cross country trip

[Snazuolu]

so I might be moving from Va to Cali. the route I plan taking is mostly I40. I will be going thru tenn, ark, ok, tx, nm, ariz, then into cali. can anyone help me with restrictions on carrying weapons in vehicles. I do have a Va CCW. I had planned on having one gun in my center console, the others will be packed in the back of my jeep. I will look up to see which states honor my states CCW, but i'm still worried that the laws are gonna vary widely state to state so any help is great.

 

[Gil223]

Moving to CA?? You must be insane! I hope you're planning on selling however many handguns you have before you reach the Kalifornia State Line. Here's the deal:

However, "open carry" gun rights in California suffered a drastic blow on January 1, 2012. This is the date in which California Assembly Bill 144 went into effect. Now, as the law stands today, the open carrying of unloaded handguns is illegal.[SUP]1[/SUP]

And, naturally, the open carry of a loaded handgun is illegal.
Here's some more joy from Kalifornia:

California Penal Code 12025 PC punishes carrying a concealed weapon on your person or in a vehicle.[SUP]1[/SUP] This charge is separate and distinct from

• Penal Code 12031 PC, California's law against carrying a loaded firearm,[SUP]2[/SUP] or
• Penal Code 417 PC, California's brandishing a weapon law.[SUP]3[/SUP]

And MORE good news for you... Kalifornia doesn't recognize any other states concealed carry permit! Is Virginia looking better than it did before you made this post? (Source for all the above: http://www.shouselaw.com/open-carry.html):;) Good luck!

 

[Snazuolu]

I don't want to move to cali, but its where I have to go to get the kind of job I want. I don't open carry so its not a big deal, but I guess i'll have to take my chances when I go out there as far as keeping them in my car.

 

[stealthyeliminator]

I don't want to move to cali, but its where I have to go to get the kind of job I want.

I was saying this exact same thing just days ago. I ended up deciding against it, for the combination of gun laws and education/homeschool laws. I do wish you luck, though!

I can't help much with the law situation, but I think that if no other state was a problem, your destination is pretty much the end of the line... I'd do a LOT of looking around (at the laws, not at the state border ) before trying to take your weapons into Cali, whether they are handguns or rifles. And unless I'm mistaken, there may be additional restrictions in certain municipalities.

 

[skidmark]

FOPA (Firearm Owner Protection Act) is googleable. It gives you the basic skinny on how to travel with firearms through hostile territory. The go to www.handgunlaw.us to read up on the laws in the states you will be transiting. The charts are easy to understand.

That being said, if just one of your firearms is verboten in California you lose all protections under FOPA. California Dept. of Justice maintains a roster of guns they do not want you to have, as well as an explanation of how you can lawfully bring in a firearm that would be illegal to purchase in California. Read both carefully.

You will be travelling across the country in a Jeep? Read FOPA very carefully about how your firearms must be stored when your vehicle does not have a separate trunk. And not that a trunk cannot be broken into, but lacking one raises all sorts of concerns about securing your firearms during rest/meal stops or leaving them in your hotel/motel room when you go out. (You were not planning to leave them in the Jeep overnight, were you?)

Depending on how many firearms you are dealing with, it may be easier/safer to ship them to yourself. UPS and FedEx offer "hold" service at their hubs, where you can pick up the packages if you do not have someone who can receive BUT NOT OPEN the packages.

stay safe.

 

[March Hare]

I would suggest, if you haven't already done so, to go talk to the people in the California forum.
They will have all the info you will need.

I would NOT suggest taking a firearm into Kalifornistan without very carefully checking the laws and maps of the all of the areas you will be staying in, or traveling through.
The GFSZ is enforced and you could be a felon just sitting at a stop light, you literally need a map with every school circled with 1000' marked around it.
Getting stopped while driving down a street withing 1000' of a school with a firearm will land you in jail!

California is not a gun friendly state by any stretch of the imagination, and getting worse.

I wish you luck with the move and your new job, and I agree, squishing lane splitters (or just the thought of it) can be fun!

-MH

p.s. You could always stop in AZ and sell your firearms to me...