Getting pulled over with mossberg shockwave

[cmgee67]

I was thinking about this today. If you get pulled over and you happen to have your shockwave in the car what do you do? Do you treat it like a long gun and you don’t have to inform the officer you have it? It’s considered a firearm. I’d think you wouldn’t have to say anything but say they searched your vehicle and found it. If the officer wasn’t versed in what makes something a firearm and he considered it an SBS you might be having a conversation. Do you keep the paperwork mossberg sends with it saying what it is? What are the rules on this issue? I haven’t seen this discussed anywhere so I thought I’d bring it up.

Carry an 18” barreled shotgun with buttstock, and the problem goes away.

Honestly, I’m not saying you shouldn’t carry a shockwave if that’s what floats your boat, but you raise a very good issue, which can be summarized thusly: how much do you trust the firearms law knowledge of any random cop who is likely to pull you over? It should be common knowledge among LEOs that the Shockwave is legal in Texas.....but I don’t trust that it is commonly known. OTH, if you’re transporting a long gun such as a full-sized tactical shotgun, or an AR15 or something, there is FAR less likely to be any confusion on the cop’s part about the firearm’s legality in this state.

Someday I’ll buy a Shockwave just for the giggles, but for vehicle carry of a long gun, I’ll keep it to something the cop is most likely to recognize as a legal firearm. In my case, that would be a full sized shotgun, or a lever action rifle, or a AR15, or even an AK47. I worry that if you place a cop in the position of having to exercise judgement about the legal status of a weapon with which he is not familiar, he is going to err on the side of caution and take you for a ride until it gets all sorted out.

I don’t think that is how it should be at all, but I do think that this is probably how it is in some jurisdictions.

That’s why I don’t even carry an AR pistol on the truck because it could be considered an SBR if someone doesn’t know the law. Most cops I know don’t know very much about guns other than what they are issued. That’s sad but it’s true. In fact I know some who never even shot a gun until the academy. So with all that being said I don’t trust that what should be common knowledge among cops is. I carry a long gun for the reasons you stated. An AR AK shotgun or lever gun is not going to be misconstrued as something illegal if it’s full size. I don’t want to ride in the hard plastic back seat with my hands behind my back if I can help it.

[The Annoyed Man]

Yup. Don't ask, don't tell. If they ask something, I will answer the question and only that question. If they ask me to do something simple like take out my ID, I'll do it. If they ask if it's OK to give up my rights (like to search my vehicle), I will respectfully decline unless they have a darn good reason. Fortunately, I've never been asked that before. My experience is that if you respect LEOs, they will give you equal respect back. It may not be the most pleasant kind of respect (it is their job to flush out criminals at traffic stops after all), but it's respect nonetheless.

Now I'm just thinking. Let's say I do get detained for a crime that doesn't exist, like having a Shockwave in my truck. Well, I'll just let it ride out. If the LEO believes that it really is against the law, then arguing with him otherwise will only invite trouble. Sure, I'll let him know, but I'm certainly not going to have a heated argument over the matter. Hopefully someone else on duty knows otherwise and informs him. It'll be hard to get mad at the LEO for trying to do his job. Sure, we are darn near experts at gun laws on this forum, but we can't expect LEOs to be. They have a whole ton of other stuff they need to know about, and no one is perfect at knowing all enforceable laws.

I think I have a reasonable expectation that an LEO would keep up to date on firearms that they might run up against while on watch. The Shockwave is a whole new kind of gun that generated a fair amount of news on its release. It’s not like a new AR or something. I would hope that whomever is leading the beginning of shift meeting would make a note to caution his officers about to head out, that they might start seeing these guns on the street, and when they do, don’t freak out because they are legal.

That’s my reasonable expectation. However, my realistic expectation - which is a rare but happy thing when it dovetails with reasonable expectations - is that not all officers are going to be up to date on things like this, and that having a firea that not a lot more than a year ago would have been considered illegal by the average officer would save me a lot of trouble. So what if the whole thing would be ultimately OK and I was released? That’s pretty much a whole day spent in the belly of the beast, and possible legal fees to make it go away. I don’t need that kind of crap.

[greg0215]

My curiosity is proper carry since it is classified as a "Firearm", not long gun, SBR, pistol or whatever. So, can you legally carry it across your back with a sling, or scabbard? Pistols need to be in a belt or shoulder holster but long guns don't but the classification is neither of those. Can you have it exposed in your front seat out of any type holster or scabbard? So many questions, so few answers. lol I'm speaking in terms of even the officer being aware that they are legal and not a sbr or pistol.