There is a ton of wrong information out there but I plan on traveling with my suppressor state to state with a copy of my paperwork. Frankly if stopped by a LEO he is 99.9% unlikely to know if it is legal or not. Some/most won't care and may even be interested about shooting behind one but others, as someone pointed out earlier, will hassle you anyway so...that is just as likely to happen by an uninformed LEO in your home state.
True. The other thing to remember is to NEVER, EVER grant them permission to search your vehicle. They will try to talk you into it, but you can just respectfully decline to give them permission. Here's why they ask: If you GIVE them permission to search, then they can search EVERYTHING in the car, including closed containers, and you can't stop them once they start. And if they find (or plant) anything, you can't get it suppressed at trial because you consented to the search and I can guarantee THAT part of the dashcam tape will be introduced.
However, in order for them to search your vehicle without your permission they must have first, a lawful "reasonable, articulable suspicion" that the driver is violating some law, which can be anything from a broken taillight to a dirty license plate to, in one case, because the driver "did not look at the police officer at a stop light."
But after they have a legal reason to stop you they must have probable cause to believe that there is contraband in the vehicle before they can legally search it...or they must have your permission. Cops, especially Highway Patrol types, spend a lot of time learning how to be persuasive and dissembling. They will imply, without saying so, that they won't charge you for "minor stuff," which is a flat-out lie. Nothing they say to you binds them or prohibits them from arresting you for one marijuana seed they might find (or drop) in your car. Mexico is now arresting Americans who have so much as a single spent shell casing anywhere in their vehicle. They classify empty cases as "ammunition."
They will appeal to your patriotism, your good character and anything else they can think of to persuade you to say "okay" to their request to search. The whole point of this particular charade is to get you to give voluntary permission which will prevent you from having the fruits of an illegal search barred from trial
Here's the thing...if the cop has reasonable suspicion to stop you (and the most minor traffic offense like a license plate light or failing to signal a lane change counts) and they have probable cause to search your vehicle, (say they have a tip from an informant or they smell the odor of pot coming from the vehicle), they have the authority to search your car, and everything in it, WITHOUT your permission. It's called the "vehicle exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement."
But the thing is, if you don't give them permission to search, and they search anyway, you can attack the RS for the stop and the PC for the search at trial (assuming you get arrested), and you might be able to show that they did not have proper probable cause to search the vehicle. But if you give them permission, even if you don't have anything to hide and are not carrying any contraband, you've just screwed yourself out of that defense.
And if you allow them into your car, and they drop dime-bag on you, you will play hell trying to challenge the search.
The best thing to try to do if they ask you to get out of the vehicle (some will, some won't) is to make sure the windows are up and then LOCK THE DOORS when you get out, and put the keys IN YOUR POCKET. That way they will have to have PC to search and seize the keys from YOU, and they also have to have PC to search the vehicle to be legal. If they just grab your keys, or break an entry into the car because you refuse to unlock it, you have that much more evidence of an illegal search and seizure.
Be polite, be respectful, but be firm. Never, ever give them permission to search even if you are perfectly legal. And lock up your NFA items in hard cases so there's no way they can argue you had access to them while driving. If they want to search, they will, with or without your permission.
If we don't defend our 4th Amendment rights, we'll lose them.
