), but treating every individual as DANGEROUS on every stop is IMHO abusive.

I realize police officers are allowed to LIE to you, and it's considered an effective interrogation tactic, but why LIE to regular citizens as a matter of practice? Arrest you for not having your blue card? Maybe the officer simply doesn't know the blue card isn't required to be carried with you. Such intimidation should only be used when there is UNQUESTIONABLE AUTHORITY. The officer not knowing whether it's required to be carried is far from unquestionable authority. If the officer KNEW (wrongfully of course) the blue card must be carried, it's a major training issue that needs to be resolved immediately!

To me, this officer safety intrusion only goes so far. What if you had refused to open your saddle bags to search? How would the weapon have been returned in a manner which made the officer feel safe? Hand you the unloaded weapon and place the magazine on the seat of your bike and order you not to move until he pulls away? Place a zip tie around the action of the firearm so he has time to pull away? Field-strip and remove the barrel? Any number of ways to handle it other than to demand an unlawful search of your bags.

I don't drive a bike (though I'd like to learn - any suggestions on riding school?), and haven't been pulled over for a while now, I think mainly because I drive a throw-away economy car that doesn't like to go very fast. ;-)

However, next time (and I know there will be a next time!) I get pulled over, I will take one for the team and refuse everything I am lawfully able to refuse. I know this is difficult for many people because of the intimidation factor, the hassle factor (this probably results in the stop being as long and painful as allowed under the law), and the threat of going to jail for a traffic infraction as a form of punishment for my noncompliance (which the Supreme Court upheld as permissible - see ATWATER et al. v. CITY OF LAGO VISTA).

Ugh, I'm so frustrated. Reading these reports really inspire me to take another Strip walk, anyone else want to join me? I won't be carrying ID or anything else for that matter. I'll have socks, shoes, jeans, underwear, belt, shirt, holster, gun, voice recorder. No ID, no cash, no credit card, no blue card, nothing else other than what I listed. Maybe I'll stick my CCW and DL in my shoe just in case the cops try to lie and accuse me of concealing without a permit. I'm thinking November 2. That's the day AFTER the deadline for the mandatory OC training.

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what the hell is "mandatory OC training?"

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http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum36/30420.html

Every officer in the police department is required to undergo training that reinforces that OC is not, by itself, sufficient grounds for a terry stop.

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timf343 wrote

Maybe I'll stick my CCW and DL in my shoe just in case the cops try to lie and accuse me of concealing without a permit. I'm thinking November 2. That's the day AFTER the deadline for the mandatory OC training.

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Nov 2! Thats the last time a police officer took my gun from me. You might remember the incident at the Buffloo Wild Wings on Craig Rd? That was me and my roommate and another N. Las Vegas open carrier. I am down for whatever as long as I don't have to work the next day.

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After reading all the replies. I'm considering going back to O.C. with C.C. for a back up. Now that it's cooling off I think a back up concealed might throw them a curve. What do you all think?:lol:Nothing here is illegal!

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So many of your rights were VIOLATED!!!! Make a formal complaint on the NHP Officer that should be fired for not knowing his job. If your complaint goes nowhere! start taking these cops to civil court and sue their badges off.

This is getting to be BS, you do not have to be a LEO to carry a gun and that is the mental stateof these officers.

Dont get me wrong. I'm not degrading our law enforcement in our country. they need to respect law abiding people who chose to carry and protect their families and themself.

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timf343 wrote:

Ugh, I'm so frustrated. Reading these reports really inspire me to take another Strip walk, anyone else want to join me? I won't be carrying ID or anything else for that matter. I'll have socks, shoes, jeans, underwear, belt, shirt, holster, gun, voice recorder. No ID, no cash, no credit card, no blue card, nothing else other than what I listed. Maybe I'll stick my CCW and DL in my shoe just in case the cops try to lie and accuse me of concealing without a permit. I'm thinking November 2. That's the day AFTER the deadline for the mandatory OC training.



I'll GO WITH YOU TIM. SET THE TIME DATE AND MEET PLACE. THE MORE THE BETTER!!

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Sheepdawg wrote:

No voice recorder so this is what I remember.

Got pulled over on US 95 south bound about an hour ago. Trooper told me to keep my hands on the handle bars. Comes up on my left side and takes my .44 out of my cross-draw holster. I was riding my Harley. He takes my gun back to his car then comes back. He says he pulled me over for speeding and not signaling, which I didn't deny because I was and I did.

