So, someone slipped me a bunch of faulty Bill's of rights over the years. That explains that. The Constitution does not guarantee me the right to keep and bear arms, it guarantees government the right.
He has a right to ask. Asking someone to temporarily surrender their piece while an officer runs your plates is not an infringement on your rights. He's not taking it away from you permanently, he's asking you to surrender it voluntarily so he doesn't have to cuff you and put you in the back of his cruiser which he also has a right to do. This, incidentally, happened to my brother's girlfriend when they were stopped. She got out of the car to have a smoke while my brother was doing a field sobriety test (he was stone sober, he was DD for the night and he and his GF walked out of a bar. The cop followed them and pulled him over when he cut a corner too sharply). The cop asked her to get back in the car and she, I guess, took too long, so he cuffed her and put her in the back of his cruiser till the stop was over. When he returned my brother's ID he let her out, scolded her, and let them go.
As as that was thinking that this tiny girl was any threat, it is procedure to ensure one's safety so he had to put her somewhere where she wasn't a possible threat.
I've been lied to!
But seriously, the laws that officers are sworn to uphold begin with the Constitution, and if they defraud me of my rights they are defacto agents of some government other than the government the founders wanted for us. If police love the law they should eschew any anti-constitutional bent in their training, or go to China or Cuba where the State is the power.
Did you complain this much when protestors were put in freedom of speech cages too?
Also, if you believe that the police have higher moral character than the average citizen you need to study the matter a bit.
Agreed. Many cops are badly trained, bullies and this behavior is a systemic problem that is inculcated even to new cops. Again, not a cop-apologist and I am very familiar with the studies on police behavior, but I can understand why they would need to take precautions.
You are no safer having him standing there armed than if it were the other way around, and there are plenty of videos of bad officers shooting or beating unarmed citizens. Think about that next time you get stopped, you may have drawn the loose cannon.
This point is moot, if you are confronted by a "loose cannon" are you going to shoot him with your CCW?