is a pretty bold statement and NOT something us VA people tend to hear. If this were indeed generally considered illegal, it would benefit readers to see a citation (i.e. an AG opinion, statement from the VSP, etc).
You can put it on the dashboard and it is legal, but you have to make sure it doesn't slide when you turn. Also, it may get very hot to the touch from being in direct sunlight, so make sure you don't throw it when you forget and pick it up while it's red hot
What is the officers name on the ticket? If it is TPR Walden or something like that then it is the same officer who pulled me over and told me that i had to inform him that i had a permit and whether or not i was carrying. I filed a complaint to the State Police and when i talked to them the Sgt there said he talked to the Officer and he said he didnt say that and it was pushed under the rug. If it is the same Trooper then he has a history of this (not that VSP has its own history of not knowing gun laws)
Sounds like one of them "Callyfornee" cops. (Cal Penal Code 12031prohibits loaded weapons in incorporated areas, so a loaded magazine in the well is a no-no.)
TPR mitchell
Carrying an unloaded firearm in the trunk of your car may be legal in Virginia and most other states, but some states (e.g., the People's Republic of Maryland, seeMd. Code §4-203(a)(1)(ii)) require a license for the mere possession of a handgun in a vehicle, to which your only defense is 18 U.S.C. § 926A.
I personally use and highly recommend the Valentine One. As a matter of basic cost-benefit analysis, a radar detector ticket is always better than speeding or reckless driving (Albo fees, anyone? $25 for the radar detector or $1050? I'll take $25.). I keep mine on the windshield but my Garmin and E-ZPass do cloak it somewhat. When I am in Virginia, I do often remove the radar detector when I am in places where I do not need it or when I suspect I am close to a cop. I have never been pulled over in Virginia for anything. Of course, when I am in one of those increasingly few places in Virginia where traffic is free-flowing, there's usually some crazy person (obviously a Yankee transplant who is contributing to Virginia's currentstatus asa "declining neighborhood" politically for those of us on the right) driving like a bat out of you-know-where that usually does me the unsolicited service of running interference. The last time I was in Fairfax, I was driving on I-66 with the cruise control set at 74, passing most other people while driving in the right lane, and then someone literally flew by me in the shoulder lane, which was closed at the time(this is in the area just west of the Beltway where the shoulder is opened to traffic to add a third non-HOV lane when the HOV lane is restricted to HOV-2 vehicles), and must have been going 100+. If Virginia would realize most of its speed limits are, depending on the area, 10-20 miles per hour too low, I might agree with Virginia's rather unique reckless driving per se rules given what I have seen from more than a few people on the road there.
I had one awhile back and it falsed too much, and it was so wide it was difficult to conceal. It did work very well on the more rural highways, though. Sold it on Ebay and got nearly what I paid for it.
Well... it's good to know at least that he was a polite tyrant...