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I wasn't there so I can't comment on his actions but I will tell you that I would never leave a loaded gun unsecured. That means on the hood of my car or even tucked into my waist band. If a confrontation started then you have to worry about an unsecured and accessible firearm.

If I'm really concerned enough about someone that I have to take their gun away, then I'm either going to unload it or lock it in the trunk of my vehicle until that person is free to go. Again, I wasn't there so I can only tell you what I would do, or how I would train another officer.

...while he is doing an illegal search of the van

Based upon what the owner of the vehicle said I don't see where you come up an "illegal search"

Yes I did let him search the van. I have nothing to hide.

If the gun reports back stolen...then what? Arrest?

Depends upon the totality of the circumstances. For sure the gun would be seized but in most cased I would just type up a recovered property report and forward it to our detectives to investigate. We have the gun and they know how to get a hold of you so there would be no reason to arrest you.

If I recall correctly, all of the stolen guns that I've seized were from individuals that I was going to arrest on other charges such as warrants, drugs, UCW, etc.

Your firearm MUST be registered to carry?

He was checking the NCIC database to see if your gun was reported as stolen. I have never disarmed a CHL holder during a traffic stop but I've learned a long time ago to never say never. For what ever reason this officer felt that he needed to. As someone mentioned, perhaps this was the way he was trained or it's his department's SOP.

That being said, I run every gun that I get my hands on to see if it's been stolen. Let's say I purchase a gun from someone at a gun show or some other type private sale - I have no way of knowing whether that gun has been stolen or not. Even the person who sold it to me might not know that the gun was stolen - guns tend to change hands a lot over the years.

I own several guns where the sentimental value (been in the family, my duty weapon, won at a shooting contest, etc.) far exceeds the monetary value. If they were ever stolen and some LEO ever came across them during a routine check I'd be very thankful to him or her for recovering them. Also, if one of my guns were ever found to be in the stolen database I wouldn't want to keep it - I'd like to see the rightful owner get it back.

Hopefully this will explain why I do the gun checks. - and yes, I've recovered a few over the years that were reported stolen.