What Over 1,600 Armed Traffic Stops Reveal About Law Enforcement Interactions

Over a year ago, we conducted a survey among concealed carriers in America to learn more about patterns and trends relating to dealing with law enforcement when armed. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took all this time for me to get around to analyzing the results and responses. This is the report and result of that analysis.

The Data Set & Frequency of Armed Traffic Stops

In our data set, we have 560 people who reported being stopped by law enforcement while armed 1647 times. That is an average of 2.95 times per person.

Respondents provided details such as the state where the traffic stops took place, their age range, race, number of years they have been carrying concealed, and other details about the interaction with law enforcement during the stops.

Of interesting note is that the data reflects, on average, people in our survey were pulled over while armed approximately once every 2 years and 9 months.

🗺️ Where did These Traffic Stops Take Place?

I do not think there is a story to tell from the location data, after all its really just a reflection of where the people who took our survey live, but for interest, this represents where the traffic stops that are included in our data pool took place. Note that there were no responses from Hawaii.

Duty To Inform

One question in the survey relates to the duty to inform law enforcement that you are carrying. We asked if the respondent lives in a state where there is a legal obligation “to proactively inform the officer that you have a permit and/or are armed?”

I am a little alarmed that 18% of people don't know if they have a legal obligation to inform law enforcement of their armed / permit status.

I'm curious to know if people are correct in their assertion that their state does or does not require them to inform the officer. Of the 49 states for which we have data, 28 are disputed. Meaning, people from 28 states answered the question both as yes and no.

So, I dug a little deeper. Sadly, about 21% of the survey respondents who answered yes/no were incorrect about their understanding of a legal duty to inform law enforcement in their state.

In the survey, we also ask people if they carry with a concealed carry permit or under permitless/constitutional authority.

An interesting data point is that relating to one's knowledge of the duty to inform in the state (per the above chart) those who carry under permitless/constitutional authority are correct 66.7 percent of the time while those who have a permit are correct a little more than 80% of the time suggesting that those who go through a training course are more likely to be aware of the laws in their state.

Resource: Search for a training class near you

To help those who may be reading this and are unsure, or apparently who are sure but could be wrong, the following map represents those states with a duty to inform law enforcement:

Blue = If Asked
Green = No duty
Red = Required to Notify
Yellow = Varies by City or County

Resource: To Inform Or Not To Inform Law Enforcement

For additional legal reference information, consider downloading our free mobile app: Concealed Carry Mobile App

Do You Proactively Inform The Officer, and If So, How?

Of the 560 respondents who have experienced an armed traffic stop, we asked them which of these three options best describes their approach.

As you can see more than one-half always inform the officer that they have a permit and over three-quarter of respondents inform the officer proactively if they are armed.

For those who say they proactively inform the officer at least some of the time, we asked them how they go about putting the officer on notice. Here is a breakdown of their responses:

I thought this was interesting. I generally recommend a verbal notice as it allows one to keep their hands still and visible but I know some retrieve their wallet / ID / permit before the officer gets to the vehicle, and in that case I see little to no risk in handing the officer one's permit.

⚠️ Were You Disarmed

Out of the 560 respondents who were pulled over while armed, 55 reported being disarmed by the officer — that's only 9.82% of all such traffic stops.

I asked Greg Ellifritz for his thoughts on this. Greg is a not only a retired career officer but also is a recognized subject matter expert in many respects in the collection of data and the best practices of officers when dealing with armed citizens. (His website here)

A selection of Greg's comments were:

I think any unnecessary handling of the gun adds an element of danger. It’s a simple risk/rewards calculation. Allowing a concealed carrier to keep his gun creates the tiny risk that he will shoot the cop. There is a greater risk of the cop getting shot handling an unknown weapon/holster. When Ohio got concealed carry, I set up our department policy. We were statutorily allowed to seize guns for the duration of the stop. Our policy was NOT to seize the gun unless the carrier: Was being investigated/arrested for a criminal violation (not a traffic stop), was mentally unstable and a risk to self or others, was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. That seemed to work pretty well and I can’t remember any problems.

Some states show a higher propensity to disarm people. These are the states with the highest rate of disarming people, though keep in mind that we don't have enough data in each state to make this highly dependable data: Vermont, Mississippi, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, New Mexico, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Tennessee.

Now, here is something I find interesting. For those who indicated they were disarmed, we asked how they were disarmed. Here is a breakdown of the 3 options:

Of particular shock value to me is that in 32.1% of disarms, 18 total reported incidents, the officer asked the concealed carrier to hand them the gun. I'm no cop but it doesn't sounds like a best practice for an officer to ask someone to grab/touch/handle a gun.

In addition to Greg, I also asked Bryan Eastridge, a career law enforcement officer who now runs American Fighting Revolver along with Darryl Bolke, for his thoughts. Both Greg and Bryan agreed that it is NOT a best practice to disarm concealed carriers without a justified reason and if doing so, allowing the gun owner to handle their weapon adds an additional unnecessary layer of risk. A direct quote from Bryan:

I was always more worried about poor gun handling by the people than a gunfight with someone that disclosed they were armed.

I've been disarmed during traffic stops about 5 times myself, but never have I had an officer ask me to handle my gun in their presence. That is a request from law enforcement that I would decline.

🚨 Impact On Receiving A Citation

I have heard numerous times people in the concealed carry community comment that having a concealed carry permit is positively perceived by law enforcement and as such, decreases the likelihood of receiving a traffic citation or ticket. I've even heard on more than one occasion someone refer to a concealed carry permit as a license to speed.

