I just don't understand

[RedRaider]

Long story short, my car last night had the front and back windshields busted out (gotta love summer when all the kids are out of school) and so I called to have a cop come out to write me up a report for my insurance company. He shows up, asks for ID, I give him both Licence and CHL since I'm carrying. He asks if I'm carrying, I say yes, he asks me to go put it inside the house.

First off, I respect police officers and know they have a very difficult job, I respected his wishes and did as he asked without questioning it one bit. I guess I just don't understand it though, I'm the victim who called them police to come to my house, I let him know that I am armed by showing my CHL as we are required to do by law, and yet he feels unsafe (I assume this is why he asked for me to put it inside the house). Shouldn't he be worried about the criminals who don't let him know their armed? Maybe some police officers feel uncomfortable with CHL holders.......I dunno.....

Sorry, frustrating morning and just felt like venting, thanks for listening!

[mgood]

Maybe he was afraid you'd open fire on some random suspicious looking neighborhood kid while he was standing there.

[gigag04]

While I wouldn't have a CHL holder disarm - I can see wanting to focus on your vehicle and the report. Since often times these days wearing blue and a badge is almost like crosshairs we have plenty to keep track off. Knowing that you are one less person with a weapon to be a potential threat probably allowed him to focus more taking your report and keeping track of his surroundings.

Like I said...I wouldn't do it, but that may be some insight into why he did what he did.

[Leroy]

That makes absolutely no sense to me. I would think an officer would take comfort in the fact the he was dealing with someone (CHL holder)whose background has been scrutinized and cleared as being a law abiding, upstanding citizen. WE do have to remember though that he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else, and just because he has a badge does not mean he is the sharpest knife in drawer.

[gigag04]

That makes absolutely no sense to me. I would think an officer would take comfort in the fact the he was dealing with someone (CHL holder)whose background has been scrutinized and cleared as being a law abiding, upstanding citizen. WE do have to remember though that he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else, and just because he has a badge does not mean he is the sharpest knife in drawer.

Ummm...not all the CHL holders I have encountered are "law abiding, upstanding citizens." In the past 6 months i have personally dealt with three, and one went to jail for class A theft. I booked a unrelated CHL holder for a partner for DWI. I understand that I have a small sample size and that my numbers aren't indicative of the general population of CHLs, however, a CHL is not really an automatic good guy card in my opinion any more.

Not really sure how that officer's intelligence plays into this so....

[Abraham]

Some CHL holders seem to think they

[PUCKER]

I wouldn't have done it, I probably would be having a chat with his/her supervisor. My house/property, my rules. It would be the same as asking the cop to leave his/her firearm in the car too....you know how well that would go....

[The Annoyed Man]

I wouldn't like being asked to put it in the house, but on the other hand, my primary business at the time would be dealing with the vandalism. Once the report was over, I might conversationally ask the LEO why he asked me to disarm, hoping that I might be able to influence his future decisions in that regard. But, I likely wouldn't waste too much energy being angry about it. There are a lot worse injustices happening in the world than my being asked by a cop concerned for his own safety (even if his premise is wrongheaded) to disarm myself during our encounter.

Look at it this way: at least he asked you to disarm by going and putting the gun in your house, rather than disarming you himself - which he is lawfully entitled to do. Again, although I disagree with his reasoning in asking you to disarm, in his own mind he might have been thinking that this was a way that he could satisfy his own needs while still respecting your person.

In any case, life is too short to dance with ugly women, so I would just let it go. If it were me.

[G.A. Heath]

Personally I understand both sides of the issue. The officer wants to be in control of the scene, doesn't want to handle a weapon he doesn't know, and the weapon holder is likely to be agitated (due to being a crime victim). Solution: Ask the OP to secure his weapon inside the residence.

At the same time the OP has just had his property damaged, hasn't done anything wrong, and can prove that he has passed a background check. Solution: Comply. This avoids the officer disarming the OP and handling a firearm that he may have no knowledge of (which could lead to a negligent discharge).

