Traveling from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. FOPA in New York.

A professional acquaintance of mine got tripped up in NY carrying a handgun (9mm semi) in his vehicle when he went to visit his son at college. I am not sure of all the details (he kept it pretty quiet) but I know he was pulled over on an interstate and somehow acknowledged (or stated) that he had a weapon in his vehicle (I think he thought, or the officer was, for some reason, going to search the vehicle). Ended up being arrested, spent thousands on lawyers, etc., had to go to court - it went on for quite some time and there was the possiblity that he would have to serve some time (he didn't end up having to). He also had issues with his LTC in MA as a result (I think it may have been revoked but I am not 100% sure). So it does happen, maybe one in a million, you just have to use your best judgement and determine whether the risk is worth it.

There is the problem.
 
Never said I was going to inform Dumbass. Was carrying it in case I got jammed up for whatever reason. Better to be informed than talking out your ass While pulled over on the side of the road.
its-a-joke-not-a-dick-dont-take-it-so-19219743.png
 
"Overthinking is the habit of applying analytical thinking and problem-solving in a situation where it is unhelpful or unproductive."

Lived in MN, WI and IL for total of 12 years. Have made the NH or ME to the Midwest round trip dozens of times. Often with lots of guns and ammunition. Just drive across 90 and don’t be an ass.

The hardest part is surviving the deathly bordom of driving across northern Ohio and Indiana. Flat, busy, crappy food. Boring.
 
Lived in MN, WI and IL for total of 12 years. Have made the NH or ME to the Midwest round trip dozens of times. Often with lots of guns and ammunition. Just drive across 90 and don’t be an ass.

The hardest part is surviving the deathly bordom of driving across northern Ohio and Indiana. Flat, busy, crappy food. Boring.
yep, me also, but heading south west. like you said, just don't be stupid.
 
Fuel up before you enter NY, do the speed limit, and don’t stop until you hit PA. You’ll be fine

This is the way. I've gone FOPA from Mass to Tennessee and back a dozen times, the last time carrying all the guns and ammo I own. Just make Scranton your first checkpoint and be sure to salute NJ as you pass within sight of it at Matamoras. And having two printed copies of FOPA on-hand won't hurt.
 
Just put a trump sticker on your truck (it should already have one) and don’t pull over for nobody!
 
That is/was a common profile for drug runners driving up from FL. Not saying it is right but they justified pulling cars over that were going the speed limit as likely criminal.
Go with the flow; not too fast, not too slow. Drive like you conceal carry, as unobtrusively as possible, and admitting to nothing.
 
People go north to south and back all the time thru enemy territory with firearms, it is not a big deal.

Have them in the trunk and unloaded, locked cases are even better as you can claim they were not easily accessible if for some reason you were found with them

Drive like a reasonable person and you won't have a problem, cross the state line and keep driving without stopping overnight until you reach a safe haven.

Hypothetically an old fat white guy with his wife and two dogs in a family truckster is not going to be a target for cops looking for people smuggling contraband

Hide in plain sight and it will be be fine.

You are not breaking any laws, so do not make more of it than needs to be.
 
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i drove over whole east coast, for work and for pleasure may be 50 times, no less. somehow i was never searched, never pulled out of the car, never harassed. got my share of tickets, of course, mostly in CT.
like others stated - keep gun off your person, locked in the case, ideally in the locked glovebox. make sure all car papers - registration, etc. - are NOT in the glovebox, so you never have to open it or touch it.
if cop asks - say it was broken long ago, and you never had time to fix it.

you have to commit something extraordinary for them to get a crowbar and start breaking it apart. or search your car, anyway.
I'd think the glovebox would violate FOPA.

From FOPA itself: " during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console. "
 
I live in Georgia, I usually summer in Connecticut. I transport firearms and ammo between my two residences twice a year.

Guns are unloaded and locked up, inaccessible from the passenger compartment of my truck.
Ammo is locked up separately, also inaccessible from the passenger compartment of my truck.
FOPA paperwork is printed out and readily to hand.

I go through Pennsylvania, minimizing New York and skipping New Jersey.

The thing about FOPA to remember is that it allows you to transport your unloaded, locked up firearm from an origin where you can legally possess it to a destination where you can legally possess it.

It doesn't give you permission to carry that firearm in the interim states, (your permit(s) might, but FOPA doesn't.
It doesn't give you permission to have in your possession items that are prohibited in the state that you're passing through.

Prime example - you cannot possess hollowpoint ammunition in NJ except under very limited circumstances. So, FOPA doesn't let you take hollowpoint ammo through New Jersey. More common example - "high capacity" magazines - they're restricted in a lot of states now, including NJ. For you Ma**h***s, it doesn't matter if it's "pre-ban" or not, it's not permitted in NJ, and FOPA won't let you carry it through.

Grey man rules - no NRA or Melon Label stickers. Drive with the flow. If you're stopped, hand over your license, do NOT volunteer information. If asked directly about firearm(s) in your vehicle - answer very carefully. And your answer should contain "I'm transporting unloaded, locked up firearms from xstate to ystate under FOPA". If they ask you if you have a firearm on your person - you don't need to volunteer that information - the firearms aren't on your person.
 
what i said was to put a gun into its box. put a box into a glove compartment. lock glove compartment.
Theoretically legal for transport within Mass,
but perhaps not tested at trial.

