Cause when I got stopped the last two times. The first question is always "Do you have weapons on you sir". Then asked for my DL and insurance.
Paranoid... NO. cautious yes
They can ask, you can politely reply " since you are a law abideing citizen, and I assume you are licensed to carry, yes, or that it is really no ones buisiness. You vehicle cannot be searched with out a warrant or your permission, unless you hve been arrested,( a minor traffic infraction is not an arrestable offense, unless you refuse to identify yourself) if you are licensed is part of the licensing regulation, that you must disclose being armed if asked by an LEO? If you firearm is legal and was purchased by you legally, you have nothing to worry about. A simple NCIC check will show that the pistol is not stolen. No matter what is stamped on it. I had a 1911 that had property of USMC stamped on it, long before I was ever in Law Enforcement.
I had a guy try to Rob me late one night, the pistol was not consealed except by the dark, the police officer who responded did a lot of checking on me and my pistol, it went into evidence till after the inquest, and I spent the night a guest of the county, I was reliesed the next morning, and no charges were brought since the guy who tried to rob me had a long record for the same thing and matched discriptions of several robberies in that area with that same M.O.
I guess what I am trying to say is, don't be paranoid. I know that some rookie cops can tend to go overboard at times, they usually get weeded out, if one gets to friskey it just adds to the final award the tax payers will end up giving you just do not get abusive and do not resist give the rookie no reason to go beyond what he has the right to do, but you have a responsibility to know what your rights are and his athority is.
Know what the rules of arrest are.
Know what constitutes a valid traffic stop, and what constitutes harrasment.
Give nothing that is not your legal responsibility to give, if asked for, you and your vehicle I.D., and your CCW,if you have one, surrender your weapon only if your state requires you to. And most important, always be polite. Give the officer no excuses, and be prepaired to Sue him and his dept. and what ever governing body they are part of, if any of your rights are violated. BTW I am a retired cop I used to train rookie cops, in civil rights and Constitutional Law. I guess that ius why I tend to get long winded when I see folks working up to paranoia about police, I know that many times there have been cases of Police abuse, but just like Glock Kabooms many of them are more Rumor than fact, and many could have been avoided by just being polite and cooperateing