LEOs have info on firearms?

[corrupt]

Good evening!

There have been a couple of instances where I've had interactions with Police Officers, and it has surprised me that they would know so much about the handguns that I own. The first time was when I owned a single Sig P226, and he came up to me and asked "where is your sig?". The next time I owned that sig and a .22 and the officer said something in a casual manner about my two firearms. Each time I just told them they were locked up in a safe at home, and they didn't bring it up again.

So my questions are:

When are Officers legally able to look up this info on people?

How are they able to do this? It seems like readily available info to them. They don't ever say anything about the long guns that I own, probably because of the way they're DROS'ed, I'm assuming.

I thought that the state couldn't keep a database like this?


Thanks! I've been curious about this for a while. I do have an Oakland PD friend I could ask, but I figure maybe others would be interested in this as well.

(I tried searching..hopefully it wasn't a case of not looking hard enough)

Cheers!

[Josh3239]

Handguns are registered and long arms are not. That is how they knew the specifics of the handguns. As long as they are officers I see no reason why they couldn't retrieve such info whenever they want. I'd imagine they could use the computer in their car to look you up.

[Cokebottle]

Ya... No clue on the .22 unless he was taking a shot in the dark since nearly everyone has at least one .22

[Jonathan Doe]

LEO's can access the firearms information through JDIC couple of different ways.

1. They can run the serial numbers through AFS (automated firearms system). It shows handgun registration info, and any voluntary registration info, such as assault weapon registration etc.

2. They can run your name and birth date through the AFS to see which guns are registered to you. In many cases, it only show up to 10 guns, and the system tells you to narrow down the search.

Number 2 is important especially if they serve a search warrant. They need to know if the guy has any guns to be safe for their entry. If the individual never registered any guns, the information is not available.

[corrupt]

LEO's can access the firearms information through JDIC couple of different ways.

1. They can run the serial numbers through AFS (automated firearms system). It shows handgun registration info, and any voluntary registration info, such as assault weapon registration etc.

2. They can run your name and birth date through the AFS to see which guns are registered to you. In many cases, it only show up to 10 guns, and the system tells you to narrow down the search.

Number 2 is important especially if they serve a search warrant. They need to know if the guy has any guns to be safe for their entry. If the individual never registered any guns, the information is not available.

Thanks for the info. The two instances where they ran me through AFS was on a traffic stop and at home where I was the victim of battery.

Cokebottle - The reason they knew of the .22 was because it was also a pistol, and those were the only two I had.

[Sailormilan2]

The question is, why were you approached and why was the subject brought up?
There are two issues with regards to information in a computor. The "right" to know, and the "need" to know.
An officer has a right to know certain information, but does he have a need to know? If he does not have a need to know, he should not be accessing that information.
He can actually get in trouble for accessing information he had no need to know, even if he has a right to know it.

[calnurse]

So if a cop pulls you over for a traffic stop, they can see if you own any weapons and ask you to step out of the car?

[AJAX22]

How is running your info to check what property you own constitutional?

Particularly if the nature of the stop is related to a traffic infraction?

[corrupt]

In the case of the traffic stop, I dunno what the cop was trying to achieve by looking up firearm info. He ended up giving me a break on a traffic ticket, so maybe he was just trying to get a picture of what kind of person I was? I have no idea. He knew I was a infantry Marine since he asked about my mil ID he saw in my wallet.

[calnurse]

In the case of the traffic stop, I dunno what the cop was trying to achieve by looking up firearm info. He ended up giving me a break on a traffic ticket, so maybe he was just trying to get a picture of what kind of person I was? I have no idea. He knew I was a infantry Marine since he asked about my mil ID he saw in my wallet.

I would feel very uncomfortable knowing that a cop can pull me over and see the guns registered to me (if this is true). Then ask me to get the hell out of the car and do a search, thus treating me like a criminal. I hope this is not true.

[Josh3239]

So if a cop pulls you over for a traffic stop, they can see if you own any weapons and ask you to step out of the car?

Uh, a cop and pull you over and see that you have a PS3 in your car and because he is an Xbox guy he could ask you to step out of the car. What's your point? That is registration, everytime you purchase a handgun you are agreeing to share that information with LE.

I would feel very uncomfortable knowing that a cop can pull me over and see the guns registered to me (if this is true). Then ask me to get the hell out of the car and do a search, thus treating me like a criminal. I hope this is not true.

Scary isn't? But even so, asking you to step out of the car is a long step from a search. Just because you have guns registered to you isn't anything close to probable cause or a search warrant for a search.

[Fot]

And when said LEO asks about firearms you share that sad story of that traject boating accident.

[Cokebottle]

Scary isn't? But even so, asking you to step out of the car is a long step from a search. Just because you have guns registered to you isn't anything close to probable cause or a search warrant for a search.

It also begins to push the line from "contact" to "detainment without RS/PC".

[Josh3239]

Only if you were pulled over because your name checked out for guns. If he pulled you over for a moving violation than it is a legal detainment.

[BigDogatPlay]

And on a simple traffic stop for a VC violation the officer gets that amount of time reasonable to run a computer check and write a ticket. What that time period is has never been firmly established by any court but the rule of thumb I was trained was fifteen minutes or so.

That said, the officer can ask all kinds of questions about all kinds of stuff unrelated. The stop is not supposed to be "prolonged", but since no court has ever drawn any kind of a line of time in the sand....

And interesting analysis article on the issue is here.