Illegal for storage within Mass: Commonwealth vs. Amaury Reyes 465 Mass 245

If you get out of the car, you're not transporting - you're storing.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

on a 'do you have guns with you' question you just answer the truth - i do not have any gun on my person, officer.
Cops totally fall for the Bill Clinton "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" routine.
[rolleyes]
60% of the time,
it works every time.
[rolleyes]
 
Here's why I recommend a combination lock:

The 4th Amendment protects against unreasonable searches, but there are a bunch of exceptions. The two that are important here are the automobile exception and the inventory exception. In many jurisdictions, a locked container is not fair game under the automobile exception. They seize the container and apply for a search warrant. In obtaining that warrant, the police need to articulate probable cause to believe the box contains evidence of a crime.

An inventory is "intended" to protect the police from false accusations of theft. Allowing the police to open a locked container defeats that purpose.

As unbelievable as it may sound, police have been known to claim someone consented when they did not, or claim the key was in the lock and not the defendant's pocket.

When the police smash open the box to get inside, their claim of consent doesn't carry much weight. Of course, the existence of the locked box may not make it into the report and they'll claim the gun was sitting, loaded, on the back seat in plain view.
 
It doesn't give you permission to have in your possession items that are prohibited in the state that you're passing through.

Prime example - you cannot possess hollowpoint ammunition in NJ except under very limited circumstances. So, FOPA doesn't let you take hollowpoint ammo through New Jersey. More common example - "high capacity" magazines - they're restricted in a lot of states now, including NJ. For you Ma**h***s, it doesn't matter if it's "pre-ban" or not, it's not permitted in NJ, and FOPA won't let you carry it through.
I'm going to need a citation for this because I don't see that anywhere in FOPA.

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
 
I always amazed that people actually believe cops will not notice the equivocation in these mealy-mouthed responses.

Cop: "Do you have any weapons in the car?"
MM: "I have no weapons on my person, officer."
Cop: "Is that what I asked? Step out of the car."

Cop: "Do you have any weapons in the car?"
MM: "I have no illegal weapons, officer."
Cop: "Is that what I asked? Step out of the car."

Same people:

Cop: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
MM (cruise control set at 80mph): "Nope."
Cop: "Do you know why I stopped you?"
MM (tried to make the yellow light): "Nope."
 
I'm going to need a citation for this because I don't see that anywhere in FOPA.

There isn't one, because FOPA is silent on that issue. The pant shitters believe FOPA does nothing for things like mags or so called "AWs" and so on.

My personal opinion is that if you're running under FOPA with your shit locked up/encased (including supposed "prohibited" items, etc. ) and out of view/touch, then it's not anything worth getting bent about.

I've never heard of this phantasm becoming a real problem in that circumstance.
 
I'm going to need a citation for this because I don't see that anywhere in FOPA.

He's correct. A bill was introduced in Congress in Feb, 2020 by Mo Brooks to amend FOPA to cover magazines and ammunition. FOPA currently does not.

From Gun Owners of America:

 
I may or may not have once driven from Indiana to Massachusetts with what NY would consider to be a veritable arsenal. Fuel up before you enter NY, do the speed limit, and don’t stop until you hit PA. You’ll be fine
That is what I did with my "arsenal" when I moved to AL. I had to get our truck and horse trailer to AL so I put it to good use. I used a bunch of lockable rubbermade trunks for pistols, shorter long arms and ammo. The long arms were in silicone socks. The handguns were in their cases. I had to load the ammo box by box into the containers. It was too heavy to lift or push otherwise. The longer long guns had individual trigger locks, in silicone socks, in tall wardrobe boxes. So, everything was locked and ammo was in separate containers from firearms. The horse trailer was locked too. I had a lot of other stuff that I did not want to ship with the mover. I piled all that on top of the arsenal. I took the 84 to 81 route and all was good. I guess I had a lot of weight. The tranny was getting hot through the hills of VA. Fortunately it started raining when I hit TN and that brought temps back to normal. For a little while I dreaded breaking down with the arsenal. It took a long time to unload but that gave me a chance to inventory the collection. [grin]
 
My personal opinion is that if you're running under FOPA with your shit locked up/encased (including supposed "prohibited" items, etc. ) and out of view/touch, then it's not anything worth getting bent about.
But should I do 67mph or 68mph to avoid suspicion?


He's correct. A bill was introduced in Congress in Feb, 2020 by Mo Brooks to amend FOPA to cover magazines and ammunition. FOPA currently does not.

From Gun Owners of America:

That is f-ing wild.
 
I think all the cases I have read about involve either NY City (which is a jurisdiction unto itself) or the three major airports controlled by the Port Authority of NY and NJ, who have their own police force and tend not to recognize FOPA. If you're driving straight west on the NY Thruway from Massachusetts then you won't be coming near any of that.

If you really want to minimize your exposure, use I-84 -> I-81 -> I-80. According to Google Maps that routing (assuming Boston to Milwaukee) only adds 10 miles and 20 minutes.
This. Plug scranton into your GPS as a waypoint. And stay off any of the shit ways near NYC/NJ.
 
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