Transporting a handgun

[mike_o8]

I'm am going to travel from Utah to California via Nevada by car to visit some family. I would like to take my handgun with me (sig p239) so that I can go plinking with my dad while I am there. I do not have a CCW permit and I don't intend to carry it on my person. I won't be carrying any ammo either. 2 questions:

1 - Is it legal for me to posess a gun in CA?

2 - Is it legal for me to posess a gun in NV?

After rereading my post, it makes me sad that I have to ask these questions, but be that as it may, the way it is is just that; the way it is.

-Mike-

 

[LAR-15]

FOPA 1986 baby has you covered

 

[Aguila Blanca]

FOPA 1986 baby has you covered

Only if he is legal in California, and won't be stopping in Nevada. Remember, the FOPA says you are allowed to transport a firearm IF you may legally possess it at the point where the journey begins AND at the point where the journey will end. The firearm must be unloaded and stored in a gun case, in the trunk. If you don't have a trunk, then the case can go in the interior of the vehicle but has to be locked.

 

[wdlsguy]

I do not have a CCW permit

What are you waiting for? Utah's Concealed Firearms Permit is honored in 31 states.

http://www.packing.org/state/utah/#statecar_law
http://www.packing.org/state/nevada/#statecar_law
http://www.packing.org/state/california/#statecar_law

 

[billwiese]

While some say FOPA 86 protects you it's best to be cautious, esp in CA.
Until FOPA gets more attention (i.e., NRA lawsuit in NJ succeeds and is repeated several times) it's more of a defensive thing after you're busted, as opposed to being a preventative to arrest.

California:

• Don't bring in hicap magazines (over 10rds) or assault weapons!! If you have 12/13 rd mags in your Sig, go get some 10rd mags. (Also: threaded bbl on semiauto pistol makes it an AW- so no HK USP Tacticals, or non-CA-retrofitted Walther P22s).
  
• Transport handgun locked & unloaded. If in trunk w/ammo in trunk, the gun itself should be in its own locked case.
  
• CA has a murky specific 'destination law' that is rarely (if ever) enforced but folks should know about it. You can't keep a handgun or assault weapon in your vehicle all the time as a general 'truck gun', loaded or not - you're supposed to be going to specific destinations where guns are allowable. This is likely less applicable for travellers, esp if your gun's locked up/unloaded. Best to keep mags unloaded.
  
• Take your handgun to/from your car in a locked case.
  
• Standards are relaxed for long guns that aren't considered AWs. (Flash hider on ordinary semiauto rifle makes it an AW - so don't bring in M1As or Mini14s w/FHs even though they have regular stocks.) They don't have to be transported locked (you could throw one under your truck seat) but should be unloaded (and mags unloaded).

Nevada:

• Loaded handguns are OK in your vehicle (under the seat, between the seats, in the glove box, etc.) There is a memo, I recall, from NV Atty Gen Frankie Sue DelPapa that says these are not concealed since they're not on/touching you. When I travel to Reno, the moment I cross the CA/NV border, my HK or HiPower gets loaded and placed btwn my truck's seats. Feels like a free country!
  
• There are separate somewhat more stringent regulations for Vegas/Clark county. Others can pipe up in more detail about this.
  
• NV offers a nonresident CCW permit for out-of-staters (you have to take the test there, it seems).
  
• Travel with a loaded rifle may be more restrictive not due to gun laws but due to fish & game poaching laws.
  

Bill Wiese
San Jose CA

 

[mike_o8]

thanks

Thanks for all the info. I look foward to shooting with my dad and my brother.

-Mike-