I've been thinking more and more about this story lately and finally decided to share it, as it's always struck me as a somewhat peculiar LEO encounter for a CCW. I'll be very detailed so as to leave nothing to the imagination, TL;DR at the bottom.This incident took place a few years ago and about two days before I got married. I was driving back to my apartment at around 11 PM down a winding road which connected two rural/suburban towns, with a good amount of large properties and acreage in between. On this particular evening I had been speeding out of frustration because my best man had somehow purchased tickets to the wrong city, 3 hours from where I was getting married. Other cars were passing me going the opposite direction and tunnel vision had me ignoring them, for the most part.I slowed down towards the entrance to the town I needed to pass through to get home and began a right turn before noticing some red and blue lights illuminating the night sky. At this point I genuinely wasn't sure whether I was being pulled over, but pulled off to the side of the road just as I had completed the right turn. Maybe a second after I put my car into park, the officer had made the same right turn and pulled up behind me to a stop.At this point I just roll down my window, place my hands on the wheel, and wait for him to approach my vehicle. Eventually he does; after handing him my license and registration, here's the conversation that followed as best I can remember it:LEO: "Any particular reason you're driving so fast tonight?"Me: "I'm sorry officer, I'm just trying to get home. I'm getting married in two days and my best man flew into the wrong city."LEO: "I see. Why didn't you pull over sooner? I nearly called in for backup, I had been chasing you down the hill and you weren't stopping."Me: "Once again, I'm sorry sir. I genuinely had no idea you were following me, I pulled over the second I noticed there were lights behind me."LEO: "Okay, now I have to ask, you were going so fast tonight and I nearly thought I would be on a high speed chase: are there any weapons in the vehicle?"As he's asking me this question, my brain is realizing that he's ran my plates and knows that the car I'm driving is registered to someone (me) who has a CHL in the state of Oregon, so he knows it's possible I have a weapon concealed.Me: "Yes sir, I am licensed to carry concealed and have a weapon on my hip at about 4 o'clock."This is when the whole interaction became rather strange, to me. In every other story I've read about encounters like this, the cop usually says, "don't touch yours and I won't touch mine." Instead, this is what happened.LEO: "Okay, I'm going to ask you to take the weapon off your person and place it on the dash."Me: "...sir, I'd feel much more comfortable if you were the one to remove the weapon. I do not want to touch my firearm or give you any reason to think that I am being anything other than cooperative."LEO: "Alright, let's have you step out of the vehicle. Open the door, keep your hands stretched out and up in the air, and face away from me."At this point I do as he says, although I'm a little disturbed that he's asked me to unholster my carry gun. I open the door with my hands outstretched, step out of my car, and face away from him with my hands up.LEO: "Where did you say the weapon was?"Me: "Behind my hip, 4 o'clock."He lifts my shirt and draws my 1911, then fumbles with it for a second before dropping the mag. My hands are still raised but I can sense that he's confused or hesitant.LEO: "The hammer is back, is this thing armed?"Me: "? Yes, it's cocked and locked, sir."LEO: "You go ahead and empty the chamber, then place it up on your dash."I'm uneasy about taking a chambered weapon from the hands of a police officer but I do as he says, since he seemingly doesn't understand how to work the safety on a 1911. I carefully take it from his hands, disengage the safety, then rack the chambered round out onto my car seat. He hands me the mag and I place everything up on my dash before turning to face him.LEO: "I gotta say, if you're carrying a gun, you can't be driving like this. Especially when it's late and you can't see that I'm following you, going that fast is asking for trouble."Me: "You're absolutely right. On any other given day I wouldn't have been going so fast, but today I'm freaking out about my best man flying into wrong place."LEO: "He fly into city X?" (10 minutes from where we were stopped)Me: "No, city Y." (3 hours from where we are, separated by a mountain pass, where a blizzard is currently blanketing the roads with snow).LEO: "Wow, fair enough. Tonight I'm just going to give you a warning. Drive safe, and take it easy. It's gonna be okay. Make sure you don't hit that rabbit out in front of your car."I'm confused and look out in front of my car, and sure enough, there's a rabbit just frozen in fear maybe 5 yards in front of my vehicle. We both stare at it briefly.Me: "Well thanks, I'll be sure not to. Have a good night officer."At this point we part ways and I continue my drive home. At the time I was mostly glad that all I received was a warning, but didn't really think about how strange it was or wasn't to have had my carry gun taken off my person and then disarmed. I wasn't mad about it, I figured the cop just felt more comfortable finishing the stop with himself being the only armed person. One of my groomsmen wound up driving through the blizzard to pick up the best man, he got him back in time for the bachelor party and the wedding.TL;DR: Driving home late one night two days before I get married, stupidly speeding over being upset about my best man flying into the wrong city. Cop driving the opposite way flips on his lights to pull me over, nearly calls for backup because I didn't notice him chasing me at first. Proceeds to ask me to take out my gun and place it on the dash before attempting to do so himself; has me finish by emptying the chamber. Lets me off with a warning and tells me to just drive safe, especially if I have a weapon on me. via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2MNUuj2
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