[RudeBoy]

I've read other gun boards about Ohio, etc, which have strange cc laws which change when one enters his vehicle. I've read the GA laws a dozen times just to be safe, but with such emphasis on "the glove box or console" in several posts, and that one poor fella who got stopped at a roadblock, I just want to make sure.

I carry concealed in a bellyband and don't bother to place gun on seat or in console or in glovebox when I enter my vehicle and begin driving. Am I allowed to keep the iron where it is while driving?

I just started packing recently, so I'm new to the game and still learning the ropes....

By the way, I'm new here--glad to meet ya.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Do you have a license? If so, leave it in the belly band.

 

[EagleEye920]

If you have a Georgia CCW Permit, I believe you can carry however you want in the car. If you don't have a permit, then the glove box or console is the way you're supposed to go.

That's my view.

See ya,
IWB

 

[RudeBoy]

I do have license

Duh--I guess I should have mentioned that. Yeah, I do have a current and valid license that's always in my wallet.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Then you are good to go, my friend, and there is no need to "duct tape the firearm to your forehead," as Gunsmoker is wont to say.

 

[RudeBoy]

How about procedure if LEO stops me

I've seen an entire video tape for sale with proper GA procedure if a CC permit holder is pulled over by LEO, but this this is cheaper than the $10...

I know that if I'm asked, I should be honest that "Yes, officer, there's a pistol in my pocket--I'm not just glad to see you," but if I have a broken tail light, or a random roadblock, or other stop do I need to volunteer that I'm packing?

If not, might I be better off to do so anyway, perhaps just to protect myself from the over-zealous officer who takes it personally that I'd keep such info, if it happens to come up while I "toe the line" along the roadside and he notices a bulge (I don't even drink, but have had to do a drunk test before when totally sober, so I ask).

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

There is no requirement in the law to disclose (or take drunk tests on the side of the road, although your failure to do so will almost certainly land you in handcuffs, although the breathalyzer at the station should clear matters up).

 

[jrm]

Malum Prohibitum is correct, there is no duty in GA to disclose voluntarily. The next question one might ask is whether or not one should disclose in the absence of a requirement to do so. There are varying opinions on this topic. Reasons for disclosing usually given are to earn good will with a LEO who may be waffling on whether to ticket you are not, and to avoid an escalation if you are searched for some reason. Reasons against disclosing are that not all LEOs are CCW-friendly, you are inviting the LEO to disarm you and "inspect" your weapon, and GA's firearms laws are so flaky that it's difficult to know in any given spot in the world whether it is legal to be packing, even with a GFL, so you might be confessing to a crime.

 

[EagleEye920]

I've seen the opinions on why people offer this information but don't really understand it. Most traffic stops are just a license and registration deal. I've never had to step out of the car. So, if I'm pulled over while carrying, no need to bring it up if it's just a normal traffic stop. If they tell me to step out of the car and I'm carrying on my person, or they ask for something that would make expose my gun, or they're gonna search my car then yeah, I'll say something along the lines of, "Sure, no problem." and then inform them that I have a CCW permit and am currently carrying. Otherwise, no need to bring the topic up.

Many people use the slogan, "if you're not doing anything wrong, what are you worried about." Well, what I'm worried about is who defines right and wrong. I believe I'm not doing anything wrong, but there tons of Anti-gun people that think I'm doing something wrong.

 

[jmorin]

Re:

My two cents on a traffic stop:

IF my weapon is concealed on my person, I simply don't mention it to the LEO. Why open a can of worms? If he asks me directly, I would politely respond with "Yes, and I have a GA Firearms License."

IF the LEO doesn't ask me but requests that I step out of the car for some other reason (yet to happen), then I would immediately respond with: "Sir/Ma'am, for your safety and mine, I want you to inform that I have a GA firearms license and I am carrying." I make sure my hands are on the steering wheel during every traffic stop and in this situation, driver hand visibility is extremely important. Then wait for further instructions.

IF my piece is in the glove compartment with my insurance card, I make sure to pull out my insurance before the LEO steps up to the car. You could startle the LEO if you pop open your glove compartment and he sees your gun.

I'm fortunate in that I haven't run into the first 2 situations.

 

[mzmtg]

Re:

I make sure to pull out my insurance before the LEO steps up to the car. You could startle the LEO if you pop open your glove compartment and he sees your gun.

I'm fortunate in that I haven't run into the first 2 situations.

Just to add little more confusion, I would imagine that an officer would probably be worried if he sees you rummaging around in the car before he gets to your window.

 

[gunsmoker]

Permit or No

Like they said above, since you have a permit, you can carry it any way you want in a car-- open or concealed, or partially open, in a container of any sort, etc.

