[Resjudicata]

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Always good advice and I did so the last time I got stopped in the outgoing Lexus a few years back coming home from the shooting range. Here in AZ you can have a gun in the car within a holster as long as it is in plain sight. So my Sig P226 was laying on the passenger seat in its holster. My only prep was to roll down the drivers window (one quick button push) and wait for the officer to approach with both my hands on the wheel.

When the officer approached I called out that I had a handgun in the holster on the passenger seat as I was on my way home from the shooting range. The officer thanked me for the call out and as he stood there he asked me to put in in the back seat and watched me do so. Then it was license, registration, etc. and him informing me that I did not come to a full stop at the stop sign as I entered the road he stopped me on.

After running my info and it all coming up clean the officer asked me about the shooting range and gun type. After my answers he asked why I chose .40 caliber over 9mm for the P226 and we ended up having a conversation on that. End of the day he just gave me a verbal warning on the "California stop" and I was on my way.

Being polite goes a long way and forth right about any weapons. And nice choice on the sig, they make some of the nicest guns on the market.
I personally have a .45 glock because I wanted daily reliability and stopping power. At my size, if I can't stop them with my bare hands, a 9mm isn't going to help. But I had an EMT friend that was told by a doctor, he's never seen anyone walk away from .45 wound in 40 years. But he's seen lots of guys get back to work with a 9mm in them.

Now with the new gun laws on July, it's almost a crime to own a gun. Virginia put in red flag rules, limits to 1 per month, and full background checks. Just to name a few 2020 changes.