"Why are you caring a gun?"

"I always carry a gun."

"Lets see so ID."

I give him my DL. He goes back to his car and comes back a few minutes later.

"Lets see some paperwork for the bike and you better have your blue card(Clark County Registration)for that gun."

I hand over registration and insurance.

"The gun is registered."

"Wheres your blue card?"

"I'm not required to carry it."

"Could arrest you right now."

:shock:Huh?

It goes on like this for a few minutes. He wants to know how I'm going to prove that its registered, I keep telling him I don't have to prove it.

He goes back to his car. He's back there for about 20 mins. Looked like he was talking on his phone. Probably trying to find out if I'm right or not.

He comes back. Now he is telling my he could keep my gun and I would have to come pick it up later.(What? no arrest anymore, weird!)

He keeps on about how does he know its register and theres no serial # on the gun.(Its covered up by the Hogue grips I put on it. I keep on with "I don't need to carry the blue card, I don't need to prove its registered, yata yata yata."

"What if I wasn't a resident of Clark County?"

"I would arrest you."(We're back to that? Which is it?!)

"But I would have 60 days to register it."

"You gotta have a blue card."

"What if I bought it yesterday? I have 72 hour to register it."

"I would arrest you. You still have to have the blue card."

:banghead:My head hurts by this point.

"I need you to give me a reason not to take your gun."

:shock:What?! I'm starting to lose it!

"Sir, you do whatever you feel it necessary."

Guess what? I got my gun back.

"I need you to open those saddle bags. You stand over by that fence(about 40 feet away). I'll put your ammo in one and your gun in the other. After I leave you can come back and collect them."

:lol: This is such a blatant ploy to look in my saddle bags that I almost laugh out loud! He is so stupid and my saddle bags were so empty so I just said whatever.

He leaves, I get my gun back and a date to appear in court for not using my turn signal. Don't no why he didn't write me up for the speeding, maybe he thought I was cute. And who ever heard of going to court for not signaling. Seems like a waste of everyones time. Just let me pay the fine and be done with it.


"A friend will help you move, a real friend will help you move a body."

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This kind of stop seems to happening more often these days.

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Although it sucks, and is a pain in the butt, no rights were violated. He took your gun as a precaution, which they are in their full rights to do. He hassled you a little bit, that's about it. As far as the "illegal search"..he asked you to open your bags, and you said yes. If you would have said no, and he did it anyway, that would be a different story. You got your gun back, and got a ticket for what he pulled you over for in the first place. Besides having to shell out money to the state for your ticket, and an officer who maybe did not know (or could have and was just messing with you) about the blue card, nothing really happened. Anyone who says your rights were violated clearly don't know what are rights actually are.

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Rights technically violated? NO.

Rights effectively violated? YES.

While the officer may have done nothing technically wrong, he used intimidation and bullying upon a law-abiding citizen (turn signal violation excepted) to get him to waive his rights.

Several threats of arrest and confiscation of his gun, I'm sure this citizen felt cornered. "If I refuse to open my saddle bags, how much more painful is this guy going to make this incident?" or "Does this guy actually think he has enough to arrest me?"

Every day citizens who find themselves dealing with law enforcement over such minor "crimes" should not be forced to make the decision "Do I want to be punished by exercising my right (to remain silent, to refuse a search, etc.), or do I want to just give in to the intimidation so I can be on my way?"

I'm sure there are plenty of LAWFUL things an officer can do to make your life more difficult. For one, he can hold you for up to an hour. Technically, he can arrest you for an offense for which the maximum penalty is a fine. He can insist on a field sobriety test, and I'm willing to bet only 50% of you could pass it stone cold sober. Etc.

And there's no harm in filing an official complaint. You don't like the way your situation went down, complain! If it's an isolated incident, probably nothing will ever come of it. Complaints start to stack up in this guy's jacket? You might just get something done.

But if you do complain, stick to the facts and don't add in unnecessary details or emotion.

Finally, just because the officer has the authority to temporarily seize a weapon, it does not necessarily mean he should do so every time. In Terry v Ohio, the Supreme Court said:
So unless every armed citizen is considered DANGEROUS, confiscation on every stop does not meet legal muster.

