It could be that your preemptive "it's in the door" rattled him a little. You anticipated his question and meant it to be courteous, but it could have come across as rude, cavalier, or even threatening. At that point, he hadn't seen your CHL and likely thought, "What's in the door? The murder weapon? A stash of drugs? A hostage?"Majek wrote:Ive got a healthy baby niece, and it was worth it!!! No, I was very calm, standing evenly on both feet, waiting to get out of there! My question is this...if the cop was worried about the gun being in the truck, enough so that he made me stand in front of his cruiser, why wouldn't he care about having someone else in the truck? Seems like he'd have asked her to step out as well. Maybe he was assuming she wasn't competent with firearms?Heck, she's a better shot than me most days! And I'm usually a lights out shooter!
You assumed he pulled you over for speeding. . . he could've been responding to an Amber Alert with a description of a similar car. You may have also inadvertently communicated, "I get pulled over all the time and have so many tickets that I already know what you're gong to ask. . . it's in the door." Or he might have been put off at a perceived attempt to rush him in his job.
You also don't know his history with CHLers. .. it could be his first encounter. He could've just transferred from California and be an anti. He could've just arrested somebody with a fake CHL. During a traffic stop, his alert will be on high, and any communication outside of what he expects as "normal" could cause confusion, a misunderstanding, or frustration.
My recommendation is to stay calm and treat every encounter like it's the only one you'll ever have. Even if you know where the conversation is headed, you have to go through the dance steps to get there, and you have to let the LEO lead.
I think leaving your passenger in the car showed he wasn't too worried and was likely passing along a lesson in patience.
As others said, congrats on the niece! Be safe out there! And thanks for posting.