legally ...what am i up against?

[slim1836]

I plan on going from Texas thru Arkansas, Tennessee, and into Kentucky over the Christmas holidays and do not have a permit of any kind.
I guess I am behind the times, but, can I not keep a loaded weapon in my vehicle (castle doctrine) while driving to my destination for self defense?

Slim

[mjwcaster]

I plan on going from Texas thru Arkansas, Tennessee, and into Kentucky over the Christmas holidays and do not have a permit of any kind.
I guess I am behind the times, but, can I not keep a loaded weapon in my vehicle (castle doctrine) while driving to my destination for self defense?

Slim

Different states have different rules.
Check out the states you want to drive through to see what they allow, some do allow for keeping a loaded handgun in the vehicle, but certainly not all.
If you are a Texas resident without a CCL license you would NOT be able to legally keep a loaded handgun in your vehicle in Illinois.

Also check for local ordinances, IIRC Missouri just changed their premption laws concerning open carry, before you could open carry without a permit, but were subject to local laws against it.

Also IIRC Wisconsin just changed their laws concerning non-permit open carry, before it was only open carry outside of a vehicle, now I think they allow inside a vehicle also.

To show how confusing it can be, before the wisconsin change a wisconsin resident could open carry a handgun while walking around, they would have to unload before entering their vehicle, they could then drive into illinois and load a handgun to keep in the vehicle, but could not leave the vehicle with it. They would have to unload it before reentering Wisconsin.
And that would be subject to IL law enforcement knowing the actual law, and not listening to the State Police who said that a CCW permit is required to keep a loaded handgun in the car.

And then you have the illegal laws, Wisconsin has open carry, but Madison City Police kept arresting people for open carrying, even after the States Attorney General told them it was legal to open carry and to stop arresting people for it.
And around that time the Madison County Sheriff was telling people to get their CCL permit and a gun to protect themselves.
Location changes this a lot.

Please do not assume that what may be legal in your state is legal in others, as was posted earlier it has already cost a young mother jail time in New Jersey.

And don't even get me started on Indiana changing their handgun laws a few years back, eliminating any way to transport a handgun (even unloaded) without a CCL license. What had been legal for years suddenly became illegal until fixed in 2011.
I found out about this when I went to shoot my new 45 at the IN public range. Took them several years to fix it and I read about arrests of people for this, even IN residents.

Now having said all this, you have the best chance of vehicle carry being legal due to you geography, it would be a definite no-no on the east coast.

But you have to do your research, laws can change from county to county or even by entering the city limits.

Matt

[Avery Arms]

Slim that is a complicated question and has nothing at all to do with castle doctrine.

Anyway if you don't have a permit then you can't legally travel anywhere in the US with a loaded firearm because no matter where you go you will find yourself within 1,000 feet of a school and thus violating the federal GFSZ act.

I find it all rather ironic because millions of gun owners break this law (a felony) and others every day and without fail 99 out of 100 will tell you that felons are scum who should never own firearms.

[billyb]

Okla. CCW law states you are required to notify any officer that contacts you in the line of duty to notify the officer at the first opportunity that you are armed. Go to OSBI and check if Okla. honors your states law. Bill

[NavyVet1959]

I plan on going from Texas thru Arkansas, Tennessee, and into Kentucky over the Christmas holidays and do not have a permit of any kind.
I guess I am behind the times, but, can I not keep a loaded weapon in my vehicle (castle doctrine) while driving to my destination for self defense?

Up until recently, Texas didn't even let you carry a handgun in your car except for very restrictive circumstances. Sure, we had the "traveling defense", but that still meant that you could get arrested and would have to *prove you innosence* in court. Different judges interpreted it different ways. For some, they required an overnight stay. For others, they required you to pass through 3 counties. It was a ridiculous system and it was open for abuse (and was abused by the law enforcement and judicial community quite often). Now, having said that, many people still carried a handgun in their car regardless of the legality of it. They figured that they might be able to argue a "traveling defense". The problem with that train of thought is that in order to get to the point of trying to argue the "traveling defense", it means that you have already been arrested and the judicial system is well on its way to making your life miserable and making their fellow shysters richer defending you. The game is definitely rigged in their favor.

Louisiana, on the other hand, always considered your car an extension of your home and as such, you could carry a loaded handgun in your car. Louisiana also had no provision against open carry, but I don't remember many people doing it back when I lived there. These days, you can carry a loaded handgun in your car in Texas, but it *must be concealed*. Many years ago, I remember states that required any weapons to be in plain sight, so the recommendation at that time was to put your handgun on your dash if you were stopped. I am not aware of any states that recommend that at this time though.

[WallyM3]

"I find it all rather ironic because millions of gun owners break this law (a felony) and others every day and without fail 99 out of 100 will tell you that felons are scum who should never own firearms."

I think you need to be convicted first.

[mjwcaster]

Avery Arms that is a very good point that is often overlooked.

Just a bit of history, the original Gun Free School Zone act was found unconstitutional in 1995.
How was it fixed?
By adding- "has moved in or otherwise affects interstate commerce." regarding firearms.

And now you know the rest of the story.

[FLHTC]

"I find it all rather ironic because millions of gun owners break this law (a felony) and others every day and without fail 99 out of 100 will tell you that felons are scum who should never own firearms."

I think you need to be convicted first.

Helluva thing to gamble with. I'd hate to be rear ended at a traffic light and be carrying an illegal handgun.

