Carlos Danger
Active Member
One of the issues with NC firearms law that irks me the most is having my status as a CCW holder visible to any law enforcement officer who runs my tag. Presumably this is done to increase officer safety during traffic stops, but I don't see how it does that, or even how this information is at all useful to an officer.
First, since only about 6% (~700k of ~11M residents) of NC residents have a CCW, there is over a 90% chance that running a NC tag number will give the officer no information relevant to whether or not there is likely to be a gun in the vehicle.
Second, criminals don't have CCW's, and CCW holders are unlikely to engage in the kind of behavior that an officer has to be most concerned about. Most analyses show that CCW holders commit gun crimes at a much lower rate than non-CCW holders; if you teased out the rate at which CCW holders commit gun violence against officers, I bet you would find that it is much lower still. If anything, it would seem that a CCW holder is probably one of the safest people an officer could encounter and not someone they need to be warned about.
Third, all the same things can be said for the duty to inform. No matter how obvious it is as to why a cop would prefer to know whether or not a person they are interacting with is carrying a gun, the criminals who are an actual threat are never going to disclose that. This requirement doesn't make anyone safer; it just places yet another legal burden on a law-abiding citizen exercising a constitutionally-protected right. It also potentially increases tensions unnecessarily during an officer - citizen interaction.
The tag issue mostly concerns me as someone who several times per year drives though gun-hostile states. The Safe Passage Provision of the 1986 FOPA law establishes the legality of transporting any legally-owned weapon through any state as long as certain requirements are met. Despite this, there are many examples of law-abiding folks making a good-faith attempt to do everything right and still getting jammed up by a state government that simply doesn't recognize the individual right to bear arms. As I drive through these states my NC tag already broadcasts "RESIDENT OF A RELATIVELY GUN-FRIENDLY STATE HERE". I shouldn't have to add 'ALSO, I"M A CCW HOLDER AND LIKELY TRANSPORTING A GUN THAT IS ILLEGAL HERE", which is exactly what having my CCW permit linked to my tag number does.
Broadcasting CCW status doesn't make anyone safer, and frankly it isn't anyone's f'ng business whether or not I possess a CCW- including the cops.
First, since only about 6% (~700k of ~11M residents) of NC residents have a CCW, there is over a 90% chance that running a NC tag number will give the officer no information relevant to whether or not there is likely to be a gun in the vehicle.
Second, criminals don't have CCW's, and CCW holders are unlikely to engage in the kind of behavior that an officer has to be most concerned about. Most analyses show that CCW holders commit gun crimes at a much lower rate than non-CCW holders; if you teased out the rate at which CCW holders commit gun violence against officers, I bet you would find that it is much lower still. If anything, it would seem that a CCW holder is probably one of the safest people an officer could encounter and not someone they need to be warned about.
Third, all the same things can be said for the duty to inform. No matter how obvious it is as to why a cop would prefer to know whether or not a person they are interacting with is carrying a gun, the criminals who are an actual threat are never going to disclose that. This requirement doesn't make anyone safer; it just places yet another legal burden on a law-abiding citizen exercising a constitutionally-protected right. It also potentially increases tensions unnecessarily during an officer - citizen interaction.
The tag issue mostly concerns me as someone who several times per year drives though gun-hostile states. The Safe Passage Provision of the 1986 FOPA law establishes the legality of transporting any legally-owned weapon through any state as long as certain requirements are met. Despite this, there are many examples of law-abiding folks making a good-faith attempt to do everything right and still getting jammed up by a state government that simply doesn't recognize the individual right to bear arms. As I drive through these states my NC tag already broadcasts "RESIDENT OF A RELATIVELY GUN-FRIENDLY STATE HERE". I shouldn't have to add 'ALSO, I"M A CCW HOLDER AND LIKELY TRANSPORTING A GUN THAT IS ILLEGAL HERE", which is exactly what having my CCW permit linked to my tag number does.
Broadcasting CCW status doesn't make anyone safer, and frankly it isn't anyone's f'ng business whether or not I possess a CCW- including the cops.
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