Recorded for the Roadside Chat just outside Cleveland, Ohio. Today’s question: can you run the serial number of a firearm that you are holding during a traffic stop?
Can you run a gun’s serial number during a traffic stop?
The answer is most likely, but there are some caveats I want to go over.
So first of all, we do know that if you are lawfully seizing a gun, for example during a pat-down during a traffic stop, even if somebody’s lawfully concealed carrying and you want to seize that gun during the traffic stop for your safety, well, that certainly is gonna be upheld. That’s pretty clear.
And then when you have the firearm, normally the firearm’s serial number is in plain view. You can just look at it, and that’s not gonna be a search under the Fourth Amendment. Right to be, right to see. That’s plain view.
Does running a serial number extend the traffic stop?
But what happens when you are running the gun and the gun itself has nothing to do with the traffic stop? You know, it’s just a safety issue. For example, the traffic stop is for speeding, failure to maintain lane and so forth. The next legal question that we have to address is, does running the gun extend the traffic stop? Because if it does, it could be prohibited under Rodriguez.
So let’s go through it. If you’re running the firearm and the serial number is offered along with the driver’s license information and so forth, and dispatch just gives you all that at one time, that’s not usually gonna be an issue, because it didn’t extend the stop. It’s part of the other things that you did. It did not measurably extend the stop. So that’s the first issue.
But if it does extend it, let’s say for example dispatch tells you, hey look, NCIC is taking a while to get back on this gun, and everything else is completed on the traffic stop and you’re just waiting there, there is an argument that that unrelated investigation extended the stop. And if something is found as a result of that, it’s the fruit of the poisonous tree.
So keep that in mind. I think courts are gonna bend over backwards to give you the tools you need to find stolen firearms and so forth, but just keep it in the back of your mind: at some point it could extend the stop.
What if the serial number is not in plain view?
The next issue is, what if the serial number is hidden from plain view? So for example, there’s a Hogue grip on the grip, and the serial number is underneath. I know some Rugers have their serial number placed there, and you have to actually remove a grip, or you have to remove a firearm part, you know, part of the furniture of the firearm and so forth. That is not plain view. That is a search under the Fourth Amendment.
What do you have to articulate before taking a gun apart?
And I recommend that if you’re going to do that, and be intrusive on the person’s firearm, have some reason to give to the court why you believed that search of the firearm was reasonable.
For example, you know, if you believe that the person has a criminal history that would prohibit them from possessing a firearm, you’re gonna run that, and you’re probably also gonna run the gun at the same time. Any kind of gang affiliation evidence. Any kind of drug evidence, and I would say that because under federal law, and probably most states, you cannot possess firearms if you’re a habitual user of illegal narcotics.
So that’s what I’m saying. If you’re going to do that, try to have something, anything, just to connect the reason for being intrusive and actually removing parts of the firearm to find a serial number, because that would not be plain view. That would be a search, and it should be justified to some degree.
Will a trial court back up a firearm search?
Now again, I do believe courts are gonna bend over backwards to uphold what you’re doing out there with these firearms. The tone of the courts out there seems to be strict enforcement of firearm laws, especially in anti-gun states like New Jersey, New York and California. I mean, I can’t see a trial court overturning what you’re doing out there. I think at the appellate level or a supreme court they would have a little bit more reflection on it constitutionally, but at the lower level I think they’re gonna be very motivated to uphold what you’re doing with firearms. That’s just my opinion.
But pro-gun states like, you know, Tennessee and Texas, at the lower level they are probably gonna be a little more picky about why you’re doing what you’re doing, and they’re gonna want a reason.
I hope this helps. I don’t have a lot of cases on it, so I’m giving you my opinion, but still, I think it moves the ball forward. And until next time, stay safe.
The short version
- The answer is most likely, but there are some caveats I want to go over.
- Normally the firearm’s serial number is in plain view. You can just look at it, and that’s not gonna be a search under the Fourth Amendment.
- If dispatch just gives you all that at one time, that’s not usually gonna be an issue, because it did not measurably extend the stop.
- At some point it could extend the stop, and if something is found as a result of that, it’s the fruit of the poisonous tree.
- If you have to remove a grip or a firearm part to see the serial number, that is not plain view. That is a search under the Fourth Amendment.
- Try to have something, anything, just to connect the reason for being intrusive.
- I don’t have a lot of cases on it, so I’m giving you my opinion, but still, I think it moves the ball forward.
Related from Blue to Gold
- Running Firearm Serial Number During Traffic Stop
- Can Police Unload or Disassemble a Lawfully Carried Gun During a Traffic Stop?
- COPS: Think twice before breaking that lock!
This article is an edited transcript of Roadside Chat Ep. #24. It is legal training, not legal advice. Check your state law and your agency policy, because both can be more restrictive than the Fourth Amendment.
