re: Concealed carry question when pulled over by cop.

quote:

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R.S. 40:1379.3 I(2) A permittee armed with a handgun in accordance with this Section shall notify any police officer who approaches the permittee in an official manner or with an identified official purpose that he has a weapon on his person, submit to a pat down, and allow the officer to temporarily disarm him. Whenever a law enforcement officer is made aware that an individual is carrying a concealed handgun and the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the individual is under the influence of either alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance, the law enforcement officer may take temporary possession of the handgun and request submission of the individual to a department certified chemical test for determination of the chemical status of the individual. Whenever a law enforcement officer is made aware that an individual is behaving in a criminally negligent manner as defined under the provisions of this Section, or is negligent in the carrying of a concealed handgun as provided for in R.S. 40:1382, the law enforcement officer may seize the handgun, until adjudication by a judge, if the individual is issued a summons or arrested under the provisions of R.S. 40:1382. Failure by the permittee to comply with the provisions of this Paragraph shall result in a six-month automatic suspension of the permit.

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So if you have a permit but aren't carrying a weapon on your person, you don't have to inform the officer that you have a CCW.

In my CCW class (in Colorado) we were told not to say anything about a firearm unless asked and not to offer your CCW permit. The thinking is that you're not going to shoot the officer so why raise his stress level? In this particular case, he's better off not knowing. But of course the laws are different in different states so you need to know the laws where ever you are and act accordingly.