I just keep my mouth shut so there is no miscommunication-if you speak, you run the risk of saying something you didn't mean to say-like "officer, I have a
gun permit, etc". There's a chance he may only hear "officer, I have a
GUN..."(or the officer that sneaked up on the other side of you car at night may hear only the word
GUN)-there's a chance you may never get the word "permit" outta your mouth (it's happened in VA).
When they ask for my DL (and that's the first thing they always seem to do), I give him my CHP on top of my DL and let him figure it out-nothing's being said, no chance of miscommunication, etc.
In VA you don't have to inform, but I'm assuming if he's run your plates he already knows-I inform as a courtesy, and is there really any harm in telling him something he probably already knows?
Well, in VA there has been, but LEOs are slowly being educated on the law!
'Course, I live on the NC border, and in NC you do have to inform, so it's not a bad habit to get into so you don't forget where you are and forget to inform.
Also, if you're traveling, laws change-you may not have had to inform last week, but this week...?