Transporting your firearm

Oh, and for those unaware of federal law, which supersedes state law, read the following. As for the OP, he can ignore most of the previous posts.


18 U.S. Code § 926A - Interstate transportation of firearms

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
 
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Morgan3820 said:
There are stealth gun cases that look like guitar cases. Add a couple of I ❤️ Biden stickers and you are good to go.
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Ex and I used to travel a lot with our shotguns. We would plan any work trip to have at least one afternoon to shoot some sporting clays.

We were at ATL and waiting for the bus to the rental car and there was a guy with a gun case. We were checking it out, and he says, don't worry, it's not a gun, it's a guitar. We said, OK, these are guns. He moved another couple of steps further away. :D

I don't remember if it was that trip or another, but waiting in the Priority line to check in, I noticed that EVERY person in the Priority line had a gun case. :D
 
3393RP said:
Oh, and for those unaware of federal law, which supersedes state law, read the following. As for the OP, he can ignore most of the previous posts.


18 U.S. Code § 926A - Interstate transportation of firearms

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
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Again that works as an affirmative defense. You can still be arrested and charged under state law, and then get acquitted in court based on this. But you still have the arrest on your record and all the hassles and costs involved.
 
Albany Tom said:
If you're going to do any overnights at hotels, I'd suggest a way to lock it to some bit of furniture. Hotel safes are usually a bit of a joke, and it's rare but sometimes staff will go through a room for goodies. Last thing you want is to have one stolen while you're sleeping. Maybe overkill, I tend to be a bit overprotective of stuff like that.
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The staff go in while you are sleeping??? REALLY?
 
GaryM said:
I’m planning a cross country move within the year and I’ve already consulted a firearms attorney. FOPA protects you while moving to a new residence in another state, but oddly enough doesn’t apply in the state of origin or destination

I was warned that NY takes the ‘in transit’ part very literally. If you stop for the night, for gas, for food, or restroom, they hold that FOPA doesn’t apply and you are subject to felony arrest and confiscation of all firearms. If you are pulled over for a traffic violation, NY has made arrests because you stopped, and so were no longer in transit to your new home.

The attorney speculated that a few other rabidly anti-2nd amendment states might do the same, but NY was the only state with which he was familiar with the cases.

I won’t have to transit NY, but I’m planning to cross Illinois without stopping, while also diverting to give Chicago a WIDE berth.
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I personally know one person that was arrested in an unplanned stop in Newark. As soon as he touched his gun case in baggage claim, they arrested him, then released him. He had to go back to NJ for court.

Of course FOPA does not apply to the departure state or destination state. Otherwise it would allow you to take a gun into a state that prohibits it.
 
3393RP said:
Too bad there wasn't an insecure person at the Allen Outlet Mall last week. I was there the week before.
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People use this silly argument too often. Our culture and religion teach killing is bad. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you will kill another person. Suggest read a book by Grossman titlhttps://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psyc...=on+killing+by+grossman&qid=1685010582&sr=8-1

Police and military have to be trained to kill people or when they are called on to do so a high percentage wont.
 
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wilkersk said:
^^^This. Keep it low-key and keep it to yourself.
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I smile every time I walk past one of those signs that reads, "No firearms allowed on the premises"...why I smile? That's nobody's business but my own.
I frequently attend a local NFL game, in one of the worst cities in America for crime/murder. They have metal detectors at the game. They have yet to detect anything on me. Lets just say this about those metal detectors: "FAIL".
 
Clip4 said:
People use this silly argument too often. Our culture and religion teach killing is bad. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you will kill another person. Suggest read a book by Grossman titlhttps://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psyc...=on+killing+by+grossman&qid=1685010582&sr=8-1

Police and military have to be trained to kill people or when they are called on to do so a high percentage wont.
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I don't know if I could ever kill someone, and pray that I never have to find out, but I do know that I will be quite willing to seriously hurt anyone who tries to come after someone I love. Protective instincts are crazy things.
 
