In LA or San Francisco, the driver would more likely be staring down the barrel of the Detective’s Glock as soon as he notified the officer. Now that would have traumatized his family
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I think the officer handle the situation with the family in the car nicely. What he did in the gun store I can’t say i would know how I would react.
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Dont get me wrong. I informed a cop once, he only asked “Where is the weapon sir?”. Professional. Other cops, while in official capacity, told me they encorage citizens to carry.
Not all PDs are the same, nor every officer’s opinion on the side of 2A. Definitely not everyone’s sense of humor is agreeable.
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What purpose does it serve? I have literally notified law enforcement that I am carrying dozens of times. Most just say thank you. 2 have told me "Don’t show me yours & I won’t show you mine.
I’m not offended by his words I am offended by his actions. The manner in which he was delivering the “joke”, the fact that the man’s wife and his children were in the car. The fact that it was for such a minor offense and lastly he meant to intimidate the driver.
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When is the last time you saw a Homicide Detective make a traffic stop for going a bit over the line? I’ve yet to even see a Homicide Detective involved in a traffic stop.
I was actually in a couple of suburbs in Atlanta the other day. Was a good concert.
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If it had ended with; you don’t draw yours, I won’t draw mine. I think that would have been fine, but from the way he told the “joke” he meant to intimidate.
With the way Atlanta is now, I would think as Law Enforcement, you wouldn’t need to make an implied threat to a family.
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I’m on in my years so awhile back in time folks were not so easily offended. There are many things more worrisome then this. A officer intimidating someone, imagine that. When I purchase a firearm or ammo, truly I don’t care what joe blow is saying to someone else unless it’s “stick em up” just me…
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In my mind it went from a " friendly and professional" stop. Once the Detective put in the comment about guaranteeing that “his draw was faster”. I felt that was where it went to far and was unprofessional.
YMMV.
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I’m on in years myself, and you are right it was a trivial interaction. Trust me when I say I have a dark sense of humor and am not easily offended. I, would hazard a guess that I am more offended by his interaction with that driver, and then relaying it such a way to “make the driver look and feel small”. Because there was no real reason for it.
Me, personally, I would have been curious why he felt like he needed to "throw his “Big Johnson and ego” out in front of my family.
YMMV
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Meme of Dr Freud with an answer goes here
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We definitely need better vetting of applicants for law enforcement positions. Psychological testing, background investigations, and more qualified members of interview panels, to ask the right questions.
But, I fail to see the fault of the detective in this case. He was not hostile to the store owner, in fact he seemed on a friendly basis with him. He could have asked to see whatever gun ownership card is required in Georgia, and as far as I can see in the narrative he didn’t, he could have taken a defensive stance and requested that the driver give up his weapon until after the end of the interview, or he could have done what he did, make the statement that was quoted and thank the driver for following proper procedure at the time of the interview. By the way, that is what an officer is doing when he talks to anyone he stops. It is an interview to receive information regarding an offense, it is not an arrest. I would not have made the second part of the statement regarding his fast draw abilities. That could be considered contentious to the wrong and the situation could escalate. Unless something was left out of the narrative, or I am missing something in the interpretation I only see an officer trying to put a person at ease. The driver did exactly what he should in this situation.
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I have no idea what are their rules over there.
It actually doesn’t matter. LEO made traffic stop and then they discussed how to safely solve the firearm situation.
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Or the store was very small and my family was there while he regaled everyone with his story of derring do.
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Since I am a competitive hand gun shooter I don’t think it is a threat to challenge someone to a draw. If he would have said I will shoot you before you shoot me and meant it he would have been doing his job. I think that is why we carry guns. I respect officer’s for doing their jobs. We don’t live in a perfect world.
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And as such, we don’t need to take things personally when a LEO is just trying to do their job.
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I do not consider being threatened with use of deadly force during a traffic stop part of their “just trying to do their job.” Neither do I find it “de-escalating a situation” as there was no “situation” other than a traffic stop. Likely the officer did not mean it to be threatening, but as officers are at their most vulnerable during traffic stops, I would not find it amusing for an officer to imply I would try to shoot him. I joke about most things, but I would not joke about shooting an officer during a traffic stop, and I would not appreciate an officer suggesting the same, either.
That’s one problem with having that permission slip, they know you are armed. If they stop a criminal, there would not be any indication that the person was armed, unless the firearm was visible. Apparently some officers have issues with armed citizens. I suspect many don’t, but I have no data to base that on. I know my relative (retired LEO) has changed his view on armed citizens in the past couple of years. Apparently I had a positive effect on him in our conversations. He was the one that convinced me to carry, but did not like the idea of other people carrying.
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This is offensive!
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I don’t look for reasons to be offended. You and others seem to have this idea that I am some coddled Snowflake. That could not be further from the truth.
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Homicide Detectives rarely, if ever, do routine traffic stops. So he went out of his way to initiate the stop.
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He then used that pretext to tell a crude story about it.
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I support Law Enforcement always have, always will. Heck I train dogs that I give to local PD’s and Sheriff. I have been a First Responder most of my life.
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