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Old March 7, 2015, 05:20 PM   #1
1929officialpolice
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Traveling with firearms

I'm a Florida resident that has been working in South Carolina. While up here I've bought a handful of C&R firearms. Since I like shooting I have also purchased a decent amount of ammo for them. I'm finally going to be visiting home soon and was going to bring them home with me to put in my other safe. I'm basically asking has anybody been pulled over with a decent amount of firepower with them at the time? Something about driving a couple states with a couple thousand rounds and five weapons scares me and I'm not sure if I should be. Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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Old March 8, 2015, 12:36 AM   #2
hartcreek
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If you had done a search you would have found that this has been covered numerous times. Only certain states ignore the feredal transit law so you may need to avoid those states and secure your ammo and firearms properly in locked cases.
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Old March 8, 2015, 01:26 AM   #3
JimDandy
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My brother and I drive from our State to the family farm 6 states away. We've never been pulled over, but we'd have far more than the newspapers call an armory in the back of the truck between 2 of us each with pistols, rifles, and shotguns.

My uncle has trap, skeet, rifle and pistol ranges on his pheasant preserve property to function as the "home field" for some local high school shooting teams, and we often have a family shoot out up there.

Again, we've never been pulled over but if we were:

How often do you get pulled over on the highway?

How often do they want to search your vehicle?

How often can they search it without permission?

That's a whole lot of hoops to go through for them to find your firearms. The downside with that last one is- if they do get to search you without your permission you're probably going to be there a very, very, very long time while they verify that everything is yours, that the guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to you had a right to sell it. But again that goes back to my original point. This is such a long shot. I wouldn't worry about doing something (I assume is) legal with firearms classified as C&R.
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Old March 8, 2015, 09:04 AM   #4
Aguila Blanca
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimDandy
Again, we've never been pulled over but if we were:

How often do you get pulled over on the highway?
Irrelevant. It only takes once to ruin your day (week/month/year).

Quote:
How often do they want to search your vehicle?
Around here, pretty much every time they make a stop.

Quote:
How often can they search it without permission?
Every time. You might be able to get it thrown out in court (if you can prove you didn't give permission) but, if you're in court, your day/week/month/year has already been pretty much ruined.

Quote:
That's a whole lot of hoops to go through for them to find your firearms. The downside with that last one is- if they do get to search you without your permission you're probably going to be there a very, very, very long time while they verify that everything is yours, that the guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to you had a right to sell it. But again that goes back to my original point. This is such a long shot. I wouldn't worry about doing something (I assume is) legal with firearms classified as C&R.
I would -- and do. There's a federal law that explains exactly how to do this, legally. Why not just follow the law?

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/926A

I also carry several printed copies of the law with me when traveling interstate with firearms.
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Old March 9, 2015, 09:18 AM   #5
JimDandy
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Quote:
Irrelevant. It only takes once to ruin your day (week/month/year).
I thought it was pretty relevant to the point I was making about perspective. The chain of events required to have it come is exceptional. You do it right, and then give it just as much worry as necessary. A little, but not much.
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Old March 9, 2015, 10:48 AM   #6
natman
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Just to put the theoretical discussion in perspective, we're talking about a trip from South Carolina to Florida, crossing Georgia.

It's not like you were crossing New Jersey, NYC, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Follow the guidelines of the Federal Firearms Owner Protection Act (basically guns unloaded, cased and in the trunk) and drive home.

Act like you're not doing anything illegal, because you're not.
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Old March 9, 2015, 03:56 PM   #7
FITASC
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SC, GA and FL are gun friendly. It isn't like he is going through NY, NJ and DC.

No reason to be pulled over, unless you throw your empty beers at the cop car by the side of the road (JK!); it isn't like they have gun sniffers at the border, even on the Interstate.
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Old March 9, 2015, 04:39 PM   #8
kilimanjaro
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Carry your receipts with you on the trip. Pull the bolts and magazines, store separately. Unload everything, including magazines. Put the ammo and parts in some thrift store luggage and lock it up. Case the guns, keep it all locked in the trunk. No alcohol or intoxicants in the car, and refrain from stopping at a tavern for lunch. Check your car tabs and all lights before you leave, and obey the traffic laws.

Then get in the car and enjoy the drive.
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Old March 9, 2015, 04:42 PM   #9
Tom Servo
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As others have rightly pointed out, your method of transport is legal. You're travelling through states that honor the law as written. The amount of guns and/or ammunition is irrelevant.

Since the question has been answered, I'm going to go ahead and close this one.
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