Ats3196 wrote:So all In all, I'm good to go. If asked where i got the gun, I'll plead the 5th to avoid any fan of worms from opening.. Worse case the LEO doesn't see things my way and I'm cited. It'll goto court and written law is on my side. Hopefully won't even have that situation before 21.. I feel good about the situation and won't let uninformed LEOs scare me off from exercising my right !
The thing of it is it's not about you. As far as the gun goes you have committed no crime, however someone may have in giving it to you. You can't plead the fifth because what you say will not be evidence against you. In fact, "pleading the fifth" just might open up the can of worms you're trying to keep closed. Allow me to explain:
A situation like this is too complex for the average LEO to sort out on the road. If he wanted to make an issue about it, and do it the right way, he'd take down your information and kick you loose after addressing the reason for the stop. Then he'd take the circumstances as he knows them to his prosecutor. Since we're talking about a potential felony here they might be interested. Two or three months go by when you hear a knock at your door and it's not the pizza man - it's a deputy sheriff there to serve you with a grand jury subpoena.
Once you're before the grand jury there's only two ways you can get out of having to tell them where you got the gun, and the first isn't absolute. First is if
you obtained it unlawfully (e.g. stole it), in which case you might be offered immunity in exchange for your testimony, otherwise you could expect to be indicted for felony receiving stolen property. The other would be if you obtained the firearm from your spouse, in which case spousal privilege would likely apply.
And so we return to the traffic stop that started this whole thing. Where it goes from there is going to largely depend on how you handle that roadside interaction. It's the prisoner's dilemma. If you're forthright and cooperative the matter might end there, no guarantees though. On the other hand if you start quoting chapter and verse of the ORC and carrying on about your second and fifth amendment rights the odds that they're going to find a way to screw with you go up exponentially.
Oh and by the way, if you're stopped by OSHP all bets are off.