I don't get pulled over all that much, but I have been more than enough times, since I started driving and carrying, to give some input here. Every time I have been pulled over by police, or stopped at a checkpoint, or stopped at a road block, or even stopped while walking down the street by police or other law enforcement officers, I explain to them my LEO status and that I am armed, and I tell them where the gun is too. That is I have done so everytime but once.
I have heard all sorts of ideas about this, from those who will say, 'oh yeah great way to get yourself out of a ticket', to 'really stupid idea since the cop has no business knowing you are armed', to 'good call for safety reasons', to a number of others.
I let police know I am armed for one reason and one reason alone - safety. That is my safety, the safety of others traveling with me, the safety of the officer(s), and the safety of passersby.
When you or I get pulled over by the police, we do not know the reason as to why they have pulled us over. We may have been speeding, and we may think, and fairly logically so, that speeding is why we were pulled over. The officer may even tell you he pulled you over for speeding, but that may not actually be completely factual. Officers often pull over suspect cars/subjects who are anted in connections with recently committed felonies. They don't always come up to the car gun drawn, or shotgun at the ready. Sometimes they are not sure you are for whom they are looking; and they are checking to see if they got the right guy. They may be hinked up big time and not letting on to you that they are after a bad guy, and that they think you maybe him.
So imagine when the officer comes up and asks you for your license and registration right after he pulls you over. He has a partner on the other side of your car. They pulled you over because a bank was robbed a short while before, and the getaway car resembles your car, and there was one bad guy and you resemble him or the sketchy description given. You are headed in the same direction the bad guy was last seen going. As you reach for your license and registration, the partner see your gun. Heck you may even have your wallet in a pocket near the place where you carry your gun. The partner yells "He has a gun"! What happens next? Think about the possibilities very carefully.
I choose to be safe and let them know. Te only time I ever got a cop pissed off at me over my gun, was when one stopped me and I did not tell him I was armed and he saw my magazine pouch. It became pretty apparent to me that he had not really pulled me over for the reason he gave me - not using my directional signal, especially since it was still on when he stopped me. He was looking for someone, I am pretty sure of it, he was really hyper and nervous when he stopped me.
Now if you have had a jerk get all upset with you when you told him you were armed, or anything like that, just imagine what that guy would have done had he suddenly seen your weapon and you had not told him about it. Safety is the issue, nothing else.
All the best,
Glenn B