My employer has purchased an RV from a friend of his. The RV is in California and the cost to ship it is prohibitive. He's approached me to fly to Cali and drive the RV back. At a shade under 3000 miles, it will be a 4 day drive, because I don't want to kill myself. Presumably we'll be sleeping in the RV at truck stops. Do you think I should I take a gun with me? Opinions? Comments and discussions, please. I have a couple of weeks before all the paperwork is organized.
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Flying to Cali, driving back
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NavyLCDR
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Yes.
The Lone Haranguer
Member
I doubt if you will be stopping for the night in CA, but once a RV is stopped and parked, it becomes your home and you can keep a loaded firearm for self defense. I would guess it would be the same in whatever other states you will be passing through.
I would spend a little extra and stay in campgrounds or RV parks. Truck stops, with all the idling engines, can be noisy affairs, as well as more crime-prone. If the RV is a diesel you will need to get your fuel there.
Presumably we'll be sleeping in the RV at truck stops.
I would spend a little extra and stay in campgrounds or RV parks. Truck stops, with all the idling engines, can be noisy affairs, as well as more crime-prone. If the RV is a diesel you will need to get your fuel there.
45_auto
Member
I would guess it would be the same in whatever other states you will be passing through.
Could get kind of expensive if you guess wrong .......
scaatylobo
Member
At least a broken down side by side [ shotgun,that is ] that you take to Cali in your CHECKED luggage would be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
To avoid further problems,buy any ammo once you get to Cali.
Stay as legal and as SAFE as possible.
To avoid further problems,buy any ammo once you get to Cali.
Stay as legal and as SAFE as possible.
hermannr
Member
I would go to www.handgunlaw.us and www.opencarry.org and look at the laws in all the states you will pass through.
Many of the states you will be passing through will allow open carry without a permit or license. AZ will allow OC and CC without a permit.
Federal law allows the transport when you are in carry unfriendly states.
Would I carry? You bet! Just remember to transport to California per TSA regulations.
Many of the states you will be passing through will allow open carry without a permit or license. AZ will allow OC and CC without a permit.
Federal law allows the transport when you are in carry unfriendly states.
Would I carry? You bet! Just remember to transport to California per TSA regulations.
oneounceload
member
Second the RV campgrounds - you'll want power and water hookups, especially for heat if you are doing this soon
NavyLCDR
member
scaatylobo said:At least a broken down side by side [ shotgun,that is ] that you take to Cali in your CHECKED luggage would be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
To avoid further problems,buy any ammo once you get to Cali.
Respectfully, there is no need for either of the highlighted portions except for fear....
It is extremely easy to fly with ammunition in checked baggage and the only requirement is for the gun to be unloaded, not broken down (both for flying and transporting the gun in California).
If you bring a handgun, no threaded barrels, no magazines over 10 rounds, no handguns that accept magazines outside of the pistol grip, and no judges or other shotshell shooting pistols.
Long guns get even more complicated, but some guns are quite simple. Pump shotguns for example don't take much understanding, if they hold less than 10 rounds they are fine.
Doubles and single shot shotguns are just as simple.
As of January 1st even unloaded carry or uncased transport of a handgun is now a crime. They must be in a locked case (or in a fully enclosed trunk, but then how can you even legally remove it without a locked case now) and unloaded. Detached magazines or speed loaders can be kept loaded, and with the gun, but they may not be inserted into the firearm.
Long guns that are legal must also be unloaded, but they don't need to be cased. Case law has determined even ammo in a side saddle is perfectly legal. But no ammo can be inside the mechanism of the actual firearm, chamber or magazine. (Speed feed stock and the like should also be legal, as it is not a position from which it can be fired per statute and related case law interpretation of side saddles.)
Detached loaded magazines for long guns that take them are also legal to have loaded, but many firearms that take them are banned or must be in a certain configuration to even possess within the state, so that takes a lengthy explanation to understand the details of, and is not simple.
California law says you can keep a loaded gun in your legal temporary residence, or campsite, ie if you are not in violation of the law where you park for the night, you can load your firearms. If however you are trespassing where you park, like in some parking lots of businesses you are not a customer, posted no overnight rest stops, etc then you are in a gray area and the law may not help you in your motor home.
So park where you are legal to be overnight to insure you trigger the ability to have a loaded firearm inside.
Now if you actually want to do more research to bring a specific type of rifle, or semi-auto shotgun, it can get a bit tedious to learn for the first time.