In North Carolina (http://www.jus.state.nc.us/NCJA/pear.htm)


In Georgia (http://www.dca.state.ga.us/development/research/programs/downloads/law/Chap9_PurReg.html)


Read this article in Police Magazine:

http://www.policemag.com/Channel/Patrol/Articles/Print/Story/2009/04/Updating-Weapons-Frisks.aspx

Excerpt:
And I found a Supreme Court case, Adams v Williams (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0407_0143_ZD2.html):

While the majority of these cases allow a frisk of a suspect who may be considered armed and dangerous, no frisk is necessary in this case, since the man is openly carrying. In a frisk, the officer must have reasonable suspicion of being armed and dangerous. Since he's already passed the legal requirement of reasonable suspicion, thus his frisk, he therefore also has authority to temporarily seize the weapon. In the case of open carrying, his burden of suspicion is not reduced. He needn't frisk to determine the presence of a weapon, but he must have the same authority under the law to seize the weapon as if that weapon were concealed. Ask yourself this question: If the man wasn't OCing, would the officer have frisked him, or had the authority to do so? If the answer is no, it also holds that the officer lacks sufficient authority to seize the openly carried weapon.

So during a traffic stop for allegedly not using a turn signal, and open carrying in a state where no permit is required to open carry, what other facts during the stop might have given the officer reasonable suspicion that this person was dangerous?

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None of the case law you presented applies to this case. What you posted has to do with reasonable (or unreasonable) searches for weapons. The officer in this case did not violate the OP's 4th Amendments, he instead saw it, plain as day on his hip, and secured it. Therefore there was no need for a "reasonable suspicion" that the subject in this instance was dangerous in order for the officer to search the subject, because there was no search done to begin with. The case law you tried to apply to this situation is not case on point.

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timf343 wrote:

While the majority of these cases allow a frisk of a suspect who may be considered armed and dangerous, no frisk is necessary in this case, since the man is openly carrying. In a frisk, the officer must have reasonable suspicion of being armed and dangerous. Since he's already passed the legal requirement of reasonable suspicion, thus his frisk, he therefore also has authority to temporarily seize the weapon. In the case of open carrying, his burden of suspicion is not reduced. He needn't frisk to determine the presence of a weapon, but he must have the same authority under the law to seize the weapon as if that weapon were concealed. Ask yourself this question: If the man wasn't OCing, would the officer have frisked him, or had the authority to do so? If the answer is no, it also holds that the officer lacks sufficient authority to seize the openly carried weapon.

So during a traffic stop for allegedly not using a turn signal, and open carrying in a state where no permit is required to open carry, what other facts during the stop might have given the officer reasonable suspicion that this person was dangerous?

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I do acknowledge the case law presented isn't exactly spot on. But reread these two paragraphs.

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timf343 wrote:

In North Carolina (http://www.jus.state.nc.us/NCJA/pear.htm)

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I know we're not in North Carolina, but reading this is the reason I formed the logic and argument I presented.

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Well said in all points Tim. Just because you are open carrying does not give a LEO the right to harass. thats what it was!!!

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inNV wrote:

Although it sucks, and is a pain in the butt, no rights were violated. He took your gun as a precaution, which they are in their full rights to do. He hassled you a little bit, that's about it. As far as the "illegal search"..he asked you to open your bags, and you said yes. If you would have said no, and he did it anyway, that would be a different story. You got your gun back, and got a ticket for what he pulled you over for in the first place. Besides having to shell out money to the state for your ticket, and an officer who maybe did not know (or could have and was just messing with you) about the blue card, nothing really happened. Anyone who says your rights were violated clearly don't know what are rights actually are.

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Of course I agree with Tim on all points. The officer had no reason to believe I was dangerous. And please don't start on this whole "secured for officer safety" junk. The reason people, including cops, carry guns IS for safety. He took my gun, now he has 2 guns and I have none. How safe do I feel? Not very. I don't know him anymore than he knows me. Just because he is a LEO doesn't mean I'm safe as long as he is around. Most of us on this forum carry because we know we can't count on cops to protect us.

And something I left out in my OP, after he took my gun he asked me if I had any other weapons on me. I said no and he took my word for it. Don't ya think if he really thought I was dangerous he would have frisked me for other weapons. I think he would have.