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And the police are mind readers so they know your intentions. Having bad intentions in itself is not a crime.
I'm an ex-cop from a state where every fourth car has a gun in the glovebox...legally.
Mind readers? No. Trained to observe behavior, expression and body language, and the context of the situation, to determine whether a situation of Jeopardy exists? Yes.
That's Jeopardy, as in the legal term, not the gameshow. :mrgreen:
Back to the frequency with which police encounter guns in my state... it isn't a huge deal. SOP is to tell the person to leave the gun where it is and not reach for it... most people aren't that stupid anyway, but the reminder helps. Normally SC cops only take someone's gun if they suspect ill intentions of some kind.
Probable cause to believe someone's actions constitute Jeopardy is about the totality of the circumstances.
If I'm at the playground, and there's a man there who's spent the last 30 min playing with his child, then his shirt rides up and I note that he has a concealed pistol on a belt holster under his shirt... absent other signs of malicious intentions I'd reasonably assume he was armed for defensive reasons. Granted I'd probably keep an eye on him afterwards.
That isn't theoretical, btw, I've been in almost exactly that scenario.
Some guy approaching the playground with an M60 LMG over his shoulder, loaded belt dangling from the breech, fixed stare on his face, hunched shoulders and reddened or paled complexion, stiff movements... the totality of those circumstances does indeed scream "Jeopardy!" and indicates some kind of action be taken, even if it were technically legal to bring an M60 onto a playground.
For another example, my reactions would be very different if a man approached me with an AK47 slung over his shoulder on the sling, and otherwise appearing calm and unruffled, vs a man approaching me with an AK47 held in low-ready and body language indicating high stress levels.
People actually do tend to broadcast their intentions in a manner that is often readily apparent to the trained eye.
Again, context.