However if you want the education, just give an example firearm and you can get that help as well.
someone said:
For example last time I checked Kansas, smack in the middle of what you expect would be pro-gun American, is more restrictive on transporting a firearm in a vehicle than California has long been. Which is not what your average person would expect.
Long guns get even more complicated, but some guns are quite simple. Pump shotguns for example don't take much understanding, if they hold less than 10 rounds they are fine.
Doubles and single shot shotguns are just as simple.
As of January 1st even unloaded carry or uncased transport of a handgun is now a crime. They must be in a locked case (or in a fully enclosed trunk, but then how can you even legally remove it without a locked case now) and unloaded. Detached magazines or speed loaders can be kept loaded, and with the gun, but they may not be inserted into the firearm.
Long guns that are legal must also be unloaded, but they don't need to be cased. Case law has determined even ammo in a side saddle is perfectly legal. But no ammo can be inside the mechanism of the actual firearm, chamber or magazine. (Speed feed stock and the like should also be legal, as it is not a position from which it can be fired per statute and related case law interpretation of side saddles.)
Detached loaded magazines for long guns that take them are also legal to have loaded, but many firearms that take them are banned or must be in a certain configuration to even possess within the state, so that takes a lengthy explanation to understand the details of, and is not simple.
California law says you can keep a loaded gun in your legal temporary residence, or campsite, ie if you are not in violation of the law where you park for the night, you can load your firearms. If however you are trespassing where you park, like in some parking lots of businesses you are not a customer, posted no overnight rest stops, etc then you are in a gray area and the law may not help you in your motor home.
So park where you are legal to be overnight to insure you trigger the ability to have a loaded firearm inside.
Now if you actually want to do more research to bring a specific type of rifle, or semi-auto shotgun, it can get a bit tedious to learn for the first time.
However if you want the education, just give an example firearm and you can get that help as well.
someone said:
Yeah be careful, some states are actually even more restrictive than California for people without a carry permit that you would expect to be more pro-gun than California.I would guess it would be the same in whatever other states you will be passing through.
For example last time I checked Kansas, smack in the middle of what you expect would be pro-gun American, is more restrictive on transporting a firearm in a vehicle than California has long been. Which is not what your average person would expect.
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NavyLCDR
member
In Ohio, without a recognized permit, magazines for the gun in the vehicle must be unloaded as well.
oneounceload
member
Coming back, you might want to take the Southern route in not I-80 or I-70 - nice states, gun friendly, warmer weather
dprice3844444
member
or i-10 southern route texas along the gulf to fla,then up 95 to avoid the snow and ice
random_gun
Member
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But you'll still have to comply with gun control laws in every state? So assault weapon....... It's really lame...
NavyLCDR
member
random_gun said:But you'll still have to comply with gun control laws in every state? So assault weapon....... It's really lame...
Not for the firearms themselves in states that are not an origin or destination state.
For example, if driving through California to get to Nevada from Washington, I do not have to concern myself with bringing an AR-15 that is a banned assault weapon in California, if I comply with the requirement of 18 USC 926A (gun and ammo locked up, not readily accessible by people in the passenger compartment). FOPA does not cover other things such as magazine restrictions, but the guns themselves are covered.
random_gun said:
No you don't have to.
FOPA generally requires a transport method above and beyond the restrictions of most states, and certainly inconvenient.
So there is FOPA, but to be covered by FOPA the gun needs to be unloaded in a locked container, and remain in that locked container away from the driving compartment.
In a motorhome this means at a minimum in the back (alcohol for example can be consumed in a moving motorhome in the back even though it is illegal in the driver's compartment of vehicles.)
If it stays well away from the front of the vehicles it should be legal in a locked container.
But even in the back is not certain, it may even require an outdoor hatch or on the roof, and I don't even know what an SUV would do, I would imagine the courts would go by the spirit of the law though.
It could not come out when stopped for the night to be covered by FOPA either.
It also would require that the state is not a destination as defined, and it defines a destination as any where you go sight seeing, visit someone or essentially do anything except go in a straight path through the state stopping only for gas or to sleep. As soon as you actually visit a place it becomes a destination, and FOPA only covers you if the gun is legal at the start and at the destination. So by making for example Niagara falls a destination, you have made New York a destination, and as a result put yourself in felony possession of a handgun in New York state no matter how it is transported and are not covered by FOPA.
