What to Do With a Weapon When Pulled Over

"Hi! My name is Shaun Appler, Investigator with the Wrightsville Beach Police Department. On behalf of Expert Village, I'm here to tell you what to do when you are being stopped by the police. Now let's say you do have a weapon in the car and you have a concealed weapons permit. Remember back to your certification and your training, advise the officer as soon as he walks up to the vehicle that you have your weapon in the car. Let him know first thing, before you even hand him your driver's license and registration and proof of insurance. Let the officer know that there's a weapon in the car. That just protects you as far as your concealed carry permit. Okay. Now if you don't have a concealed carry permit, you probably shouldn't have a weapon concealed in the car. But if you do, don't reach for it. That's bad. Leave the weapon where it's at. When the officer walks up to the car, do the same thing. Advise the officer immediately that there is a weapon in the car and follow his instructions. That's very important. Why? Well, a lot of times, you may forget my first instructions as far as making sure that you have your driver's license and registration and proof of insurance, you don't want to have that gun in the glove box or that knife in the glove box falling out when you go ahead and reach for your registration. Let the officer know that you have a weapon in the car. Again, my first advice to you is not to carry a concealed weapon in the car, but if you just happen to have one in there, let the officer know. Now, what's a concealed weapon? A concealed weapon is any deadly weapon. Obviously guns, knives, (little pocket knives are okay, but you have some daggers and some knives). I've seen machetes; don't carry concealed machetes. Baseball bats within your reach, right there, you know those little mini bats, stuff like that; Ninja throwing stars, believe it or not people still carry Ninja throwing stars. Don't carry ninja throwing stars in there concealed. Let the officer know what you have, that way the officer can be prepared. And remember his first instinct is that he wants to go home safe at the end of the night. You want to also go home and leave that stop safely too. So make sure you let the officer know. Know, some states will actually allow you to have weapons in the car as long as they are visible. Okay, that means that they are visible. Don't be putting them on the seat and covering them up with a newspaper or a bunch of clothes. Make sure they are visible on the dashboard, or on the seat-somewhere visible. Now, the officer is watching your hands when he's walking up to the car. So, if you have a weapon in there, and it's in plain sight, don't assume that the officer sees that weapon. Again, tell the officer if the weapon is in the vehicle. Once you tell the officer that the weapon is in the vehicle, follow his instructions very carefully. Okay. The officer doesn't know you, he doesn't know what your intentions are with having this weapon in this vehicle. For your safety, as well as the officer's safety, but more importantly...at this point, for your safety, follow the officer's instructions to the letter."