Posted on 05/12/2022 3:53:33 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
Don't Say "I've Got a Gun!" - Massad Ayoob examines the Philando Castile case - Critical Mas Ep 25
Dash cam footage of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile https://youtu.be/9Y7sgZZQ7pw
Critical Mas(s) with Massad Ayoob is a show that provides expert analysis over a wide range of contemporaneous topics related to civilian and law enforcement self defense, the use of force, and second amendment issues, provided by a renowned and established author with a career spanning decades in training law enforcement officers and the public at large, who is frequently called upon to provide expert witness testimony.
The winner of the Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year Award in 1998, Mas has won several state and regional handgun shooting championships. Ayoob was the first person to earn the title of Five Gun Master in the International Defensive Pistol Association. He is the current President of the Second Amendment Foundation. He served 19 years as chair of the Firearms Committee of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, and several years as a member of the Advisory Board of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. In addition to teaching for those groups, he has also taught for the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors and the International Homicide Investigators seminars.
Mas has received judicial recognition as an expert witness for the courts in weapons and shooting cases since 1979, and served as a fully sworn and empowered, part time police officer for 43 years, mostly at supervisor rank. Ayoob founded the Lethal Force Institute in 1981 and served as its director until 2009, and now trains through Massad Ayoob Group. He has appeared on CLE-TV delivering continuing legal education for attorneys, through the American Law Institute and American Bar Association, and has been retained to train attorneys to handle deadly force cases through the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network. Ayoob served for two years as co-vice chair of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He also appeared in each episode of Personal Defense TV (Sportsman’s Channel).
bfl
I’m licensed to carry. I’m carrying now. How would you like to handle it?
Your first sentence is the way to go!
Not advised the first thing you tell the cop is "I've got a gun!" - then reach for something in your clothes, like Philando Castile did.
Right?
Did you watch the video?
Ayoob is the nation’s foremost in-court expert on the legal use of firearms during crimes.
I'll say to the cop something like "I assume that I'm required to tell you that I have an LTC". And he's likely to respond "are you armed at this time?" and I'll answer truthfully. At that point I'd understand that the cop might say "OK,why don't you get out of the car...for your safety and mine" and I'd comply.
Frightened cops are the ones who shoot people and unfortunately there are many situations where cops have good reason to be frightened.
Don’t forget to smile while informing. It doesn’t hurt and usually gets things started off on the right foot.
In almost 15 years of carrying, I’ve never had an issue. One encounter even complimented my carry choice at the time (Springfield XDm).
hands in plain view when you say it and then do not move them unless the officer asks you to
Not to mention his smooth, deep and creamy voice.
I love this guy when he’s a guest on my 2A shows and podcasts.
Oh yeah! In my training, the instructor advised us to have hands on the steering wheel when the cop approaches - holding license(s) and registration in left hand.
If I’m carrying, I would have my drivers license, registration, etc in one hand, ccw license in the other, both hands at the window and clearly visible, and make no motions at all unless directly instructed by the officer.
That’s exactly what I say, and nothing’s ended badly or gone sideways.
Several years ago, I got stopped by cops just over the Missouri line (I spent the night in Illinois) and had my Springfield XD tucked into the drivers side door.
I pulled over (for following too close) but explained to the guy why.
I turned the truck off, put down both windows and kept my hands on the steering wheel.
He asked for the usual stuff, drivers license, registration, yada, yada. I told him it was in my wallet on my right side so he’d know I was making a move. I gave him what he wanted. He asked where I was coming from and where I was going (I thought that was BS but answered him anyway).
He asked how I can work in Omaha, which is where I was going, when I lived in Georgia (per my DL). I explained I worked contract at the VA hospital in Omaha and when my contract was over, I was headed back to Georgia.
He then got on his radio and ran the checks (warrants, tickets) and so on.
A few minutes later he brought the license back, told me to have a good day and off I went.
I never told him I had a firearm nor did he ask. Gun laws can vary from one state to another, one city to another and one county to another so I had no clue whether or nor I should have told him up front. I’d have answered truthfully had he asked.
That stop could have gone sideways any number of ways but I complied, didn’t argue, provided the info, told him to be careful out there, and drove away.
I didn’t have a license nor was I carrying when I was approached in 1978. I was seated at the bar in one of the more popular hot spots when a man tapped me on the shoulder, flashed his badge, and asked if I would step outside. When I got to the door, the plain clothed detective indicated for me to exit first. When I stepped outside I found myself in a half-circle of three detectives and two uniformed policemen, all with their hands on the butts of their weapons.
I immediately and very slowly moved my hands away from my body and extended them to the side. One of the officers asked if I had ID and I said, yes, it is in my billfold in my right rear pocket. The officer said to remove the billfold. Moving very slowly, with one hand I reached behind me (BTW, the first detective was standing where he could see my rear pocket.) and I removed my wallet extending it to the side away from the officers but where they could easily see it was a wallet. I then removed my DL and my military ID and gave it to one of the officers who passed them around the others.
Bottom line: my description matched that of an escaped murder from a near-by state. I’m certainly glad I did everything I could to defuse this potentially deadly situation.
BTW, one of the officers escorted me back inside, flashed his badge and told the man who had taken my seat that he was in his friends seat and he should move which he did very quickly.
The officers also took my tag number and description of my car to notify that desk operator so he could inform other patrol officers that I was not the escaped murderer.
Rule No. 2. THE POLICE ARE NOT ON YOUR SIDE!
Not complicated when you think of it.
That is sometimes true...and sometimes not true.
It's my understanding that some states *require* an armed person to reveal that fact to any cop who makes contact with you and even if you're not it's almost certainly a good idea.
Of course others may disagree.
There is no law, no matter how trivial, no matter how nonsensical, no matter how petty that the police will not murder you to enforce.
That’s almost exactly how I did it one night when going thru a license check stop (after turning on the interior lights). I was back a couple of cars and I pulled everything out as I was rolling up to the officer. I realized later that, if the officer (or other officers there) saw all of my fidgeting as I pulled up...it probably looked strange or maybe even threatening. “What’s that driver trying to hide? Is he pulling a weapon? Etc...”
I decided right then and there that the way I would handle it in the future would be to...prior to getting to the officer...roll down my window, place my hands on the steering wheel, and just pull up. Once at the officer’s position, tell the officer I have a concealed carry permit and I do have a weapon on me, it’s on my right hip. And finally “What would you like me to do?”
That’s how my instructor taught us in the CC class. I don’t know why I was trying to be “Mr Prepared” and get ahead of the process during the stop. I do say...once I gave the officer my cards and told him I had a weapon, he got a little flustered. Not in a bad way...but he actually said “I don’t want to deal with this...just go”. I don’t think he even examined my licenses closely.
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