Perhaps. There is no case law yet on this, to my knowledge. Test at will.i8godzilla wrote:I know you are required to show your CHL, if armed, when asked for ID. However, in your automobile you are not carrying under the protection of your CHL--MPA covers you.
While the penalty for displaying your CHL has been removed, how would you feel as the LEO if the driver stopped had a .45 strapped to his right hip and didn't offer a CHL or information of same?
Too, MPA certainly doesn't cover you once the officer asks you to step out of your vehicle, which he is certainly empowered by law to do. A traffic stop is technically an arrest. If you haven't been forthcoming with your CHL and/or information about your firearm, you could be stepping into a world of unnecessary explanation, backpedaling, and excuses.
"...May disarm a license holder at any time the officer reasonably believes it is necessary for the protection of the license holder, officer, or another individual."GC §411.207. AUTHORITY OF PEACE OFFICER TO DISARM.
(a) A peace officer who is acting in the lawful discharge of the officer's official duties may disarm a license holder at any time the
officer reasonably believes it is necessary for the protection of the license holder, officer, or another individual. The peace officer shall return the handgun to the license holder before discharging the license holder from the scene if the officer determines that the license holder is not a threat to the officer, license holder, or another individual and if the license holder has not violated any provision of this subchapter or committed any other violation that results in the arrest of the license holder.
I wouldn't want to be the one standing before a judge trying to explain why I neither displayed my CHL to the officer, nor disclosed that I had a handgun on my person. My only argument would be that the officer could not have reasonably believed there was any necessity to disarm me.
But guess what? In any stop the very fact that you have a firearm establishes the "reasonable belief" criterion.
Especially considering there was a trainee in tow on this stop, I'd say the officer handled it very well.