I recently posted an adventure I had the other night trying to find an emergency dentist in the middle of the night. One thing I omitted from that description is being pulled over on Amour Road in North Kansas City for speeding. I was paced at 40mph in a 25mph zone, and I’ll freely admit that I saw the sign too late and forgot how fast I was actually going. By the time I realized how fast I was going, the officer had already lit me up. Thankfully she let me off with a warning on the speeding charge — likely due to the hour of the night.
Now given this was the middle of the night and we were out and about looking for dental or medical attention, and I had just left the emergency room after having a tooth looked at, two things were true: I did not have the full mental capacity I would’ve had 12 hours earlier, and I was not carrying my firearm.
However in Kansas City, if you do have a concealed carry permit, the police are going to be informed of this when they run your license. I’ve said previously on this blog that you must inform police that you are carrying a firearm when you are pulled over. Twice. But what if you have a concealed carry permit and are not carrying?
As it was the middle of the night, and I again didn’t have my full capacities due to the hour, I did two things wrong during that stop that, thankfully, still turned out okay. First, I did not have my hands where the officer could initially see them upon approaching my vehicle. Second, I did not preemptively inform the officer of my concealed carry permit so I could inform her, in advance, that I did not have a firearm. I realized this mistake only after the encounter ended, as I could see via the passenger side mirror a supporting officer approaching as the detaining officer approached again on the driver side.
My wife was pulled over the previous week in Parkville, Missouri, for failure to yield at a stop sign. When we discussed the encounter, she gave me every impression that she did everything right during the encounter. Including informing the officer preemptively that she did have a concealed carry permit but that she did not have her firearm.
So when it comes to police stops, assume that the officer running your license will discover you have a concealed carry permit. To keep everything working in your favor as much as possible, inform the officer of that before they discover it. And follow-up by telling them whether you are or are not carrying a firearm.