Pinecone said:
Again that works as an affirmative defense. You can still be arrested and charged under state law, and then get acquitted in court based on this. But you still have the arrest on your record and all the hassles and costs involved.
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regardless of the type of defense available, affirmative or otherwise, you can't stop barney fife from arresting you.
 
3393RP said:
Too bad there wasn't an insecure person at the Allen Outlet Mall last week. I was there the week before.
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I'm reminded of the story about the police officer who stopped a grandmother, which is something like: During the stop, he asked if she was armed, and the grandmother proceeded to tell him about the various handguns that she had in the car. When asked what she was afraid of, she replied "absolutely nothing"
 
Bob Noel said:
I'm reminded of the story about the police officer who stopped a grandmother, which is something like: During the stop, he asked if she was armed, and the grandmother proceeded to tell him about the various handguns that she had in the car. When asked what she was afraid of, she replied "absolutely nothing"
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"Officer, there's a S&W in my handbag, a .357 magnum in the glovebox, an AR15 under the rear seats, and a shotgun in the trunk."
 
Bob Noel said:
I'm reminded of the story about the police officer…
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Body cams take all the fun out of answering the question of why you were pulled over with “because of the dead body in the trunk?” and waiting for the supervisor to show up only to find no dead body then use the cop must be crazy excuse to get out of the speeding ticket.
 
Salty said:
I don't know about any of the rest of the conversation, but man, boat insurance companies should definitely ask if you are a firearms owner before writing a policy. Owning a firearm increases the odds of a boating accident by about 1,000,000 times.
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^ ^ ^ T H I S ^ ^ ^
It happened to me. I lost all of mine in a tragic boating accident.
 
Funny story kinda parallel to this post.
My son is a former Marine, and now a Naval officer who was stationed on Guam for a few years. During that time, he acquired one of those really nice long gun cases which he allowed me to store my dive fins, dive vest bcd, and other dive equipment after one of my trips there. He tells the story of on the return trip home he was allowed to walk this case through airports as it contained nothing "dangerous." He carries himself like a Marine so that stands out a bit, but walking that long case with wheels, and a bit of heft in it got lots of looks from people suspicious of what he was doing, including TSA. :biggrin:

Some people live the life!
 
Daleandee said:
At one time I thought much the same way. A friend (law officer, FFI, & dealer) asked why I never carried. I said that I worked in government buildings where if not strictly prohibited it was difficult to get approval. At the airport there are few people and the risk seems low. At church I thought most people were not there with evil on their minds. We then had a conversation about all the killings in government buildings, shootings in airports, and the gunning down of people sitting in churches (Dillon Roof comes to mind and killed at least one person I was familiar with).

I'm certainly not trying to change your mind but there is truth in the saying that when seconds count the police are minutes away ...
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Working that out myself. Home defense was a no-brainer; unless a cop is parked on your street, a 911 call isn't gonna be any help most of the time. But I've moved to NC from liberal MD and open and/or concealed carry here in NC isn't a high hurdle. Take a class, get a background check, buy a hand gun. I sort of feel like a break-in is diffrent than a public confrontation. And frankly, shooting an home intruder in NC has a lower legal risk than in MD. But in the Walmart parking lot or city street? I dunno. . .
 
Ed Haywood said:
My favorite airport security story was Bosnia 1996. The French operated the pax terminal at Sarajevo airport. Our unit was getting picked up by a C130 for a trip to do a thing. We were loaded for bear. Every man had a rifle, a pistol, plenty of ammo for each, and assorted grenades, flares, etc. The French made us take off all our stuff, run it through the X-ray machine, go through the metal detector, and then put it back on. I guess to make sure we did not have any weapons other than the weapons we had.
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Reminds me of our State Capitol building. They have a security checkpoint that reminds me of most airports pre-9/11, simple walk-through metal detector and belt style X-ray machine. However state law allows anyone to carry a gun in the Capitol building. All you have to do is tell them you are armed, and then walk around the metal detector. :loco:
 
Clip4 said:
People use this silly argument too often. Our culture and religion teach killing is bad. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you will kill another person. Suggest read a book by Grossman titlhttps://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psyc...=on+killing+by+grossman&qid=1685010582&sr=8-1

Police and military have to be trained to kill people or when they are called on to do so a high percentage wont.
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But you don't know my background or training. I take firearms and my use of them more seriously than any other action in my life. I'm not some bozo that thinks carrying a gun makes him more manly.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
"Officer, there's a S&W in my handbag, a .357 magnum in the glovebox, an AR15 under the rear seats, and a shotgun in the trunk."
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More than 20 years ago, an ex-employee threatened to kill me. The next day I was carrying, put a card reader on the office door, and hired an off duty police officer to sit at the door. He showed up a couple of days later.

