Hi all,
I will be driving to Georgia next week and wanted to bring my Weatherby long gun to my brother's farm. I know there is no reciprocity for Mass LTC in Georgia but are there any restrictions for traveling with a long gun across state lines, other than the unloaded weapon in a locked hard case not in the cab?
FOPA says that you can transport a firearm through states as long as the possession of that firearm is legal in the origin and destination. Under FOPA, you're correct that unloaded weapon must be secured and not accessible to driver, with ammo stored separately.
You mention Mass LTC, (and you're correct that there's no reciprocity), so I'm assuming you can legally possess that long gun in in Massachusetts and that you're leaving from there. I'm also assuming that you're not a prohibited person under Mass or Federal law, (again because of the mention of Mass LTC).
If the above two sentences are correct, then you can legally possess that long gun in Georgia.
If you're legal in MA, and you're legal in GA, and you're traveling from MA to GA, then the answer to your question is "NO". There are no legal restrictions for transporting that long arm across state lines.
You don't need a reciprocal permit in Georgia; Georgia isn't Massachusetts. You can have firearms without any paperwork or license. You can have those firearms in your vehicle. What you can't do in Georgia without a weapons permit is CARRY a handgun in public. You can openly carry a long gun, you can have an unloaded firearm in a case, you can carry a firearm while hunting or fishing.
So - then you get into realities. I live in GA, I generally summer in CT. I have a GA resident permit and a CT non-resident permit. I travel between the two states with firearms. Not the same circumstances as you, but some similarities.
I can legally transport firearms through NY and NJ. I don't travel through those states, (except for a brief pass-through of NY) because I've heard too many stories about them not honoring FOPA. NJ also has prohibitions for hollowpoint ammo - and my defensive loads are hollowpoints - FOPA won't cover that.