troglodyte wrote:From what I understand a officer cannot "tear up" a ticket or "unwrite" it. If it was written then it has to go into the system. Why it is not there or couldn't be found at the court date is a question you need to take up with the judge or clerk. Two years does not sound right.
This is actually up to the department and their policies. In most, the officer can rip up or void a ticket. So can his sergeant during the review. Usually if this happens, the person would get a letter in the mail telling him to not worry about it. The officer just has to account for the ticket number. In addition, in a lot of places, where the form for the ticket and the warning are the same, the officer can change his mind and make the ticket a warning after it is written.
In addition, the ticket can actually get lost anywhere along the line. The officer can drop it, or the supervisor can, or a clerk, etc. Sometimes these tickets get found later when a cabinet or desk is moved or something. They then get processed as necessary. The two year deadline is because traffic violations in Texas are class C misdemeanors and the statute of limitations for them is two years. The deadline runs from the date of the offense to the filing of charges with the court. On a side note, any time you are outside of Texas doesn't count IF the court knows about it.
mojo84 wrote:He said he moved it from his waistband.
If the OP's shirt was tucked in and he had no cover garment and that gun was inside the waistband but outside the shirt, then that j-frame was being open-carried, and it would be necessary to either cover it or store it out of sight.
There are missing details here.
MY question is, why wasn't the gun properly carried and concealed in the first place? That single precaution would have canceled any need to "hide" the gun, or worse yet, to handle the gun during an LEO encounter.
Just my 2¢. YMMV.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
TAM, that's a question. Whatever the reason, I don't think it's a good idea to be needing with a gun when a chip is approaching your vehicle for a traffic stop.
By the way, I carry my gun untucked all the time in my vehicle. It's far enough to the back that it's concealed between me and the seat. If the cop asks me to exit the vehicle, it will then become unconceale. However, that can't be held against me since I would be following his orders and he initiated the exposure. Same goes for the map pocket inside the door.
I'm sure that last paragraph is going to prompt much discussion. But I have it on good authority that is the case.
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mojo84 wrote:He said he moved it from his waistband.
If the OP's shirt was tucked in and he had no cover garment and that gun was inside the waistband but outside the shirt, then that j-frame was being open-carried, and it would be necessary to either cover it or store it out of sight.
There are missing details here.
MY question is, why wasn't the gun properly carried and concealed in the first place? That single precaution would have canceled any need to "hide" the gun, or worse yet, to handle the gun during an LEO encounter.
Just my 2¢. YMMV.
I was on the open highway at night, there was nobody to see it so the butt of the revolver was visible. The gun was stored in a safe place, concealed even from a casual viewer however it would not have been concealed from an officer standing at the window with a flashlight. The old tree falls in the woods question. I moved it because I thought doing so would ultimately make everyone more comfortable. If the officer asked me and I told him it was here in the map pocket, or under a towel on the pass seat, I think there would be a risk he would want to disarm me or have me exit the vehicle.
When the lights came on, but well before I had come to a stop or was at any risk of the officer seeing me handle the revolver I slid it to my wife who put it in the glove box as she removed our insurance papers. By the time we came to a stop at a safe location the gun was away and we had the dome light on with paperwork ready.
It seems like there are a lot of people who seem to believe having a plastic card in their wallet somehow makes them a friend to LEO. Every LEO I know though still would prefer you not have immediate access to a firearm when they are standing at your window. Regardless of cards you have in your wallet.
mojo84 wrote:He said he moved it from his waistband.
If the OP's shirt was tucked in and he had no cover garment and that gun was inside the waistband but outside the shirt, then that j-frame was being open-carried, and it would be necessary to either cover it or store it out of sight.
There are missing details here.
MY question is, why wasn't the gun properly carried and concealed in the first place? That single precaution would have canceled any need to "hide" the gun, or worse yet, to handle the gun during an LEO encounter.
Just my 2¢. YMMV.
