National Geographic Show - Alaska State Patrol

Anyone else catch this show recently? Similar to "Cops" a camera crew rides around with state troopers in Alaska. The episode I caught included a routine traffic stop during which a handgun was discovered in the vehicle. The upshot is, the trooper went absolutely nuts when he discovered there was a handgun in the vehicle that the passenger did not tell him about. The officer went to great lengths to describe all kinds of hypothetical situations which could have happened, due to the handgun being in the vehicle and him not being immediately notified about it. Pretty astounding, really. Talk about jumping to conclusions. Keep in mind this was a routine traffic stop, not a prison break or bank robbery getaway vehicle. The presence of the firearm was merely incidental.

The show, being for sheeple consumption, of course did not even get into what the actual laws are, or even whether or not there was a concealed license involved/required/etc. So it got me thinking about WA law, which I know pretty well, and whether or not Alaska may be radically different (obviously, in WA, assuming a CPL there is no requirement to notify LE).

I looked over on the Alaska forum here and found a thread that included some discussion of LE notification:

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...ave-to-tell-a-cop-I-m-OC-if-I-get-pulled-over

Interesting on a couple different levels. One - concealment is key. And two (even though I didn't see it mentioned in the thread), in the cited Alaska statute, a reference is made to a "defensive weapon," which presumably excludes firearms (?). Seems arguable to me. That's why I carry: To defend myself.

State Troopers

I saw that episode you're talking about... IMHO, here was just trying to look good on T.V. like most cops do, like on "cops"... He even call the Springfield XD and XP? go figure, not all cops are firearms experts... Even though some of them think they are...

in Alaska you ARE required to notify the officer of a weapon, even so the trooper was wayyyy over the top....

Watching cops right now and while they were arresting some kid for public intoxication, they told his girlfriend several times to go inside her house and wait for them. She did not comply, and stood outside her house on her property. They arrested her for obstruction, when she was a good 100 feet away. I still cant believe how many millions watch cops, and of those millions are lawyers, and the show still goes on.

NavyLCDR said:

There is no requirement in WA to notify without a CPL, either.

Click to expand...

You're correct of course. I said that in a convoluted way. I just meant to say that under those same circumstances (loaded in vehicle), in WA a CPL would have been the only requirement.

Alaska doesn't have or require a CPL for anyone.

There was another episode where the driver told the trooper about two guns one being loaded, and the trooper was cool about it. The guy had one for protection and one for cowboy action shooting. (Both revolvers)