However FOPA is not even needed much outside of the east coast because it is so restrictive that the only thing it really allows is possession when even possession is illegal. That is mainly a benefit to those passing through New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, etc
I cannot think of a single state west of the Mississippi River that bans even locked up possession of anything that would also be legal in California.
Which means the less restrictive transportation methods required by the states would be preferred unless one did not know them.
Now I am not sure how many states will actually allow someone to load their guns within the motorhome while parked in a truck stop for the night.
California is actually one of the better states for self defense laws outside of carry or what guns you can own ironically, having had things like what amounts to Castle Doctrine long before that become popular to pass in other states. Few other states treat a campsite as your home under the law for example.
A few states consider the vehicle an extension of the home, in those states one is covered. Some others might have exceptions for motorhomes that allow greater freedom than a typical car.
Several others probably treat them just like other vehicles.
I know in some states they have requirements that it be up on jacks to be considered a residence and not a vehicle. Others that it has been parked someplace or on jacks for a minimum amount of time first, like weeks or months. Or various other anti-gypsy laws.
Long gone are the days when a man on his horse or in his carriage, even with with no home as was the case with most cowboys, could ride across the country without fear of oppression or tyranny, or federal supported permanent loss of his rights if he accidentally violated some local law that was itself in violation of his 2nd Amendment Rights.
Even if you got charged by some crazy sheriff back then, there was no such thing as a prohibited person until 1968, so when you got out of that miserable jurisdiction you still had all your Constitutional Rights.
Not anymore. Now the person oppressed while passing through New York then gets oppressed nationally and is sent to prison in any state in the Union if they choose to exercise their right to even own arms again.
Got to love 'sensible' gun laws.
But you'll still have to comply with gun control laws in every state?
No you don't have to.
FOPA generally requires a transport method above and beyond the restrictions of most states, and certainly inconvenient.
So there is FOPA, but to be covered by FOPA the gun needs to be unloaded in a locked container, and remain in that locked container away from the driving compartment.
In a motorhome this means at a minimum in the back (alcohol for example can be consumed in a moving motorhome in the back even though it is illegal in the driver's compartment of vehicles.)
If it stays well away from the front of the vehicles it should be legal in a locked container.
But even in the back is not certain, it may even require an outdoor hatch or on the roof, and I don't even know what an SUV would do, I would imagine the courts would go by the spirit of the law though.
It could not come out when stopped for the night to be covered by FOPA either.
It also would require that the state is not a destination as defined, and it defines a destination as any where you go sight seeing, visit someone or essentially do anything except go in a straight path through the state stopping only for gas or to sleep. As soon as you actually visit a place it becomes a destination, and FOPA only covers you if the gun is legal at the start and at the destination. So by making for example Niagara falls a destination, you have made New York a destination, and as a result put yourself in felony possession of a handgun in New York state no matter how it is transported and are not covered by FOPA.
However FOPA is not even needed much outside of the east coast because it is so restrictive that the only thing it really allows is possession when even possession is illegal. That is mainly a benefit to those passing through New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, etc
I cannot think of a single state west of the Mississippi River that bans even locked up possession of anything that would also be legal in California.
Which means the less restrictive transportation methods required by the states would be preferred unless one did not know them.
Now I am not sure how many states will actually allow someone to load their guns within the motorhome while parked in a truck stop for the night.
California is actually one of the better states for self defense laws outside of carry or what guns you can own ironically, having had things like what amounts to Castle Doctrine long before that become popular to pass in other states. Few other states treat a campsite as your home under the law for example.
A few states consider the vehicle an extension of the home, in those states one is covered. Some others might have exceptions for motorhomes that allow greater freedom than a typical car.
Several others probably treat them just like other vehicles.
I know in some states they have requirements that it be up on jacks to be considered a residence and not a vehicle. Others that it has been parked someplace or on jacks for a minimum amount of time first, like weeks or months. Or various other anti-gypsy laws.
Long gone are the days when a man on his horse or in his carriage, even with with no home as was the case with most cowboys, could ride across the country without fear of oppression or tyranny, or federal supported permanent loss of his rights if he accidentally violated some local law that was itself in violation of his 2nd Amendment Rights.
Even if you got charged by some crazy sheriff back then, there was no such thing as a prohibited person until 1968, so when you got out of that miserable jurisdiction you still had all your Constitutional Rights.
Not anymore. Now the person oppressed while passing through New York then gets oppressed nationally and is sent to prison in any state in the Union if they choose to exercise their right to even own arms again.
Got to love 'sensible' gun laws.
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