He asked me "Is everyone OK with me being in uniform and armed?" I kinda laughed, told him me and two other guys in the office were armed, and my 5' 1" receptionist had a chrome 6" barrel .357 revolver in her purse.

Tragically, the guy committed suicide a week later. He had serious mental problems. I had paid for psychiatric help and even hospitalization to try and help him. He was a good man when he was lucid.
 
Clip4 said:
People use this silly argument too often. Our culture and religion teach killing is bad. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you will kill another person. Suggest read a book by Grossman titlhttps://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psyc...=on+killing+by+grossman&qid=1685010582&sr=8-1

Police and military have to be trained to kill people or when they are called on to do so a high percentage wont.
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There sure seem to be a lot of people commiting murders who haven't been trained to kill someone. And there are also many defensive gun uses (anywhere from 500,000 to 2,000,000 per year, depending on how the survey was conducted) by people who aren't trained to kill.

And FWIW, my religion teaches that murder is bad, not killing. There's an important distinction.
 
Pinecone said:
The staff go in while you are sleeping??? REALLY?
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If you're asleep, how would you know? :)

For a more serious answer, if you're traveling with a firearm, it should be kept secure. If you're not taking it around everywhere you go, leaving it locked in a hotel room might seem like a good plan. My point is simply that if you're going to do that, I'd suggest figuring out how to secure it yourself. Pretty simple.
 
Half Fast said:
There sure seem to be a lot of people commiting murders who haven't been trained to kill someone. And there are also many defensive gun uses (anywhere from 500,000 to 2,000,000 per year, depending on how the survey was conducted) by people who aren't trained to kill.
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To be clear, those numbers are not even shootings. Most times the "victim" having a gun stops the confrontation.
 
Pinecone said:
To be clear, those numbers are not even shootings.
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Quite true.

There's a wide disparity in the assessing the amount of "defensive gun use" because different researchers use different definitions and methods. Sometimes they only count when a gun is discharged, some count display without firing, some count only when the crook is killed, etc., etc. Some studies are done using police reports, which likely misses unreported incidents. Some do anonymous random polling, which might catch unreported uses but is subject to all sorts of sampling errors.

And so on.


Pinecone said:
Most times the "victim" having a gun stops the confrontation.
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Yep, pretty common.

One of my old lunch buddies told a story about an encounter his wife had. She stopped in an interstate rest area after dark to use the restroom, and the place was empty except for one guy who just seemed to be hanging around and was watching her. She was worried, so while in the restroom she took her Glock out of her purse and carried it in her hand inside her coat. When she walked back out, the guy approached her and made some lewd comment, whereupon she just opened her coat and let him see the gun she was holding. He changed course fast and took off.

A threatening situation, but no crime so nothing was reported. I'd say it counts as defensive gun use, but some researchers might not, and most wouldn't even know it took place.
 
Half Fast said:
Quite true.

There's a wide disparity in the assessing the amount of "defensive gun use" because different researchers use different definitions and methods. Sometimes they only count when a gun is discharged, some count display without firing, some count only when the crook is killed, etc., etc. Some studies are done using police reports, which likely misses unreported incidents. Some do anonymous random polling, which might catch unreported uses but is subject to all sorts of sampling errors.

And so on.




Yep, pretty common.

One of my old lunch buddies told a story about an encounter his wife had. She stopped in an interstate rest area after dark to use the restroom, and the place was empty except for one guy who just seemed to be hanging around and was watching her. She was worried, so while in the restroom she took her Glock out of her purse and carried it in her hand inside her coat. When she walked back out, the guy approached her and made some lewd comment, whereupon she just opened her coat and let him see the gun she was holding. He changed course fast and took off.

