The Arizona Department of Transportation doesn’t go that far, but it’s added a section to its drivers’ manual on the proper behavior for an armed driver stopped by police. From azdot.gov , page 57 of the Drivers’ License Manual :
Inform the officer of any weapons on your person or in the vehicle.
In addition to the guidelines above, drivers with firearms in the vehicle should keep your hands on the steering wheel in a visible location and when the officer approaches let them know that you have a firearm in the vehicle and where the firearm is located.
If requested, the officer may take possession of the weapon, for safety reasons, until the contact is complete. Arizona law does not require that people carrying concealed weapons notify police, but it requires that people carrying a concealed deadly weapon answer truthfully if asked by police if they are carrying.
If the officer does not ask, a person who is carrying a concealed weapon is not obligated to tell the officer they are armed.
The tragic circumstances of the Philando Castile case will be cited for and against the advisability of notifying officers if you are armed. In some states, the notification is required by law. In others, it is conditional, depending on whether the officer asks or not. In other states, no notification is necessary.
Minnesota law is similar to that of Arizona. Castile was not required to notify the officer that he was armed until asked. The shooting of Castile might have been avoided if he had not volunteered that he was armed, or if he had kept his hands on the dash while waiting for the officers instructions.
In any case, the acknowledgment in the AZ DOT drivers manual that many drivers are legally armed is a sign of the normalization of armed citizens. Winning.
©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Gun Watch