Getting Pulled over after a range trip and you got a Trunk full of guns

[mr..plow]

Getting Pulled over after a range trip and having guns in the trunk

Came home the other day from the range had 4 guns with me including my pistol.. Seems like a large number of guns to many but not really.

Even If I know I didnt do anything wrong, The cop proablly is thinking why he XXX has a gun. After reading about horror stories on the net and officer interpertation of the law, its an issue that people should be aware of.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

You aren't doing anything wrong. Don't let the mainstream media brainwash you into thinking that's somehow a bad thing.

 

[esheato]

I got stopped for a random vehicle inspection at my local USAF base. I *only* had five shotguns, 500 rounds (in buckets no less), maybe 8 pistols and 5 rifles and all their ammo. The about lost their minds when I told 'em what I had. Then, in the rain, they wanted to inspect them to make sure they were empty.

They checked two and then quit when they realized how much gear I had.

I don't feel bad in the least hauling that much steel around. More like privileged.

Ed

 

[BADUNAME13]

WHENEVER I'm in the car I have at least 3 guns...

 

[Geno]

That's light. I usually carry 3 or 4 pistols for CCW alone.

If I am taking a 3-day, family-farm trip with my daughter, we tout in excess of 10,000 rounds of ammunition:

5,000 .22LR
3,000 9MM
1,000 45 ACP
500 7.62
500 5.56

At the minimum, I usually have around 10 to 15 firearms in the hatch. Fortunate for them, I have never been pulled over while on the way there or back. I say fortunate becasue they would be tied up a very, very long time search that many firearms.

Isn't it shocking how honest people are not to be trusted.

 

[230RN]

Somehow, checking your guns in case they might be stolen seems to me to be a presumption of guilt.

What authority do they have to do this without a reason to suspect they are stolen?

Pardon my naivete, but I seem to recall words like, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Or something like that. But then again, I'm not a lawyer, just a native English speaker, so what do I know?

I suppose it's too long ago, but William Pitt said, in Parliament in 1763:

"The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the crown. It may be frail--its roof may shake--the wind may blow through it--the storm may enter, the rain may enter--but the King of England cannot enter --all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement."

 

[RNB65]

Me and a buddy went to an AR15.com shoot a while back. In the back of my SUV we had 7-8 rifles, 5 handguns, 1 shotgun, and at least 5000 rnds of ammo. We were kinda hoping a cop would stop us so we could see his eyes do this:

Here's what it looked like --

http://www.pbase.com/rnb65/image/64285803

 

[The-Fly]

I don't worry about stuff in my trunk. They have to have probable cause to search it, and I don't plan on doing anything to give LE probable cause to search it. Obeying the law does work sometimes : )

 

[AJAX22]

Here in CA the propper response is "There is nothing illigal in my car officer, I decline to consent to a search"

followed by "I value my privacy"

repeat as neccesary

 

[bogie]

If I am taking a 3-day, family-farm trip with my daughter, we tout in excess of 10,000 rounds of ammunition:

5,000 .22LR
3,000 9MM
1,000 45 ACP
500 7.62
500 5.56

Planning on shooting the whole mess, or do you just like carrying around a buncha expensive stuff?

 

[pacodelahoya]

230RN, we think more progressively now.

Heck, I drive an open top CJ5 to the range. Usually have a range bag with two or five assorted hand guns, romak psl ,saiga 12(love that gun) and other milsurp type guns. No one has ever batted an eye. Wonder how that would fly in the eastern part of the state?

 

[ilbob]

I used to have a small pickup truck with a camper shell on the back. On a few range trips I took 10 or more guns and a pretty serious assortment of ammo with me. Never thought much about it. Now I have a jeep and it would not carry anywhere near that much gear.

I often take 3-5 guns to the range and plenty of ammo for them.

A friend has a small place out in the county where we gather now and then to shoot. Sometimes we will have fourty or fifty guns between the half dozen people that show up.

 

[ec-10]

I had never been to the range I use now until about a year ago (I didn't know it existed). On my first trip down I had an AR-15 in a duffle bag in the hatch area of my car. Since that car was missing the back seat it was easy to see from any angle outside of the car. On the way I got stopped for not having a front plate on the car. There was no mount on the front bumper so I had it propped up on the dash and it was clearly visible through the windshield but whatever.

He proceeded to explain to me that having the license plate in the front window was a violation of state law. I didn't bother to explain to him what the law actually says about license plates. When he got through explaining what a horrible person I am I asked "Oh by the way, isn't there a rifle range around here somewhere?" I could see his eyes dart to the hatch area of my car. He seemed to be bothered by what might be in that duffle. I was surprised when he just said "yeah, it's about five miles further south". He got in his car and I left.

 

[never_retreat]

I was only pulled over once with a gun in the back seat of the truck. It was dark out when this happened, I came off a round about and went wide into the outer lane, the state trooper pulled me over because he thought I was drunk. He walked along the truck with the flashlight looking in, I don't know how he didn't notice a camo rifle case on the back seat. He never said a word about it, and this is in the PRNJ No tickie either.

