Police want to check your serial #

[LarryT]

Good morning Everyone!
FYI
I have been told of a few incidents where CHL holders have been stopped by law enforcement. When they hand over their CHL ID the officer has ask them for their firearm to “ run the serial number”.
I see NO probable cause for this, and I see no legality in this without a warrant or probable cause.
My advice is do not pull your firearm. Inform the officer that you are not refusing but since your firearm is loaded and you are concerned with safety you do not want to risk any possible accident.
Looking forward to your comments

Semper Fi.
Once & Always

[RoyGBiv]

Good luck with that.

GC §411.207. AUTHORITY OF PEACE OFFICER TO DISARM.
(a) A peace officer who is acting in the lawful discharge of the officer's official duties may disarm a license holder at any time the officer reasonably believes it is necessary for the protection of the license holder, officer, or another individual. The peace officer shall return the handgun to the license holder before discharging the license holder from the scene if the officer determines that the license holder is not a threat to the officer, license holder, or another individual and if the license holder has not violated any provision of this subchapter or committed any other violation that results in the arrest of the license holder.

[jmra]

6 pages on this topic here:
viewtopic.php?f=125&t=59850&hilit=Polic ... al+numbers

14 pages here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=59844&start=195

[LarryT]

Right
The difference is for them to disarm you or for you to be on a camera puklling out your firearm.
I should have been more clear.

[LarryT]

Thanks reading all the previous posts now.

[C-dub]

We, the CHL holder, really don't have a choice in the matter. If the officer wants to disarm us "for their safety" they may. Once they have taken possession of the gun they can run a check on that serial number if they want to and there isn't really anything we can do about it. The officer probably won't even tell us if they did or not unless it has been reported as stolen, but you'll probably know that pretty quick.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Good morning Everyone!
FYI
I have been told of a few incidents where CHL holders have been stopped by law enforcement. When they hand over their CHL ID the officer has ask them for their firearm to “ run the serial number”.
I see NO probable cause for this, and I see no legality in this without a warrant or probable cause.
My advice is do not pull your firearm. Inform the officer that you are not refusing but since your firearm is loaded and you are concerned with safety you do not want to risk any possible accident.
Looking forward to your comments

Semper Fi.
Once & Always

I voluntarily consent to no searches but do not physically resist or get angry in any way. I agree with your advice above with denoation that you do not consent but if they are going to search anyway they need to draw it as "your firearm is loaded and you are concerned with safety you do not want to risk any possible accident."

[karder]

If you feel like an officer has overstepped his authority during an interaction, I would recommend gathering as much information as possible and calling your lawyer. You are going to fair much better fighting it out with an attorney after the fact than fighting it out with the cops at the scene.

[LarryT]

Thanks for all the input. I've read the past posts & see this is a problem we need our legislature to correct.

[rotor]

I think it is overly intrusive but once they pull you over they have probably already run a check on your license plates and pretty well know a bunch about you before they greet you. They may even know that you are a chl before you volunteer.

[n5wd]

Anytime I have asked a LEO to "run a serial number" for me, they said they could not do that, unless part of an investigation.

If that is so, how can they just run the serial number for a traffic stop?

Because it is an inquiry persuant to investigating a traffic offense. As appropriate as running your DL and vehicle registration during a traffic stop.

[navyfirefighter76]

Anytime I have asked a LEO to "run a serial number" for me, they said they could not do that, unless part of an investigation.

If that is so, how can they just run the serial number for a traffic stop?

Because a traffic stop is a legitimate investigation. The stop was initiated due to speeding, failure to signal lane change, tail light out, or whatever. In LE terms, Probable Cause...

I worked in LE for 4 years and can speak from my own personal experience. 9 times out of 10, the officer is not worried about disarming you during a traffic stop. However, if the reason for LE interaction is something other than speeding, such as a disturbance, complaint, etc, then yes, they may very well ask for you to disarm. It all depends on the situation.

[Pawpaw]

I think it is overly intrusive but once they pull you over they have probably already run a check on your license plates and pretty well know a bunch about you before they greet you. They may even know that you are a chl before you volunteer.

Several LEOs on this board have repeatedly told us that running the license plate does not give up CHL info. It's not shown until they run your TXDL.

[GlockDude26]

Anytime I have asked a LEO to "run a serial number" for me, they said they could not do that, unless part of an investigation.

If that is so, how can they just run the serial number for a traffic stop?

Because it is an inquiry persuant to investigating a traffic offense. As appropriate as running your DL and vehicle registration during a traffic stop.

what does any traffic offense have to do with running a serial number of a firearm? i mean did you get pulled over for not using your blinker, but instead waving your gun out of the window to let others know what way you're turning?