Trunk Gun Legal Question?

[MudCamper]

For the millionth time,

You do not need to be "going to or from a place" per 12026.2. 12026.1 requires no such thing and exempts you from 12025.

Loaded mag does not equal loaded gun. Read 12031 and People v Clark.

There is no restriction on where you store your ammo.

READ THIS NOW.

[MudCamper]

Was that neccesary?

In this particular case, yes. This question comes up regularly. Related carry and transport questions come up more than once a week.

Go here: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/search.php enter the word trunk, and select Search Titles Only.

[packnrat]

You can only carry a handgun in your car if you are in transit to/from a gun range. Then it has to be unloaded. Magazine has to be unloaded. Also, the gun has to be in a locked container (car trunk qualifies). The ammo cannot be in the same locked container as the gun. Your pretty SOL...although it could be hard to prove that you AREN'T on your way either to or from a gun range.

please show the law were the mag must be unloaded.
and were the ammo must be in a deffernt contaner.


.

[MudCamper]

please show the law were the mag must be unloaded.
and were the ammo must be in a deffernt contaner.

"I heard it from a cop friend of mine." "A guy at the range told me." "My instructor told me." and the worst of all, "The CRPA handbook said" but at least that last one is improving. They've been getting better over the last few years at spreading less FUD.

[IGOTDIRT4U]

[Slayer]

In this particular case, yes. This question comes up regularly. Related carry and transport questions come up more than once a week.

Go here: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/search.php enter the word trunk, and select Search Titles Only.

Don't open the thread then. Clearly it has sparked some talk over the subject.

[-hanko]

Was that neccesary?

Absoluely

If no one searched, we'd see the same threads over and over and over...right now, we're only seeing about 25 per cent of the same thing repeated once or twice a month.

Each repitition ends up with WRONG answers. Reason??, because some people want a quick answer. Quick responses result in incorrect info...Juliet Lima states "You can only carry a handgun in your car if you are in transit to/from a gun range. Then it has to be unloaded. Magazine has to be unloaded." This is fud...probably confused with the law covering registered aw's. Transit locations have zero to do with the law, magazines do not have to be unloaded.

Paul 0660 mentions "As far as what unloaded means, I don't think there is a specific definition." More fud. Bottom line is that if there's a live cartridge IN the gun, it's loaded. That means a loaded mag and/or a chambered round. Belonging to a gang extends the definition, but that has zero to do with op's question.

Mud Camper is dead-on. Search works, reading the CA penal code works. Much better to inform youself as to legal requirements as the current thread demonstrates: 20 posts before this one, 2 with wrong answers. If you want to bet 9-to-1 you're getting correct info, go ahead on. Personally, I'd want to be 100 per cent certain and not bet my next few years on legal info I received on the web.

Thank God a few people did open the thread

My sig line may explain it more clearly

-hanko

[Ironchef]

Well said Hanko. +1

[trinydex]

Absoluely

If no one searched, we'd see the same threads over and over and over...right now, we're only seeing about 25 per cent of the same thing repeated once or twice a month.

Each repitition ends up with WRONG answers. Reason??, because some people want a quick answer. Quick responses result in incorrect info...Juliet Lima states "You can only carry a handgun in your car if you are in transit to/from a gun range. Then it has to be unloaded. Magazine has to be unloaded." This is fud...probably confused with the law covering registered aw's. Transit locations have zero to do with the law, magazines do not have to be unloaded.

Paul 0660 mentions "As far as what unloaded means, I don't think there is a specific definition." More fud. Bottom line is that if there's a live cartridge IN the gun, it's loaded. That means a loaded mag and/or a chambered round. Belonging to a gang extends the definition, but that has zero to do with op's question.

Mud Camper is dead-on. Search works, reading the CA penal code works. Much better to inform youself as to legal requirements as the current thread demonstrates: 20 posts before this one, 2 with wrong answers. If you want to bet 9-to-1 you're getting correct info, go ahead on. Personally, I'd want to be 100 per cent certain and not bet my next few years on legal info I received on the web.