 

[deadin]

I got stopped for a random vehicle inspection at my local USAF base.

You're lucky it was an AF base. A Navy base would probably have confiscated them all. I traveled all over the country full time in my RV for over two years and found that the Air Force, for the most part, were quite gun friendly. (Andrew's being an exception). Army was so-so and most of the Navy bases were impossible.

 

[BigRobT]

I never had much of a problem with Navy bases. I would always stop and tell the sentry that I had "XXX" and was going directly to the armory. He'd say," ok", and that was that. I didn't like that fact that I had to turn over my weapons to the base armorer. They were notorious about abusing folks' weapons.

 

[Wedge]

Been pulled over on our way hunting. Buddy was driving and thought the speed limit was still 70mph (it was 45mph). It was about 4:30am. Cop just gave us a warning, didn't ask or care about where we were going (which was pretty obvious since we were both decked out in camo/blaze orange).

 

[Big Calhoun]

I'm not seeing the big deal unless you live in a state like New Jersey or California. Even then, unless you're acting a little fidgety or have something suspicious in the car, I fail to see how the subject of guns would even come up.

 

[armoredman]

A buddy and I were stopped for speeding going to Sierra Vista back in the late 80s. In the car was at least 15 guns, including the 4 we were wearing, the M-14 in the back seat, (yes, one of the very few civilian legal semi-auto REAL M-14s), and the UZI in my lap. Cop never blinked an eye, and my buddy got a ticket.

 

[DogBonz]

I know what you mean...

When I lived in RI I got pulled over on the way home from the range for changing lanes with out signaling. Turns out that I did use the blinker, but the bulb was blown, so the Statie (State Trooper) eventually let me go with a warning, but not before asking “the question”.

Trooper: “Do you have any weapons?”
Me: “um… yeah”
Trooper: “What do you have?”
Me (keeping my hands on the steering wheel and chuckling): “Alphabetically?”
Trooper: “HUH?”
Me: “An AR15, HK USP45, SIG 229, Colt 1911, Colt Python, a Ruger 10/22, a Ruger 22/4 (trooper cuts me off)
Trooper: “Where the hell are you going? Bosnia?”
Me (laughing): no… home

I then explained that I had taken a few new people who had never shot before to the range and wanted to have a bunch of different things for them to try. I had absolutely no ammo left, so after he had a look to make sure that they were not loaded, we talked about shooting and he commented on my USP45 and said that he wished that he could carry one instead of the Glock 40 that he had, then he told me to get the directional fixed and told me to have a nice day.

RI state troopers were always pretty cool, and this guy was no exception.

 

[hso]

Make sure you know what the requirements are and that you transport your firearms in compliance with those requirements, print them out if needed, and you shouldn't have any problem. You should ask yourself why you would expect to be stopped anyway.

 

[MIL-DOT]

maybe two years ago i was entering fort benning,and asked at the gate about firearms ( i believe it was on the day pass i had filled out, before they gave us windsheild stickers). i said i had a pistol in the glove box and a "hunting " rifle in the trunk. ( it was actually a remington 7oo PSS with harris bipod and leupold MK4 mil-dot scope, a {gasp!} SNIPER rifle !!).
i admitted that the revolver was loaded,and when that was suddenly an issue, i told them i had a carry permit and was a member of the rifle/pistol club on the base (where i was in fact heading). they detained me and said they had to call the MP's. i asked " uh, am i in trouble here?" they were pretty nice and casual, not being nazi jerks at all, and said no, it was SOP. the MP came, took the ruger from the glove box, emptied the cylinder,looked around for a second like he didn't know what to do, then handed me the rounds and said "put these in your pocket".
then they took a quick look at the rifle, reminded me that i couldn't have loaded/concealed firearms on federal preoperty,even with a CCP, ( my bad, i spaced ) and let me head off to the range. HI HO !!

 

[ubermensch]

I was in Sequoia National Park last December looking at the General Sherman. By the time I got back to my car the sun had gone down and there was a park ranger waiting for me. Apparently he had taken the liberty of peering through my windows and had seen a log and a jawbone from a small animal (raccoon) and decided I was a poacher and he was very excited to be able to catch me in the act. After an hour in the snow and a complete search of my vehicle, he decided I was not a poacher. Lucky for me, everything I had was legal, but the argument that "if you're a good boy you've got nothing to worry about," doesn't always hold up.

 

[Mr White]

I got pulled over once coming back from the range. The officer asked me if I had any drugs or weapons in the car. I told him he was about 20 years too late for the drugs, but that it was funny he should mention guns.

I told him what was in my backseat: a Garand, an AR15, a 10/22, a HighPower and a aRem 700. He asked to take a look. I showed him. He was pretty cool and took a paricular interest in my Garand. We talked about Garands for a few minutes, he told me to obey the posted speed limits and we went our merry ways.

 

[jerkface11]

I've been stopped with a couple of cased pistols sitting the passenger seat. The cop had to have seen them but didn't even ask.