[slim1836]

I know I am ignorant of many things and this is yet another one. I, for years, have carried when on a trip, especially when it's out of state. I always carried loaded as unloaded does no good. This really sucks and I will probably get my concealed handgun license next year.

So much for the second amendment.

Slim

[flyingmonkey35]

I'll say it.

Ccw should be like a drivers license good in all 50 states + territories.

Issued by the state you live in.

No more of this bull hockey.

Have a standardized test the States should follow. + firearm test.

Gasp just like a drivers license. You have to prove competence y with a car/ motorcycle.


Then I can go anywhere in the U.S.A armed or unarmed as I dam well please.

And yes you can still own a gun and not have to have a ccw for it.

Just like I can buy a car just not be able to drive it off my property with out a license.

Anyone else for this.

We need to get it on the next ballot.

[WallyM3]

We don't have licenses to carry here in VT. We just carry and it's protected by State Constitution.

As a consequence, we can't carry anywhere else, because there's no license with which to reciprocate.

But license the person, not the gun.

[NavyVet1959]

I'll say it.

Ccw should be like a drivers license good in all 50 states + territories.

Issued by the state you live in.

No more of this bull hockey.

Have a standardized test the States should follow. + firearm test.

Gasp just like a drivers license. You have to prove competence y with a car/ motorcycle.


Then I can go anywhere in the U.S.A armed or unarmed as I dam well please.

And yes you can still own a gun and not have to have a ccw for it.

Just like I can buy a car just not be able to drive it off my property with out a license.

Anyone else for this.

We need to get it on the next ballot.

You should not need a license or the government's approval to exercise a constitutionally guaranteed RIGHT.

[Recaster]

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right or the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Hmmm...

[WallyM3]

You should not need a license or the government's approval to exercise a constitutionally guaranteed RIGHT.

Well...there is that. Vermont agrees. That might change next year.

[tazman]

Aren't you aware that the government knows what is best for you?
I am from the government and I am here to help you.

Here in Illinois we just changed our governor from Democrat to Republican. I am hoping for things to get a bit better but I know it won't happen quickly.

[flyingmonkey35]

Just for fun.

Let's take a look at he right to a well armed militia.

If its not a state or fed controlled military. / militia your group is now automatic ly a suspected and put on a watch list.

You will most likely be banned from joining the real military or a state / fed job.

So ya you have the right.


As for a ccw I live in utah easy to get one. Can carry open if I wish if I didn't have one.

Let's make the argument this way then.

Look at gun rights the same way gay marriage is bieng looked at.

Can I sue a state for refusing to acknowledge my right to carry a gun!

If two guys or gals can get marries in flippiying UTAH. Why can't we sue the **** out of every state.

I was born this way I loooove my guns.

I want to marry it and never be apart from it.

You can't tell me that I'm wrong.

Food for thought.

[Avery Arms]

You should not need a license or the government's approval to exercise a constitutionally guaranteed RIGHT.

This.

The right to keep and bear arms is one Americans are born with and your local bureaucrats have no authority make up special conditions or sell you a license for doing so.

As for being licensed to drive a car you are using the car on shared public roads, if you are using the gun on shared public roads then yes you probably should get a license.

[bedbugbilly]

One thing to remember . . . regardless of what the law is in any state . . . not every LEO is well versed on just "what" the law is (this is not a criticism of any LEO and the remark was made to me by a Sheriff's Dept. Captain).

Regardless of what your wife ends up dong . . . above anything else . . . she needs to be alert to her surroundings if she makes a stop . . whether it be a gas station or a rest stop. I preach this to my wife all the time. Even in a crowded parking lot where there are people, watch where you park and what you park next to . . and check you back seat upon approaching the car/vehicle. I am amazed when I sit in the car waiting for my wife in a parking lot, how many woman come back to their cars and fumble around for five minutes in their purse trying to find their keys and the oblivious to what is going on around them. Armed or not . . . just be "aware" and "safe" . . . not paranoid but just common sense.

[MtGun44]

As I said before, and the poster above repeats.

Stay in condition yellow whenever travelling armed.

As to the Second Amendment - you all are preaching to the choir. We have many able, hardworking
and extremely smart attorneys slowly pushing back the nasty encroachments on the 2nd
that have occurred since 1966. We ARE winning - in 1980 you could not legally carry a gun in
the majority of the country. Now with a KS and Utah permit in my pocket, I am legal in all but
perhaps 6 states to carry. That is REAL and measurable progress. Is it enough? No, of course
not, but we ARE moving the law in the right direction in most of the country pretty steadily.
20 years ago, nobody in KS could own a machine gun or suppressor. Now they are legal and
many own them, although the paperwork is a PITA. Small steps, in the right direction.

Of course, for the poor folks in California and NYC and lots of the NE like New Jersey, my
sympathies, you are surrounded by anti-gun idiots. We do see that a major win in the Supreme
Court was turned into REAL changes in Illinois and in Washington DC were guns had been
banned and there was no possibility of legal CCW. Now you can own a gun in DC and
carry it in Illinois. Small steps, but in the right direction. Keep supporting the
Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA, they are making a real difference and
by picking their legal battles very carefully so they can WIN them, we step ahead.
Poorly chosen cases might be lost and become a negative precedent a very bad thing.

Bill

[tygar]

This may sound weird, but I won't go to, travel thru, or spend a cent in any state I can't carry my gun - period.

I plan a route that takes me around any of the "peoples republics".

I understand the guy that said, "don't tell" unless asked, but when I was a cop I appreciated when I was told, but then, I'm not afraid of people with guns.