Traffic stop

[u/shaunderford]

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?

[u/Geralt-of-Rivai]

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

[u/cartman101 → u/Geralt-of-Rivai]

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.

[u/Muted-Garden6723 → u/cartman101]

Exactly this, I’ve walked down the road carrying a gun in my hand and my only interaction with police has been them waving as they drove by. But I live in rural Nova Scotia where theres a gun in every home. I’d imagine i would get a different reaction if I lived in a more populated area

[u/Additional_Fold_1350 → u/Muted-Garden6723]

Grew up in Cape Breton back when we could have gun racks in our trucks. Use to take my shotgun to school every day during bird season. Even before I drove we would take guns broken down on the school bus, then locked in the proncipals office in a cabinate for the day. USe to have a 2km walk to and from my bus stop with a bunch of old apple trees scattered in field we would hut for grouse.

People are shocked and dont even believe this was ral or even a thing these days. I had an old boss who lived in ST.Albert just NW of Edmonton who had similar stories about hunting ducks in the marsh/lake which is within the city now. He would openly walk city streets with his 12ga heading duck hunting after school when he was even 12-14 years old at the time.

Different times, when common sense wasnt extinct.

[u/Muted-Garden6723 → u/Additional_Fold_1350]

Times are a changing forsure

I’m only 22, and I can remember as a kid we used to go target shooting in my friends backyard since his house was surrounded by woods, technically illegal in NS but the one time a cop stopped in he just told us to stop being dumb and wear hearing protection when shooting

Then a few years ago we got a bunch of people from Toronto moving in the area and they didn’t like the target shooting, now the only time you can get away with shooting in your yard is in New Year’s Eve.

I don’t except to be able to walk anywhere with a gun in a few years without getting harassed by cops

[u/Additional_Fold_1350 → u/Muted-Garden6723]

My Dad was RCMP growing up, we use to shoot a few hundred rounds of 308 in our back yard all the time, hunting season or not. Knew all the neighbors and nobody had an issue with it. If I ever go back ill probably keep shooting on a piece of land I have up the road from the old house, but will just shoot CCI quiets, the segmented ones at 750fps are so quiet people think my faux suppressor is real anyways lol

But I hear you about Ontario people moving down, my mothers been having a nightmare with them and her dogs who havent been chained in thier life. THey stay on her property but charge the fence line when these folks are mowing the lawn at the edge of her pasture. Dogs wont cross the fence line and only bark at them because they are terrified of the dogs. They were threatning to sue for mental anguish over it. But then they did a bunch of grading which flooded out some of her land. Being an Environmentlal consultant myself, I drafted up a nice letter to the NB government about it. Neighbors got slapped with a hefty fine under provincial law, and were also charged with filling in wetlands on thier land along with not having permits for thier new garage. They had to remediate thier changes in drainage and pay wetland compensation for the infilled wetlands, which between the two cost them more than $70k, and the county made them tear down thier new 3 car garage as they didnt respect an environemental easement.

They wont even talk to my mother anymore, and she told me last week that the place is up for sale. Thought they could push arround a 74 yearold country woman as they were smarter and from Ottawa, guess they under estimated what us country bumpkins can do if pushed too hard. Two can play thier games, half my job is digging through regulations to keep my clients compliant, and find loopholes when they brought me in too late. Ive worked with many who were shut down for environmental compliance through the years and helped them navigate the processes to get them compliant and back in business so I can easily work both sides and weaponize the laws against those who think they are better than us all.