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If you're pulled over and are 100 % legal ,do you have to answer this question or any questions if asked by a cop ,or can you just hand over your DL and insurance and say "respectfully i chose not to answer any questions officer ? "

PS, in this situation i do not have a Texas chl and am not required to inform under Texas chl requirements

Why would you not answer the question? I don't see what you would gain out of it. I'm sure the officer would be upset if you lie to them.

As I understand it, you are legally required to produce a driver license and proof of financial responsiblity.

You may be required to affirm that you are the person named on the driver license. I'm not clear on that.

You are not required to answer any other question. However, it is illegal to lie.

If they ask if they can search the vehicle, it's probably best to say No. Silence could be taken as consent.

As usual, I am not a lawyer.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:As I understand it, you are legally required to produce a driver license and proof of financial responsiblity.

You may be required to affirm that you are the person named on the driver license. I'm not clear on that.

You are not required to answer any other question. However, it is illegal to lie.

If they ask if they can search the vehicle, it's probably best to say No. Silence could be taken as consent.

As usual, I am not a lawyer.

- Jim

By not confirming whether there are weapons or not, the officer might be given reason to search the subject body and vehicle for their own safety.

The officer always has authority under Terry to perform a pat search of a driver and his immediate environment, with the goal of detecting weapons, for officer safety.

Most won't do such a search while the drive is seated, but will ask the driver to exit the car. While complying, be sure to lock the door on your way out. Anything inside the car is now off-limits for a search, since it is not within your immediate environment.

"Force of habit, Officer. I always keep my doors locked to prevent crime."

Kevin

Liberty wrote:By not confirming whether there are weapons or not, the officer might be given reason to search the subject body and vehicle for their own safety.

They have no reason to believe you if you say you're not carrying a weapon. I doubt criminals admit it.

The police can pretty much search any time they want (Terry stop).

If they find a weapon and you are otherwise in the right, you have not committed an offense.

- Jim

propellerhead wrote:Why would you not answer the question? I don't see what you would gain out of it. I'm sure the officer would be upset if you lie to them.

To exercise my constitutional rights

not trying to be a smartypants, but if someone is pulled over for a traffic stop,that should be the only interaction between officer and driver

police ask questions for the end result to take you to jail,why bother talking to them if you don't have to

the civil liberty video on the net says you don't have to answer police questions,but i read it might be different in Texas because you can be taken to jail for a simple traffic stop,if thats the case i would answer their questions,if not i would not

i have a general rule of not talking to police unless i initiated the conversation,if not i would only talk to them with an attorney

the new traveling law is in effect,but before remember these are the same folks who arrested law abiding citizens for violating the traveling law when the law was clear that a law abiding citizen could drive with a personal defense weapon in the car

most of these folks got tripped upped by talking to police when they should have just kept their mouths closed if legally possible

there is an old saying,no one has talked their way out of jail,but many have talked their way into jail

Sig Guy wrote:To exercise my constitutional rights

I agree. When the police start asking questions like "Where are going?" and "Where are you coming from?" they are not enforcing traffic laws. They are looking for a reason to search or arrest you.

I used to get that treatment in Chicago.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

Sig Guy wrote:To exercise my constitutional rights

I agree. When the police start asking questions like "Where are going?" and "Where are you coming from?" they are not enforcing traffic laws. They are looking for a reason to search or arrest you.

I used to get that treatment in Chicago.

- Jim

i agree,if you have a legal weapon in the car but no chl and the officer asks "if you have a weapon in the car" and say yes,i think in many cases you would be sitting there alot longer (possibly in handcuffs while they sort everything out),then if you simply chose not to talk to them other then confirming your identity and saying you dont consent to a search and will not answer any questions

i worked for DPS for many years.

most LEO's appreciate law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in a legal manner.

packsaddle wrote:i worked for DPS for many years.

most LEO's appreciate law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in a legal manner.

while i know everyone who legally carried a weapon in their car under the old traveling law were not arrested,many were,especially Harris county

many law abiding citizens were arrested and had to get lawyers and go to court to prove their were legal under the traveling law

There's an old saying two negatives make a positive but, two positives don't make a negative. Yeah, right.

"respectfully i chose not to answer any questions officer "

If I was stopped I'd say that to an officer, yeah right. My experience has been that when an officer goes fishing it's not for some arbitrary reason. I have personal friends that are Irving officers. They have a sixth sense aka years of observational experience. When they ask questions it's for very specific reasons and not because they're fishing.

Sig Guy wrote:while i know everyone who legally carried a weapon in their car under the old traveling law were not arrested,many were,especially Harris county

I hope this doesn't sound like a nitpick, but long guns were always legal to carry, and common within living memory outside cities.

The hullaballoo was always about handguns and certain knives.

- Jim

I would be honest, if asked. I know I appreciate and trust those that are honest with me. I've never had a police officer ask me if there were weapons in the car when pulled over for a traffic stop. I imagine this does happen, though, but can't for the life of me figure out why one would ask if there was nothing to indicate that there might be weapons.

I'd rather get a lawyer and fight the issue knowing I was honest from the beginning than get a lawyer after getting caught in a lie. Once your credibility is gone, what do you have left to defend yourself? After all, such a scenario would be the officer's word against yours.

I don't see any harm in answering the question honestly.

why such animosity towards law enforcement officers?