Traveling with a firearm

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Mrbladedude

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Aug 2, 2010
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Hi all. My name is Bryan and i know this topic has probably been beaten to death but i am still unclear of a few things.

I stay in VA at the moment but I go to NJ and PA often. My wife has family there and we go visit for a weekend at a time every now and again. I recently bought a handgun. I want to take it with me so that I can go shooting with my wife's Grandfather in PA. However. I am reading some info online that says NJ is going to give me a hard time.

Our trip goes like this every time. Leave VA, on 13 ( i think ), go through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey. Stop in New Jersey and stay the night at my wife's parents house. Next day we drive to PA to my Grandfather's and go shooting etc have lunch. Head back to NJ that evening and stay the night. Drive back to VA the next day. I am not sure if we go though a bit of New York interstate or not.

I plan on getting my concealed carry permit but at the moment I have not got one.

To be safe, My handgun will be in my trunk unloaded and the Magazines in my glove compartment, also unloaded and the ammo um i guess under the seat? Trunk maybe? I have a pistol safe at my house but i will not bring it. If the pistol seriously needs to be locked up, i will put a lock on the Glock factory pistol box that the gun came with.

If by Murphy's law or some other unfortunate occurrence I ended up getting pulled over in New Jersey and my firearm was found. What would happen?

Do you think there is anything else I can do to further safeguard myself from getting in trouble? I really don't want to leave my gun at home.
 
As a guy that fled NJ 35 years ago to a place that is very sensible about such things, I am probably not the most objective individual about such things. That being said, I would NEVER bring a firearm into NJ, unless I was prepared to serve time and spend a whole lot of money for the privilege of doing so. Putting magazines into a glovebox would be a bad move, because if they were spotted by a LEO, you would be subject to having the car searched just based on that. If you think "legal rights, unreasonable search, and probable cause" come into play you are in for a rude awakening if this ever should happen.

No matter what, unless you are prepared for a legal nightmare and probable arrest, jail, fines, convictions, etc..... leave your firearm at home if you are traveling thru the Garden State.
 
This will be the second time I'm moving a thread of yours. Moved to Knife Laws.
 
Mrbladedude said:
Hi all. My name is Bryan and i know this topic has probably been beaten to death but i am still unclear of a few things.

I stay in VA at the moment but I go to NJ and PA often. My wife has family there and we go visit for a weekend at a time every now and again. I recently bought a handgun. I want to take it with me so that I can go shooting with my wife's Grandfather in PA. However. I am reading some info online that says NJ is going to give me a hard time.

Our trip goes like this every time. Leave VA, on 13 ( i think ), go through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey. Stop in New Jersey and stay the night at my wife's parents house. Next day we drive to PA to my Grandfather's and go shooting etc have lunch. Head back to NJ that evening and stay the night. Drive back to VA the next day. I am not sure if we go though a bit of New York interstate or not.

I plan on getting my concealed carry permit but at the moment I have not got one.

To be safe, My handgun will be in my trunk unloaded and the Magazines in my glove compartment, also unloaded and the ammo um i guess under the seat? Trunk maybe? I have a pistol safe at my house but i will not bring it. If the pistol seriously needs to be locked up, i will put a lock on the Glock factory pistol box that the gun came with.

If by Murphy's law or some other unfortunate occurrence I ended up getting pulled over in New Jersey and my firearm was found. What would happen?

Do you think there is anything else I can do to further safeguard myself from getting in trouble? I really don't want to leave my gun at home.
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DO NOT STOP at your in-law's house in NJ with your firearm. KenC, the moderator, gave you a good link to the NJSP page that provides info on FOPA (the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act law). The law requires a complete passage though the state, with stops for food and refueling only. If you stop and spend the night in NJ, you will be in illegal possession of a firearm and subject to arrest. FOPA will not be an affirmative defense at that point.
 
They just arrested a guy in NJ during the last round of stoms as his flight was cancelled during a conncecting flight. He had legally checked his firearm in when he departed another state and it was to be delivered to him upon his destination (not NJ). When he was stranded in NJ as the connection was cancelled, they gave him his luggage including the sealed and locked handgun. He did not want to accept it and had no choice. He went to one of the guards/LE to explain and ask what to do. He was promptly arrested for illegal possession and has spent thousands.

I lived in VA and am now in PA. VA laws were much more lenient than PA. NJ is a nightmare. I would advise renting one at a range and taking your wife's grandfather shooting there. Handgun laws are even trick here in PA. Carry laws are not cut and dry and subject to interpretation and opinion by local LE. A permit can be revoked very easily even if you do nothing wrong. Like carrying with a valid permit and someone sees it and complains. Massachusetts is even worse! Their firearm law has no room for error and mandatory prison time. Only the bad guys dare carry in the restrictive states. If you have a CCP you may want to check to see what states have reciprosity with VA. My VA permit was void the moment I moved out of state. And if you carry a knife, better check on the legal length allowed as it can vary state to state. It just takes one thing to happen like a car accident and you have in your pocket a 3.5" folder when only 2 7/8" is allowed. I beleive there was a thread on here about a deaf guy whittling with a 4" knife and the officer ordered him to drop it and he didn't and was shot dead last year.

Good luck.

Charlie
 
Tekapo, that case happened 3 years ago. Nothing was changed in regards to the law as I know it but he was acquitted of all charges and got his gun and ammo back.

In regards to Mrbladedude's inquiry here is the statute that protects his rights in NJ.

NJS 2C:39-6g:
“All weapons being transported under paragraph (2) of subsection b., subsection e., or paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection f. of this section shall be carried unloaded and contained in a closed and fastened case, gunbox, securely tied package, or locked in the trunk of the automobile in which it is being transported, and in the course of travel shall include only such deviations as are reasonably necessary under the circumstances.”
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I would say that an overnight stop in the course of his travel at his parent's home would qualify as "reasonably necessary". It's no different than if he stopped overnight at a hotel on the NJ Turnpike.
 
Do like I did: Cut off relations with northeastern relatives and stay permanently in the south where gun laws are reasonable. I am originally from NJ and I will never go back due to their crazy restrictions. My relatives that are still there aren't really worth seeing anyway.
 
Stelth said:
Do like I did: Cut off relations with northeastern relatives and stay permanently in the south where gun laws are reasonable. I am originally from NJ and I will never go back due to their crazy restrictions. My relatives that are still there aren't really worth seeing anyway.
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Not really helpful. At all.
 
Stelth said:
It worked for me.
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Well good for you but it still doesn't help him now does it?

I love it when people pop into a thread and offer nothing to the topic.
 
I know it came off as glib but it's true. I'm passionate about my 2nd amendment rights and I haven't been to NJ since 1989 due to that fact. It's an option to not go. That's all I was saying.
 
An overnight stop is fine, but an extended stay won't work. If you are staying for the night you can get away with it. Personally, I never EVER take my guns through NJ.

Go online and read some of the horror stories about NJ gun laws. I won't take my guns through a state that requires a registration for a freakin pellet gun!
 
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