From fox10phoenix.com, the manual change was requested by Democratic state Representative Reginald Bolding, from District 27. District 27 is a solidly Democrat stronghold in South Phoenix. Bolding was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2016.
From azdot.gov , page 57 of the Drivers License Manuel :
▪
Inform the officer of any weapons on
your person or in the vehicle.
Arizona law does not require that people carrying concealed weapons notify police, but it requires that people carrying a concealed deadly weapon answer truthfully if asked by police if they are carrying . If the officer does not ask, a person who is carrying a concealed weapon is not obligated to tell the officer they are armed.
In addition to the guidelines above, drivers
with firearms in the vehicle should keep
your hands on the steering wheel in a visible
location and when the officer approaches
let them know that you have a firearm in the
vehicle and where the firearm is located. If
requested, the officer may take possession
of the weapon, for safety reasons, until the
contact is complete.
From azleg.gov 13-3102:
A. A person commits misconduct involving weapons by knowingly:If the driver has a concealed carry permit, an alternative is to hand the officer the permit along with the driver's license. Then the officer will be responding to the positive information of "concealed carry permit holder", instead of "armed driver".
1. Carrying a deadly weapon except a pocket knife concealed on his person or within his immediate control in or on a means of transportation:
(a) In the furtherance of a serious offense as defined in section 13-706, a violent crime as defined in section 13-901.03 or any other felony offense; or (b) When contacted by a law enforcement officer and failing to accurately answer the officer if the officer asks whether the person is carrying a concealed deadly weapon;
If you do not have a permit, use a positive phrase. Many officers have been trained to react negatively to the word "gun". Telling the officer that you are "legally armed" is better than saying "I have a gun".
The perception of concealed carry permit holders changed considerably in 1999 when permit holder Rory Vertigan captured a cop killer with his legally carried Glock pistol. Police called Vertigan a hero and donated money for him to buy a new Glock while his was impounded as evidence. More recently, an armed citizen is credited with saving Arizona State Trooper, Edward Anderson.
There are numerous stories of people with concealed carry permits seeing a positive change in police attitudes when the police were informed the person stopped had a permit.
The acknowledgment in the DOT drivers manual that many drivers are legally armed is a sign of the normalization of armed citizens.
The tragic circumstances of the Philando Castile case will be cited for and against the advisability of notifying officers if you are armed. In some states, the notification is required by law. In others, it is conditional, depending on whether the officer asks or not. In other states, no notification is necessary.
Minnestota law is similar to that of Arizona. Castile was not required to notify the officer that he was armed until asked. The shooting of Castile might have been avoided if he had not volunteered that he was armed, or if he had kept his hands on the dash while waiting for the officers instructions.
©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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6 comments:
Absolutely a forth and fifth amendment violation. You are not required to say one word when confronted by law enforcement. does any one remember Miranda? the Arizona law already prevents law enforcement from stopping you to ask if you are carrying. Law enforcement needs to accept the fact that Arizonans can be armed and decide if they really want to or need to make the stop. If you are being stopped there is no reason to handle your weapon. If the cops are chasing you they will find out soon enough if you are armed and have no intention of stopping. there is no valid reason to fear a legal carrier. No constitutional reason to incriminate your self. this is a demogungrabrabber attempt to make criminals out of carriers. You can legally walk right past law enforcement armed to the teeth, Just because you are sitting in your vehicle is no excuse to violate your rights. cops need to get over the fact that we can carry and we do not need their permission. Its the law. they law their oath of office requires them to up hold even if they do not like it. If hey are too afraid to wear the badge they can go into a different line of work. If cops did not wear their weapons in such a stupid position they could match any draw on them or stay home. with the butt of the gun high enough to scratch their arm pit, it makes for a very poor access. Look at the thigh high hardware on the market. Intelligent access for one handed draw and fire instead of the stupid combat two handed stance. If you can not shoot accurately with one hand you probably should not carry. A pistol/hand gun is designed to be used one handed. I have shot in competition against people using the two handed combat grip. it did not help their accuracy enough to out shoot me.
So now the Azdot is now the legislature?
Under existing law the law enforcement officer has no authority to take your weapon. His safety is no more important than yours. in the Philandro Castillo case, apparently PC tried to show his weapon, not an illegal move. He would still be alive if not for the chicken shit cowardly cop freaking out. technically his girl friend could have shot the cop in self defense with PCs gun. I am so damn tired of cowardly cops getting away with murder by cop. The California high way patrolman that shot a woman with her hands in the air. several shots to the chest if needed would be fine. I could accept that if she was holding a gun. but her hand were empty and in the air. then the hits to the chest were not enough, he put one in her head. that is not self defense that is an assignation by pissed off cop.
Let's face it, law abiding citizens do not shoot cops. I can't say the same for the police. Trigger happy psychologists that train police to basically shoot first ask questions later, that is the real problem. Lets not forget purps with badges, criminals that slip through the craks, that is why the police are frowned upon. Sadly municipalities know this but refuse to do anything because the unions have a stranglehold on them or in certain cases they believe that the police are infallible. I have a tremendous amount of respect for our AZ officers in my twenty years of living in the valley, I have had nothing less than professional and courteous interactions with officers.
Let's face it, law abiding citizens do not shoot cops. I can't say the same for the police. Trigger happy psychologists that train police to basically shoot first ask questions later, that is the real problem. Lets not forget purps with badges, criminals that slip through the craks, that is why the police are frowned upon. Sadly municipalities know this but refuse to do anything because the unions have a stranglehold on them or in certain cases they believe that the police are infallible. I have a tremendous amount of respect for our AZ officers in my twenty years of living in the valley, I have had nothing less than professional and courteous interactions with officers.
I would rather "err" on the side of safety. Often a traffic stop could be a problem. The only time I have been stopped while carrying --I kept my hands on the steering and informed the officer that I was a CCP and I had a weapon in the vehicle. He checked the paperwork and such and in a few minutes I was on my way with just a warning....
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