So we asked those in our survey if they felt that their possession of a permit or firearm had any impact on the likelihood of receiving a ticket or citation.

Less than 20% of people feel it has any real impact. So that is, I suppose, a testament to law enforcement officers who I presume shouldn't be persuaded to issue or not issue a citation based on the armed or permitted status of the driver. Of course, this is all about the perception of the armed citizen and may not accurately reflect the actual impact.

The Officer's Reaction To An Armed Citizen

Next, we asked the survey respondents to indicate from all their various confrontations with law enforcement which of the following responses they had seen from an officer. The instructions were to select all options that they had experienced.

Forgive the display of this data, it isn't the prettiest chart, but I think it tells the story:

The only things that seem highly likely and worth expecting from the officer is that they won't care about the gun and will proceed as normal and that they may inquire about the location of the firearm.

💬 Any Crazy Stories

The last question of the survey was an invitation to share a story about a traffic stop when armed. None of the stories shared were what I would call super weird or crazy which was a little surprising, or perhaps just disappointing as I was hoping to be better entertained 🙂

Here are 10 curated stories that are among the most unique from survey respondents. These selections reflect a range of experiences — positive, tense, bizarre, and procedural:

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1. Confiscated, Then Returned — San Francisco Confrontation
“I was stopped in San Francisco for a burned-out taillight. When the officer returned from running my license, he asked why I didn’t disclose I had a carry permit. I said I wasn’t required to unless asked. He demanded my firearm slowly, took it, and later said he was confiscating it because the permit had been altered — even though the sheriff’s office had officially updated it. I insisted he call the duty officer, and after nearly two hours, he returned my gun. Before leaving, I reloaded it in front of him and asked if I was still free to go. He said yes — with some parting threats.”

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2. Nervous Rookie Deputy Reacts to Armed Civilian
“While helping a stranded woman near a Florida state forest, I brought her to the sheriff’s office. When asked by a young deputy if there were weapons in my vehicle, I said yes — as required by Florida law if asked. He visibly panicked and placed his hand on his weapon. When I explained I had a concealed carry license, he relaxed. It was clearly his first time encountering an armed citizen. The senior deputy took over. They committed the woman for observation, and I delivered her belongings back to her residence.”

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3. Weapon Talk Instead of a Warning
“Pulled over while speeding in my roadside assistance vehicle, I informed the deputy that I was carrying. She thanked me, then started talking about what guns we both liked to carry off-duty. We had a great conversation, and she never even mentioned my speeding. I really believe that respectful attitude and transparency go a long way when dealing with law enforcement.”

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4. Escalation, Backup, and a Saved Situation
“Driving home from work as a security officer with both a service pistol and patrol rifle in my vehicle, I was pulled over for speeding. When the officer saw my tactical gear, he immediately called for backup. I stayed still and cooperative. Within minutes, four officers had surrounded me, one with a shotgun. I announced I was off-duty and had my DCJS credentials. Luckily, a state trooper I had previously worked with arrived, calmed everyone down, and defused what could’ve been a very dangerous misunderstanding.”

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5. A Tale of Two Stops — One With Laughter, One With Kindness
“In one case, I was pulled over for a taillight and informed the officer I was legally armed. He thanked me and said he wished more people were that courteous. Another time, a different officer already knew I was armed from my plates. He pulled me over for driving too slow (I was being cautious with a loosely secured kayak). We laughed it off. No citations either time.”

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6. “New Gun? Sweet.” — A Traffic Stop Gone Amusing
“At a seatbelt checkpoint, I informed the officer I was carrying. He asked what gun I had, and when I said a Sig P365 SAS, he got excited and asked to see it. I declined for safety reasons and explained his partner might misunderstand the movement. His partner ended up yelling at him for even asking, then waved me off with, ‘Get the f** out of here.’ I’m still laughing about it.”*

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7. Confused and Overreactive DPS at 4 A.M.
“Driving through Arizona at 4 a.m., I was pulled over by a DPS trooper who blared his full light bar at me. He screamed questions while drawing his pistol. I calmly informed him my firearm was in the center console. He screamed again, asked to see it, then issued a fix-it ticket for a headlight. I could tell he was exhausted and overreacting, but it was a wild encounter.”

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8. By-the-Book and Professional
“Stopped in Florida for a burnt-out headlight, I disclosed my firearm and permit immediately. The young officer was cautious but professional, asking that I keep my hands on the wheel and interior lights on. He checked my documents, confirmed my story, and let me go with a reminder to fix the light. The whole encounter was respectful and straightforward.”

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9. A Gun Instructor’s Textbook Encounter
“Pulled over for being in a high-crime area, I kept my hands visible and informed the officer I was armed. He asked what I was carrying and how he should proceed. I told him, and he calmly requested my licenses. I complied slowly. After verifying everything, he let me go. I now tell this story in every firearms class I teach as an example of how to handle these stops.”

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10. Courteous Conduct Avoids a Citation
“Pulled over for a broken taillight after leaving my son’s house, I turned off my car, turned on the dome light, and had my documents ready. The sheriff was respectful and never asked if I was armed. I believe my calm and polite behavior kept the situation low-key, and I was let go without a ticket.”

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What is Your Story?

I encourage those reading this, both as armed citizens or current or retired law enforcement to use the comment section below to share your own perspective and experiences.