This is an interesting thread. I had the experience that gives most of us an adrenalin rush, just last night. I took my wife out yesterday for an afternoon in LaCrosse (for those who don't know, she's been sick for the better part of the last 3 years). It is difficult to go anywhere because she is weak and there are other difficulties as well. So this was fun till the last few hours when it became to much and we headed for home.
Half way home, she got a speck of something in her eye and we pulled into Galesville; More light and no traffic, to the convenience store with the idea of finding some water to wash it out. Store closed, no water. We made do with some water from the ice chest and a paper towel under the convenience store lights. This worked for Laurra but on the way out of town, just as I was pulling onto the highway, those iconic flashing red and blue lights lit up the night and a spotlight blinded me.
The officer came to the window and introduced himself and asked if my wife was OK. (She had a wet cloth over her eye, I can see what it might have looked like. Bar closing, woman covering eye, we suspect there may have been a cell phone call in Galesville too, because we were outside the truck pouring water over her eye and she was bent over a bit in the closed convenience store parking lot. It was 1:15am too.)
So, anyway, the deputy asked where we were coming from. I told him LaCrosse, for a night out and a little shopping. (at this point he hit his call button to bring up backup.) He looked at Laurra and asked her if she was OK, twice. Actually very concerned and in a kind and caring way. He then asked what I was doing in Galesville. At this point I wanted to know why we were stopped and why my being in Galesville was important. He said my headlight was out. Dang it! Got me there. Sure enough, my right headlight was out.
I asked him why 'what I was doing in Galesville' was so important. He did not answer. I was a little stern and My wife, bless her sweetness, piped up and explained the medical stop to get the speck out of her eye and that she and I were both a little tired and ornery from a long day. At this point I asked if I could exit the vehicle and the officer said yes. Apparently he was satisfied that I had not harmed my wife or was a threat. Laurra has a really disarming manner.
I looked at the light and let him know I would get right on that first thing tomorrow. At this point he noticed my gun belt with two stainless steel mags, a flashlight, and an empty holster. He was calm and asked if I was armed, I replied I was and he asked where the gun was. Just about then, a second and third cruiser went by on the opposite side of the highway and began making a turn. I said in a case, chamber cleared mag beside it. Right about then, he called off the back up.
It was at this point that I was a bit taken aback. He said, so your an 'Open Carrier"? I said yes I am. He never mentioned the gun again but smiled and asked if I had ever had any negative responses from LEO, any harassment etc. I responded in the negative with the exception of Woodman's from where we just had come and made it clear even that had nothing to do with LEOs and that it had been settled in a OC friendly way in short order. He smiled and said it is kind of a scary deal to some folks to see the gun.
He then told me he was a Training Officer for the dept. and had spoken to his men about OC and that it was not a reason to jump to conclusions or to arrest a person as it was legal in the state of Wisconsin. (I wish I had recorded this but completely forgot.) I was still a bit nervous but we talked at some length about the law and he agreed that it wasn't the ones carrying openly, the law abiding citizen, that you have to worry about. He teaches same.
All in all, we had a great conversation, I was wearing my Wisconsin Carry T-Shirt and he asked about WI Carry, I told him about that and OC.org. as well as my blog THE RIGHT SITE. He wrote a warning, and came around and said good bye to my wife and the conversation continued for a bit and ended with my wife relating the story about the fellow in Spokane Washington who was beaten to death with a frozen tuna and how you now need a license to carry a tuna in Spokane now because of that tragic incident. We all had a good laugh at that one; my wife and I told him to be safe, and we went on our way. This is a good guy.
It should be noted here that my wife was instrumental in this being a 'friendly' encounter. I was ornery with him and coming from me, it can be intimidating. She defused my orneriness and turned the stop into a consensual, friendly, interactive communication as opposed to something more costly.
It bothered me that he was asking my whereabouts without a reason. Looking back on it now, he may have had a very good reason, one my wife and I support 100%. Abuse of any kind is a no go with us whether it be animal, wife or child. We did notice a husband being abused at Woodman's this very evening, on his way out the door, he implored his wife to please wait till they got outside to yell at him. Looking back at the checkout, we all shared a smile and chuckle.
This LEO encounter was all good for us.