Nothing anyone has works as a good guy card. I don't care if its a CHL, Red and Blue lights, LEO ID/Badge, or anything else. Too many people pass background checks then go do something illegal afterwards. Licenses/IDs can be issued in error or faked, lights and badges can be purchased, and people do change.

[RedRaider]

That makes absolutely no sense to me. I would think an officer would take comfort in the fact the he was dealing with someone (CHL holder)whose background has been scrutinized and cleared as being a law abiding, upstanding citizen. WE do have to remember though that he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else, and just because he has a badge does not mean he is the sharpest knife in drawer.

Ummm...not all the CHL holders I have encountered are "law abiding, upstanding citizens." In the past 6 months i have personally dealt with three, and one went to jail for class A theft. I booked a unrelated CHL holder for a partner for DWI. I understand that I have a small sample size and that my numbers aren't indicative of the general population of CHLs, however, a CHL is not really an automatic good guy card in my opinion any more.

Not really sure how that officer's intelligence plays into this so....

This kind of clears things up, I too figured I should be the least of his concerns. GigAg, you're examples of CHL holders you have dealt with definently puts a different light on the subject. I guess sometimes all of us CHL holders assume everyone with a CHL is an angel, but there are always bad apples in each bunch.

Like I said, this experience was really a non-event for me, I just didn't really understand it. I'm glad he didn't try to disarm me too. Another thing that confused me was how did he know I even put it in my house......I could have walked in my house, went to the bathroom, and walked right back out (not that I would do that). He never checked to make sure I disarmed.

[gigag04]

Nothing anyone has works as a good guy card. I don't care if its a CHL, Red and Blue lights, LEO ID/Badge, or anything else. Too many people pass background checks then go do something illegal afterwards.

This is the best post of the week IMO.

A BG checks associates and criminal history. Often times it is just an issue of someone that hasn't been caught, which is what I suspect in the case of that theft arrest.

In my hiring class at my agency there was a guy in the hiring process DQ'ed because he was morally OK with shoplifting. He thought everyone did it. He did it all the time.

Umm...really?

[Keith B]

In my hiring class at my agency there was a guy in the hiring process DQ'ed because he was morally OK with shoplifting. He thought everyone did it. He did it all the time.

Umm...really?

I do it all the time too. My wife goes to the grocery store shopping, and I end up doing all of the lifting (soda cartons, bags of dog food, sacks of potatoes, ..... LOL)

Back on topic, there are hundreds of factors that can play into whether an officer requests you to do something that you may feel is odd. In this case, just his attitude or how he is feeling, your attitude and being mad about getting the vehicle broken into, maybe he is just one of those that is uneasy about others carrying (I know, we are the good guys, but see other posts...), etc.

I can tell you the night my car got broken into I was mad enough because of all the damage, if someone had come up and said they did it that I would have been tempted to draw on them right then and there had I been carrying. I wouldn't have, but I am sure my temperament was showing to the officer that came out to take the report.

[RedRaider]

I kind of wish I would have asked why after the fact, it just didn't cross my mind as I was in a hurry to get to work.

I can tell you the night my car got broken into I was mad enough because of all the damage, if someone had come up and said they did it that I would have been tempted to draw on them right then and there had I been carrying.

This could be it, I can't say I was in the greatest of moods when he arrived.

[tacticool]

Long story short, my car last night had the front and back windshields busted out (gotta love summer when all the kids are out of school) and so I called to have a cop come out to write me up a report for my insurance company. He shows up, asks for ID, I give him both Licence and CHL since I'm carrying. He asks if I'm carrying, I say yes, he asks me to go put it inside the house.

I would have gone back inside the house and stayed there until he left. That way I don't have to disarm and as a bonus I can relax in AC comfort. He doesn't have to worry I might come to his aid if he is attacked. Everyone is happy.

[Texas Dan Mosby]

That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I'm sure there are plenty of things an LEO does that wouldn't make sense if you were not in that particular profession.

Perhaps he has had an experience in the past that lead to his course of action? Perhaps he lacked the composure and experience that another LEO may have had?

I can understand why an LEO may opt to go with that course of action, though I may not like or necessarily agree with it myself.