I have actually had two encounters with the police in my town since receiving my Pistol/Revolver License from the state of NH back in early May. Both were with the same officer who presented me with my carbon copy (literally, it was a carbon copy) when it was ready to be picked up at the station.The town I live in is very small. Permanent population is only 5073. There is a pizza shop, a small grocery store, a hardware store, and a diner. That's about it. There isn't even a traffic light downtown. So, obviously this officer remembered my face when he pulled my buddy from MA over for failing to indicate a turn. He saw that we had a six pack in the back seat and asked if we had been drinking. We told him no, we just picked those up at the store and had yet to begin for the evening. Then he asked if there were any weapons in the vehicle. I said, "No, Sir. I am licensed to carry but do not currently have it on." He replied with "Ok; thank you for telling me." and proceeded to head back to his cruiser and rub my buddy's info. A few minutes later we were released with a verbal warning that was more a polite request to comply with traffic law than anything else.That was back in May. The second incident happened just this past weekend. I was driving home from a bonfire in my father's truck but was not familiar with the road, which is gravel, as well as on a 25° downgrade. That, coupled with my insufficient experience handling the F-150 and the rate of speed I was going at the time I went around a particularly sharp corner, caused me to lose control of the vehicle and careen into a rock wall. Thankfully, I only suffered minor injuries despite not having my safety belt on (live free or die, or so they say...all kidding aside, though, going forward it will be a lot easier to choose to wear that thing) but there was no way I was driving it home and had to call in to report the accident. The same officer from both the station and my first encounter was the one who responded was incredibly courteous when he said "Saaahrentino, I know you usually carry a firearm. Do you have it with you right now?" My exact words were "No, Sir. But I do have my Leatherman in my right, front, pocket if by chance you'd care to take possession of it for the remainder of this encounter." He said that wouldn't be necessary and from there we went through the motions. I successfully passed the field sobriety test and was allowed to decline the breathalyzer without incurring a 180 day automatic suspension for doing so. Not sure what exactly allowed him to justify letting me go but maximum discretion was absolutely applied across the board on my behalf. For all of these reasons he will be receiving an anonymous commendation once a little more time has passed.I'm certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I had not applied for my carry permit and in doing so established a personal rapport with this man that things would have gone down a lot differently last Friday. NH does not take operating under the influence lightly and it was a toss of coins as far as my BAC was concerned. He basically told me that it was very close and I need to be much more careful in the future. Let this be a lesson to everyone about the importance of acting responsibly with both firearms and alcohol. Don't make the same mistake I did. It almost compromised my clean record. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/28M1aLb
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