A man walking down the street appears to have an illegal weapon. What can a police officer do?

If the officer has reasonable suspicion that the man is involved in wrongdoing and reasonably believes he may be armed and dangerous, the officer may briefly stop him and conduct a limited frisk for weapons. This is the rule from Terry v. Ohio; it does not require a search warrant. Reasonable cause to suspect a weapon does not by itself justify an arrest, and Miranda warnings are required before custodial interrogation, not automatically before a stop.

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