r/canadaguns • u/shaunderford • 20d ago

Application / Regulation advice Traffic stop

Hello just wondering if I’m legally transporting a firearm (non restricted) and I am pulled over by a police officer am i under obligation to inform the officer i have a firearm in the vehicle?

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31

u/Geralt-of-Rivai 20d ago

Nope. And I wouldn't recommend it, you're just opening yourself up to more trouble, a cop that could be set out to nail you with something and cause you grief. Now if they ask if you have any weapons, firearms in the vehicle don't lie. You can say I have a valid PAL and I have my non restricted firearms in my vehicle. Do not offer to show them or let them see them. If they want to you can say they can follow you to a gun store/range where it's safe to open them up but never volunteer to handle firearms at the roadside. If they want you to step out and do a search of your vehicle themselves they need to have just cause, they don't have an automatic right to search your vehicle just because you are a PAL owner during a routine traffic stop. Keep it out of plain view and keep your right to remain silent

15

u/cartman101 20d ago

Funnily enough, you don't even need to keep your unrestricteds out of plain sight. You could have your 12 gauge on your dash, and it should be ok

But here's a pro tip my firearm instructor gave us. In rural Alberta, the cop is probably fully aware of firearms rights, laws, and the culture. He might just ask to see your PAL and compliment your gun.

In Downtown Ottawa however...you might way more hastle, just cuz it's unusual.

7

u/AgreeablePanda9805 20d ago

Yah I recall our instructor telling us he could walk each of his non-restricted guns out to his vehicle in full sight. If they are unloaded and proven safe you can just carry them out to the car. But he said, it’s more hassle to deal with the cop that gets called by multiple people about a guy with multiple long guns, even if what you’re doing is totally legal.

So covering your guns in the back or trunk of the car is best practice.

1

u/ThrowRA_That_Owl_25 19d ago

However, we should be normalizing legal behaviour with firearms, and not hiding from the public. It is called educating the public. Instead, we are hiding like we are criminals. Well, is it any surprise we are being treated as such?

4

u/AgreeablePanda9805 19d ago

It’s one thing to normalize legal behaviour vs what’s appropriate. I don’t think in an urban setting it is appropriate to be carrying rifles and shotguns out of a conference centre to your car. Maybe if you live in a rural community and you need your gun for protection from wildlife it’s normal to carry it openly into your car. But in the GTA, I honestly would be alarmed if I saw someone just carrying a shotgun openly and I’m licensed.

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u/ThrowRA_That_Owl_25 19d ago

Appropriate is a matter of taste or feeling. Why do you think people are afraid of perfectly legal behaviour/activity? They are ignorant and rely on their feelings. Ok. Lets just ditch the law and live our lives based on feelings? Your feelings are your problem and thats why we need to educate the public.

2

u/AgreeablePanda9805 19d ago

Guns are weapons. There’s no debating that. And it’s silly to expect people to get over the feelings they have if they see someone walking around with a weapon in a setting where it is not required (like just open carry in a parking lot of a conference centre).
There is what is legal and what is just basic reality of most people’s reactions.
A gun being seen at a range, or in the woods, or rural communities, or in open carry states in the US? That’s a totally different context than seeing a weapon in an urban setting in Canada where it is much more difficult to acquire a gun and there is very little rational for openly carrying a firearm you have no intent of using and no real purpose for openly carrying around.

Responsible gun owners recognize how the general public feels about seeing guns. And you don’t need to flaunt your guns around in public to educate people out of their feelings.

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u/ThrowRA_That_Owl_25 19d ago

Blah blah blah.....my feelings.

Even in the States 2nd Ammendment auditors are educating the public on legalitiea of open carry.

We are lost, and you are a good indicator as to why.