The Illegal Ways Cops Check Your Gun

A viral video (see below) from Indiana DUI attorney Marc Lopez has been making the rounds online, mostly because he hits a nerve with many concealed carriers.

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You’re a lawful gun owner, you get pulled over, you stay polite, you hand over your paperwork, and then the entire tone of the stop changes the moment you disclose you’re armed.

Lopez lays out a scenario where, in under 20 minutes, a routine traffic stop can spiral into handcuffs, all because an officer illegally ran your gun’s serial number.

According to Lopez, it happens more often than people realize. And he says there are three major legal “tripwires” officers cross when they do it.

SEE ALSO: Know Your Rights: If You Disclose You Are Carrying Do You Consent to be Searched?

Under Rodriguez v. United States, cops can only detain you long enough to handle the traffic violation (license, warrants check, the ticket). Running a serial number? According to Lopez, that’s not part of the mission. If the officer drags out the stop to investigate your firearm, Lopez says they’ve illegally extended the detention.

Officers can briefly secure your firearm for safety. But Lopez draws a bright line: Securing is not searching. Using the analogy from Arizona v. Hicks, he explains that picking up, turning, or manipulating an object just to read a serial number is a search and therefore requires probable cause. Owning a gun legally isn’t probable cause. Full stop.

A gun isn’t illegal just because an officer sees it. Lopez notes that unless the firearm’s illegality is immediately apparent, plain view doesn’t apply. A serial number turned upward and magically readable is one thing, anything else becomes a search, and that brings you right back to tripwire #2.

SEE ALSO: To Disclose or Not to Disclose: Here is the Answer

(Again, not my advice, I’m simply reporting on what he teaches.)

1. Know your duty to inform.
   If your state requires disclosure, do it. If not, Lopez says there’s no benefit to volunteering the info.
2. Politely decline consent.
   The line he recommends:
   “Officer, I do not consent to any searches.”
3. Ask the two magic questions:
   • “Am I being detained?”
   • “Am I free to go?”
4. Comply physically, document verbally.
   Don’t resist. Record if you can.
   Lopez advises calm clarity:
   “I am not resisting, but I do not consent to this search.”

Lopez’s larger point is simple:Know the rules so you don’t feel powerless when it matters most.

I’m not an attorney, so I’m not gonna tell you how to behave during a traffic stop (I will, however, pray that if you do get stopped, you don’t get a shitbird cop).

But Lopez’s breakdown hits on real case law and real-world encounters gun owners talk about every day.

So let’s open it up:

Have you ever been asked to disclose your firearm to law enforcement during a stop? How did the officer handle it?

And for our readers who are current or former LEOs: What do you think of Lopez’s framework? Fair? Unrealistic? Misguided? Spot on?

Drop your thoughts below.

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