Melvin Washington v. Indiana

The Indiana Supreme Court has decided that an officer does not have probable cause to search an automobile merely, because the driver acknowledges that he has a loaded handgun for which he has a permit. In this case, on learning of the handgun and permit, the officer handcuffed driver Melvin Washington and searched the auto for the handgun. The officer found marijuana. The officer had no articulable concern for his safety. The driver was outside the vehicle, while the handgun was under the driver's seat. The court overturned the conviction for marijuana possession based upon the illegal search, saying the motion to suppress evidence from the search should have been granted.

Copy of decision here.

The bottom line is that having a handgun permit and actually having a loaded gun does not give the police an automatic right to search a vehicle.