Armed Citizen from AR Interacts with Police Officer in AL

On a road trip from Arkansas through Alabama, an armed citizen, on vacation with his wife, had an encounter with a police officer.

Officers on the street have always been more supportive of armed citizens than police administrators.   As state after state made it easier for ever increasing  numbers of citizens to be legally armed in public, the attitude of police became more positive as they gained experience with armed citizens.

In the words of Kopis, a contributor to opencarry.org, here is what happened on the road in Alabama:

So i rolled the windows down, took the key out and put my hands on the wheel, the trooper walks up and i stuck my hand out and introduced myself and said also, "i do have a CCW permit out of AR and my GLOCK is on my right side, do you want to disarm me?" and in a country twang, he responds "well, ill make ya a deal son, you dont draw yours and i wont draw mine" LMAO! i said that's a fair deal officer! He got my at 75 in a 55 and wrote me a warning, how awesome is that?

This sort of encounter is much more common than the negative ones that I usually write about.  Most police officers see armed citizens as an asset rather than a threat.  You do not hear these stories because they are not news.

They are less common in those areas that are still working hard at suppressing second amendment rights.  I would not expect this treatment in New York City, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago.

Police attitudes are changing.  Police communicate with each other, and every positive encounter with armed citizens, every incident where an armed citizen assists a police officer, adds to the momentum of changing police attitudes. 

The common experience of police officers is that legally armed citizens are the good guys and gals.  They are not the problem, they are part of the solution.  It starts with the police on the street, but more and more police chiefs and sheriffs are echoing that message as well.


 ©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.