What Malum is referring to is my suggestion for how somebody WITHOUT a PERMIT (and no reciprocity, no exceptions from that Code section) might legally carry a gun in their vehicle "fully exposed to view," rather than being in a closed glove box or other closed container or compartment in the vehicle.

The way the courts have interpreted "open carry" in a vehicle and without a permit, you'd have to pretty much hang it around your neck on a short chain or tape it to your forehead. And if I suggested taping it to your forehead with DUCT TAPE, I was mistaken. I am sorry for suggesting that. Duct tape is opaque, and thus blocks the view of the weapon.

The tape should be clear, such as those wide rolls of box-sealing tape. Having a buddy pass several swaths of Saran wrap over your face as you hold the gun to your forehead will work, too-- just be sure that you can get your hand free afterward, and don't forget to cut out some holes to breathe and see through.

 

[jmorin]

RE:

mzmtg-

True statement. I try to do the ol' left hand on the steering wheel and right hand in the glove compartment, all while I'm attempting to pull over my car. Not smart driving, I admit. I just like to have all documents in my hand before the LEO steps up to the car.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Re:

IF my piece is in the glove compartment with my insurance card, I make sure to pull out my insurance before the LEO steps up to the car. You could startle the LEO if you pop open your glove compartment and he sees your gun.

No need to show an insurance card in Georgia anymore. No need to show registration, either. Just your driver's license will do.

 

[Sharky]

MP- The need to not show reg and ins anymore, is it tied somehow to the DL? I remember in Cobb county around 2000 I was pulled over, given a warning, and he asked for all of that. Then in 2004 I was pulled over, cited, and of course only DL was asked for. Was this something recent?

 

[jrm]

There was a problem with people buying insurance and then canceling it after they got insurance cards. Insurance companies are required now to report the status of policies to a state-mandated database. A LEO can find out through that database if you have insurance or not, and the datbase is kept current. An insurance card no longer is valid for proof of insurance. Its only value now is for providing information to other motorists when there's an accident (or, for people who don't like the phrase "accidental discharge," when there's a negligent).

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

I doubt he asked for registration. What would you give him, after all? Do you really have "registration" in your glovebox?

You need to drive faster or something, as you obviously do not get pulled over enough. The insurance card requirement has changed since 2000, which is why it was not asked in 2004. The only thing you need to show is your driver's license. Sometimes they do ask for insurance anyway, just like sometimes they ask for all kinds of things that you are not obligated to answer or with which you are bound to comply.

May I take a look around?

Where are you going?

Do you know why I pulled you over?

Any guns, knives, bombs, or other things in the car you could use to hurt me?

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

I had a headlight out one evening, so I drove to the auto parts store and purchased a headlight. It was getting dark, so rather than try to change it in the parking lot, I drove home to do it. I was stopped by a police officer on the way. He asked for my insurance card. I asked him if he was aware of the fact that drivers no longer needed to carry proof of insurance. He gave me a sheepish grin and said that he always asked for it anyway in case the records on the driver's license were incorrect. I told him to let me know if that was the case after he ran the driver's license.

He let me go with a verbal warning on the light.

Must have been a slow night.

As is my habit, I did not disclose that I was carrying.

 

[Sharky]

Ahhh!!! Me now understands!

Yeah I dont drive fast enough, why the heck rush to traffic that isnt going anywhere anyways! But then again a HEMI uses a heck of alot of gas!

I had just moved to GA in 2000 and in NY it is sometimes usual for them to ask for all that. So I wasnt quite up to date yet on GA policies.

Thanks for clearing it up guys!

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

That was years ago. More recently, I was stopped for speeding. I was doing the flow of traffic, but this was way, way over the speed limit.

I had too many guns visible in the car and no time to hide them without making the officer nervous that I was groping around in the car, so I had out my driver's license and firearms license (which is not my usual habit). The officer did not take my firearms license, and when I told him why I had it out (explaining there is a weapon here, there is another one over there . . .) he just laughed and said "Well, don't reach for them, I'll be back in a minute."

He let me off with a warning, for which I was grateful and, since I had alrady broken my usual rule of absolute silence during traffic stops, and since he had already handed back my license and told me I was free to go, I asked him where he was when he got me (I had not seen him). He laughed again and said he pulled into a crowd of cars doing less than the speed limit when all of a sudden everybody began speeding up and leaving him behind. He said he felt like he had to pull over somebody and he managed to get a pace on me.

I recalled that traffic had stacked up and that when it cleared everybody on the crowded interstate had immediately accelerated to 15-20 over.

Oops.