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Mods, this is not about a specific LEO contact. Rather, it is a news article about LEO contacts in general while carrying. Please feel free to move to a different forum if you wish.

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/housto ... un-9635628

This article is in the Houston Press, which is a rag of a paper. I'm surprised they even acknowledge that it's OK for anyone to carry.

But then again, I know they got a few things wrong in the article:

“I would say 99.9 percent of the citizens who have a permitted [gun] are very [conscious] and aware to let us know that they are carrying,” said Kenneth Campbell, captain of the Houston Police Department Traffic Enforcement Division.

We have permitted guns? Hmmm...

Texas does not have any open carry regulations for long guns like rifles or shotguns, so a driver is not required to voluntarily offer that information. The same goes if you you are carrying without a permit, like if you are transporting firearms for whatever reason.

It would have been nice if they'd included the MPA in this one. I guess letting people know about that would be against the basic intentions of this reporter.

And they got some things right:

In general, common sense is the best practice when pulled over with a firearm. Don’t reach for a gun. Don’t even point at it, said Campbell, the Houston police officer. If the gun’s in the glove box with your insurance information, let the officer know and, still, it is probably best to avoid moving.

“Some people might say, ‘Yeah, I have one right here in my center console.’ Well, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t do that.’” Campbell said.

Still, caution is necessary – from both the officer and the driver.

“It’s all about communication,” Campbell said. “Having positive and effective communications with the citizen is of the upmost importance.”

Overall, given the source of this article (Houston Press), I'm pretty pleased with the middle ground that it took.

Vol Texan wrote: Overall, given the source of this article (Houston Press), I'm pretty pleased with the middle ground that it took.

The title of the article is a bit sensational, but overall good advice.

Vol Texan wrote:
But then again, I know they got a few things wrong in the article:

“I would say 99.9 percent of the citizens who have a permitted [gun] are very [conscious] and aware to let us know that they are carrying,” said Kenneth Campbell, captain of the Houston Police Department Traffic Enforcement Division.

We have permitted guns? Hmmm...

This is a direct quote from the HPD Captain, so I'm guessing that he just used wrong sentence structure...meaning the person is permitted and not the gun. He made the gun the subject instead of the person by mistake.