Thank God a few people did open the thread

My sig line may explain it more clearly

-hanko

i think this thread should be deleted

[fleegman]

I would love to keep a gun in the trunk of my car but I'm wondering whats the legal restrictions on such? Can I do it? and if I can what needs to be done?

I'm really thinking of a Center of Mass safe and mounting it onto the solid back section of my rear fold down seats if it's legal. Otherwise onto the rear firewall in my trunk.

To get back to the original question, I have a center-of-mass safe (love it), which I have tethered under the driver seat. While driving around, I have it pulled out and resting on the passenger seat (the cable just barely extends that far). I keep the key in the lock. Within is my unloaded pistol and 2 fully loaded mags, but none in the well. When I leave the car, I take the key with me and place the safe back under the seat. Should I ever see police lights behind me for some reason, it's a very brief motion to place the safe under my seat as I pull over. I also keep print-outs of all applicable laws, as well as court precedents. Oh yes, I am also a fanatic for obeying traffic and vehicular regulations.

Anyway, that's how I roll.

(oh yeah, as I understand it, it probably isn't a good idea legally to permanently bolt the safe to the vehicle, as it then becomes a utility compartment)

[paul0660]

So, make it a sticky, and the uninformed and know it alls will never have to rub elbows on this issue.

[GuyW]

You can only carry a handgun in your car if you are in transit to/from a gun range. Then it has to be unloaded. Magazine has to be unloaded. Also, the gun has to be in a locked container (car trunk qualifies). The ammo cannot be in the same locked container as the gun. Your pretty SOL...although it could be hard to prove that you AREN'T on your way either to or from a gun range.

FUD

[-hanko]

i think this thread should be deleted

Ironchef, I thought it needed to be said.

Trinydex, I agree.

Paul0660, most of the repetitive questions already have a sticky. Other than CA laws, the repetitive threads involve building AR's; there's a bunch of sticky's here ALL about that and a bunch more on arfcom. My theory is that some folks think their time is too valuable to do a little homework, perhaps. My solution is that I think you get more if you find your own answers; 99% of the members here can run a search engine, and there shouldn't be any issues finding the CA laws or, imagine this, maybe buying a book to explain the legalities in simple terms...maybe I'm dreamin'.

An example: I searched for 'loaded gun California'. Would have been quicker to search for 'doj' but I did it the harder way. In the doj's fireams pamphlet (2007 version) on page 31you'll find...

, plus...

operative word here is attached. Courts have interpreted this to include a loaded mag in the same locked container as the weapon.

But wait, there's more...For the purposes of Penal Code section 12023 (commission or attempted commission of a felony while armed with a loaded firearm), a firearm is deemed loaded when both the firearm and the unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from the firearm are in the immediate possession of the same person. This section is not relevant to the original post, but i was on a roll

That was less than 10 minutes of my time, far better than waiting for reply on an internet forum and not knowing a damn thing about the qualifications of people replying to your post. As you've seen above, there are at least 2 answers that are FUD.

I'm not an attorney, but I read a bit. I'm thinking of saving this post as a Word document and cutting and pasting to the same question next week .

Finally, it's not "about know-it-all's" v. the "uninformed". It is about whether you want to get off your arse and educate youself and know you have good info that will keep your arse of jail, or ask the question on the internet and get an answer that may or may not be correct. You might take the odds, I prefer to stay on the outside.

-hanko

[lcflcontrol]

unloaded means that there should be nothing in the hole, nothing in the mag and the mag out of the well.

[MudCamper]

unloaded means that there should be nothing in the hole, nothing in the mag and the mag out of the well.

So you didn't read all the rest of the posts in this thread?

Loaded mag does not equal loaded firearm.

Read 12031. Read People v Clark. Read my carry flyer. Read the other posts in this thread. Read the dozens of other treads on the topic.