-=> Quoting Paul Nixon to Steve Gunhouse on 06-12-96  07:48 <=-
 Re: Dusters?
 SG> as if it is loaded.") Other than the new CHL law, they also don't
 SG> distinguish between how it is carried - in plain sight, concealed, or
 SG> out of reach. Though naturally, "in plain sight" is asking for trouble.
 PN> How is "'in plain sight' is asking for trouble?"
You mean you don't know? Say you're on your way to the range, in which
case you're allowed to have a handgun with you, or you're "travelling",
and you get pulled over for a busted tail light or something similar. If
you have a handgun on the seat next to you or in a visible holster when
he walks up to your car, what's he going to do?
Or you're driving home from a bar in town, and you may have had just a
little more than you should have. Maybe you hadn't eaten supper, and it
went straight to your head. If you're in a pickup truck with a shotgun in
the rack, a policeman is going to be a bit more careful with you than he
would otherwise.
In the case of a handgun, he is not required to figure out if you had it
for a legitimate reason. Now, in rural areas or some such, he probably
would let you go if you seemed legitimate. But many city cops won't take
that chance - they'll let the legal people try to figure it out. So you
get to spend some time downtown, and depending on what the legal people
thought you might lose your gun for a while - until they did figure it
out.
A similar point, but not as bad, applies to the shotgun in the gun rack.
He's probably more likely to let you go if you're not too badly impaired
if he doesn't see a gun. But if he does, he may take you downtown for a
blood-alcohol test just to be safe.
And of course, "in plain sight" is also asking for trouble from the bad
guys if they think they can get the drop on you.
Steve
... Victory through superior firepower... Peace through same.
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