This is why I could never understand someone telling an officer he/she is armed in a traffic stop. It seems an cop worth their salt would already know you are able to be armed and should just assume you are.
Oh, didn't you know? The logic goes something like this.
All cops are trained to assume all traffic stop-ees might be armed and dangerous. This is why you see some standing at the door pillar.
But, not all drivers are armed-and-dangerous.
So, cops tend to forget that a cop can get shot every once in a great while.
So, some states pass laws requiring informing the cop to remind those cops who forget and don't stand at the door pillar as per training and best practices.
And, police have the gun info tied to driver's license records so the cop is reminded when he runs the info in his computer.
And, some gun-rights supporters advocate telling cops so they are reminded of something they already know.
And, some gun carriers think its courteous to remind a cop of something he's supposed to already know.
And, some cops have spun that into a moral obliglation to tell the cop so he is reminded he's supposed to be already assuming it.
So, that's all its about. Reminding cops of something they already know because they forget. And, they forget because its not true that all drivers are armed and dangerous. In fact, way, way more are not armed and dangerous.
So, we're just Post-It Note reminders for cops.
