Hunting often involves intense excitement. I killed my first deer at age 16, strapped it on the hood of my old 1957 Chevy, and drove home on Interstate 70, barely able to see the highway. That was bad behavior on many levels, yet my heart still races at the thought.
As hunters, time can be critical. If we oversleep. it’s very tempting to exceed the limit a bit or not come to a complete stop at an intersection. By pushing the envelope, even a little, you can suddenly see flashing lights behind you and get pulled over.
You may get a fine or a warning, yet a police stop is not what it used to be and most importantly, you have a gun! Now you’re excited, confused, and frustrated because you will be even later to that special hunting spot. Because you have a firearm in your vehicle, you need to be extra careful and take these critical steps.
First, pull well off the road, stop, and put the vehicle in park. If you just keep your foot on the brake with the transmission engaged, the officer will see that your brake lights are on and wonder if you’re about to flee. The officer will run your license plate through a database to determine if the vehicle is stolen or if you have outstanding warrants. (Hopefully you don’t.)
Keep both hands clearly visible on top of the steering wheel. Do not attempt to save time by searching through your glove box or center console. The officer cannot know if you are looking for papers or reaching for a gun. Keep both hands on the wheel in clear sight and wait for the officer to reach the window on the driver or passenger side. Once there, roll down the window.
Finally, tell the officer that you have a firearm in the vehicle. If you have a permit to carry, that probably came up in the information search from your license tag. If there’s a rifle or shotgun in the back seat, tell the officer that you’re going hunting and that the firearms are unloaded (they should be). Answer questions respectfully and handle the consequences as they arrive.
I was pulled over on Interstate 70 once for speeding and the trooper asked why I was going so fast. “I’ve been turkey hunting”, I explained, “and was supposed to be home for trick-or-treaters an hour ago, and I knew that my wife would be mad.” Perhaps the honesty of the statement had an impact as the young man just gave me a warning.
Special thanks to my information sources: Alan Mullendore and Aaron Semler, certified firearm safety trainers at Hendershots in Hagerstown, Maryland.
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