Moving my guns cross-country.

[ed dixon]

What would be the most hassle-free way to get my guns to me on the other side of the country? I suspect interstate travel by car may be a problem in some places and, though I haven't had a traffic stop in 15 years, I'd just as soon not tempt fate. If I sent them, would they have to go to an FFL? Would I have to be at the sending end for in-person signatures, i.d. or whatever, or could someone do it for me? Is airmail required? Longguns, handguns, airguns, the whole caboodle. Thanks.

 

[HankB]

Least hassle?

Pack in trunk, shut up, drive carefully. Don't be too paranoid, there are only a handful of states so far where the real Nazis have taken over.

As long as you're legal at the beginning and ends of your journey, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 allows you to travel through even the most restrictive states legally. (But don't stop there!)

Be sure there are no NRA or RKBA stickers on your car.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I agree with HankB. Going through FFL is going to be REALLY expensive (I've done it before), and you have a legally protected right to travel with them, so long as you are legal where you started and where you are going. I will have to do the same thing for a 1,500 mile relocation this summer.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

As long as you're legal at the beginning and ends of your journey, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 allows you to travel through even the most restrictive states legally. (But don't stop there!)

Even that is subject to reasonable exceptions. Obviously, in the course of driving across the country, you have to stop for gas and for meals. If evening overtakes you halfway across Kansas, stopping for the night at a motel within a reasonable radius of a highway interchange is still considered to be in the normal course of your travel.

On the other hand, if your name is Dorothy and you and Toto take a 50 mile detour to have lunch with Auntie Em, then you're going TO Kansas rather than through it, and the FOPA won't cover you.

 

[Graystar]

Federal law has you covered. You can drive the guns, unload and in a locked container, across any state provided you don't stop any longer than is reasonable (overnight hotel stay, food, gas, etc.)

You can also ship your own guns to yourself. Handguns must go overnight, and the package must be addressed to you.

The only requirement for performing either of these two actions is that the possession is legal at both origin and destination. This can vary from state to state. For example, New York registers handguns, so when I moved from Idaho to New York I had to ship all my guns to an FFL. Actually it was a bit worse...I had to pay an FFL to ship the guns to an FFL. Federal law didn't require it, but New York regulations did. So check the laws.

 

[mercedesrules]

(Graystar) I moved from Idaho to New York

Ed, I drove my guns (and other collectibles) from CA to TX a few years ago. I covered them with a blanket in the rented van and took them in the motel each night (18 cases - tip well). I had a list of the guns and sales slips on me. I was not stopped. When otherwise asked, I said that they were musical instruments.

MR

 

[Standing Wolf]

American citizens should never have to live in such fear in our own nation!

 

[odysseus]

Unfortunately the voting public has made it so. More people need to vote smarter before they make the second amendment a historical note in US history. So many people have the wrong idea...