A threatening situation, but no crime so nothing was reported. I'd say it counts as defensive gun use, but some researchers might not, and most wouldn't even know it took place.
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Unfortunately, what she did could be considered brandishing a weapon. Which is a crime in most municipalities. Could possibly lose Her gun rights. I think brandishing a good idea. Solves a lot of problems nonviolently. Unfortunately nothing stops the guy from calling the police and saying there’s this crazy woman waving a gun around.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Unfortunately, what she did could be considered brandishing a weapon. Which is a crime in most municipalities. Could possibly lose Her gun rights. I think brandishing a good idea. Solves a lot of problems nonviolently. Unfortunately nothing stops the guy from calling the police and saying there’s this crazy woman waving a gun around.
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True, and another reason such occurrences often go unreported. In this case, I doubt the guy wanted any police involvement at all.
 
Yeah, the guy is going to report he was trying to attack someone and they had a gun so he ran away. SO many reasons it would not be reported.
 
Pinecone said:
Yeah, the guy is going to report he was trying to attack someone and they had a gun so he ran away. SO many reasons it would not be reported.
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do not discount the extraordinary stupidity of criminals
 
Pinecone said:
Yeah, the guy is going to report he was trying to attack someone and they had a gun so he ran away. SO many reasons it would not be reported.
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In reality it is likely the criminal would lie and say she confronted him and that he said no such thing to her. Then she, the one with the weapon, is perceived as guilty and gets charged with something stupid.

It's a really screwed up world out there and sometimes I think that the criminals we have elected as leaders are making laws that make it easier to be a criminal rather than a good law abiding citizen.
 
Bob Noel said:
I'm reminded of the story about the police officer who stopped a grandmother, which is something like: During the stop, he asked if she was armed, and the grandmother proceeded to tell him about the various handguns that she had in the car. When asked what she was afraid of, she replied "absolutely nothing"
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What’s the police officer afraid of?
 
SkyChaser said:
I don't know if I could ever kill someone, and pray that I never have to find out, but I do know that I will be quite willing to seriously hurt anyone who tries to come after someone I love. Protective instincts are crazy things.
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Eveyrone can kill, it’s just the catalyst to do it.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Unfortunately, what she did could be considered brandishing a weapon. Which is a crime in most municipalities. Could possibly lose Her gun rights. I think brandishing a good idea. Solves a lot of problems nonviolently. Unfortunately nothing stops the guy from calling the police and saying there’s this crazy woman waving a gun around.
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Not sure that's brandishing, versus a defensive display. To cover herself maybe she should have called the cops?
 
Sundancer said:
Not sure that's brandishing, versus a defensive display. To cover herself maybe she should have called the cops?
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I would have, depending. As pilots we do a NASA report even if we were probably in the right. The person that makes the first report wins.
I like the term defensive display, I will have to remember that.
 
Can't vouch for the states mentioned, but there are some states with rather liberal carry laws that restrict airports specifically. You certainly want to stay out of the TSA-controlled sterile areas, but some states have statutes worded more broadly than that. While here in NC, I believe it mentions the "sterile" area. In Virginia, it says the "terminal" of air carrier airports, which means carrying it through some FBOs at airports with airline service might be problematic.
 
Albany Tom said:
If you're going to do any overnights at hotels, I'd suggest a way to lock it to some bit of furniture. Hotel safes are usually a bit of a joke, and it's rare but sometimes staff will go through a room for goodies. Last thing you want is to have one stolen while you're sleeping. Maybe overkill, I tend to be a bit overprotective of stuff like that.
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The hotel safe is for brandy and grandmother's pearls.
 
flyingron said:
In Virginia, it says the "terminal" of air carrier airports, which means carrying it through some FBOs at airports with airline service might be problematic.
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Interesting.

So if someone flies into Virginia to go hunting, how would he get his gun from his plane to his buddy’s truck?
 
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