I was on the open highway at night, there was nobody to see it so the butt of the revolver was visible. The gun was stored in a safe place, concealed even from a casual viewer however it would not have been concealed from an officer standing at the window with a flashlight. The old tree falls in the woods question. I moved it because I thought doing so would ultimately make everyone more comfortable. If the officer asked me and I told him it was here in the map pocket, or under a towel on the pass seat, I think there would be a risk he would want to disarm me or have me exit the vehicle.
When the lights came on, but well before I had come to a stop or was at any risk of the officer seeing me handle the revolver I slid it to my wife who put it in the glove box as she removed our insurance papers. By the time we came to a stop at a safe location the gun was away and we had the dome light on with paperwork ready.
It seems like there are a lot of people who seem to believe having a plastic card in their wallet somehow makes them a friend to LEO. Every LEO I know though still would prefer you not have immediate access to a firearm when they are standing at your window. Regardless of cards you have in your wallet.
Officers are trained to observe movement in cars they are pulling over. I'd be surprised if that officer wasn't aware that y'all had done something inside the car before he pulled you over. His line of questioning might have been quite a bit different had you not been cooperative when he first approached you.
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison
NRA Life Member Texas Firearms Coalition member
baldeagle wrote:
Officers are trained to observe movement in cars they are pulling over. I'd be surprised if that officer wasn't aware that y'all had done something inside the car before he pulled you over. His line of questioning might have been quite a bit different had you not been cooperative when he first approached you.
Not in the dark of night with him a quarter mile back. If he can see that well his talents are wasted.
mojo84 wrote:He said he moved it from his waistband.
If the OP's shirt was tucked in and he had no cover garment and that gun was inside the waistband but outside the shirt, then that j-frame was being open-carried, and it would be necessary to either cover it or store it out of sight.
There are missing details here.
MY question is, why wasn't the gun properly carried and concealed in the first place? That single precaution would have canceled any need to "hide" the gun, or worse yet, to handle the gun during an LEO encounter.
Just my 2¢. YMMV.
I was on the open highway at night, there was nobody to see it so the butt of the revolver was visible. The gun was stored in a safe place, concealed even from a casual viewer however it would not have been concealed from an officer standing at the window with a flashlight. The old tree falls in the woods question. I moved it because I thought doing so would ultimately make everyone more comfortable. If the officer asked me and I told him it was here in the map pocket, or under a towel on the pass seat, I think there would be a risk he would want to disarm me or have me exit the vehicle.
When the lights came on, but well before I had come to a stop or was at any risk of the officer seeing me handle the revolver I slid it to my wife who put it in the glove box as she removed our insurance papers. By the time we came to a stop at a safe location the gun was away and we had the dome light on with paperwork ready.
It seems like there are a lot of people who seem to believe having a plastic card in their wallet somehow makes them a friend to LEO. Every LEO I know though still would prefer you not have immediate access to a firearm when they are standing at your window. Regardless of cards you have in your wallet.
I've been stopped multiple times. Each time the officer has asked where my gun is and each time I've told him it's on my right hip. It's never been a problem and I've never been asked to disarm.
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troglodyte wrote:From what I understand a officer cannot "tear up" a ticket or "unwrite" it. If it was written then it has to go into the system. Why it is not there or couldn't be found at the court date is a question you need to take up with the judge or clerk. Two years does not sound right.
I've had one "unwritten" before - simply for knowing the right person. It was a paper ticket of course, it'd be trivial not to drop the copy in whatever process sends them to court. I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't unwrite an eletronic copy.
My exacerbation with county tickets - I've shown up days later to pay the ticket (per instructions on the ticket), waited for over an hour to get my turn, only to be told "it's not in the system" and to come back some other day. Even though I have a copy and my intent is to pay it or otherwise dispose of it... So we wait another couple of days, take off work, go stand in line... By the time it was all over with the process of dealing with the system was much more punitive than any fine. Apparently there is a narrow window of time in which the ticket is in the system, but you're not technically late on taking care of it. Go efficiency!
