Original Editorial from the Tampa Tribune
NRA's Editorial on the story:
The above story of a Florida family being stopped in Maryland has been a hot topic lately. It sounds like a lawful concealed carry permit holder was targeted and harassed by a Maryland Law Enforcement Officer. With only hearing the driver’s side of the story, I am a little skeptical that it happened exactly as claimed. I’ve heard about and seen a lot of people who were pulled over “for no reason,” actually be pulled over for a reason. But that is neither here nor there.
From the context of the article, the LEO actually did the right thing searching the vehicle and calling in back up; considering the guy told him the gun was at home and the wife said it may be somewhere in the car. When two strangers tell a LEO a conflicting story, the LEO is going to error on the side of extreme caution. Their life may depend on it.
Now the LEO may have ran the vehicle’s plate and found out that the driver had a permit, and then pulled him over hoping he had the firearm with him. That's a very real possibility, but there is not enough information for me to say one way or the other. I don't think we are getting the whole story from the driver.
The driver said the gun is always in his pocket or in the safe. If he really always kept it in his pocket or in the safe, his wife would have no reason to say it might be in the glove box. Why would she say that unless she seen him place it there before? Seems like there is more to this stop than what the driver is saying. But that is really beside the point.
The point is; regardless of why the stop happened an Armed Citizen needs to have good communication with their family members. If you carry, your family members know where your sidearm is at all times. Even if this LEO was targeting them, if the wife knew that the husband left the firearm at home, this would have been avoided.
If you carry a firearm on you, make sure your family knows when you have and when you don’t. If you keep a firearm in a vehicles or somewhere in your house for protection, make sure your family know where it is at all times. Keeping everyone inform can save you from being harassed by an out of line LEO and it could save your life in a bad situation. If you think having your vehicle torn apart by a LEO stepping over his authority is bad, discovering a firearm is not where you thought it would be during a home invasion would be much worse.
If you have a CCW, the below link is to a very useful website. Click on a state and it will show you a summary of the state laws regarding concealed carry and what states it has reciprocity with. This can be very useful for traveling.
Handgunlaw.us
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