Hard or Soft? Legal transportation

[67Roadster]

I'm in need of a gun case to transport to the range. Can I "lock" a soft
rifle case or do I need a hard sided case to legally transport the rifle.

Who's got the best deal on rifle cases?

(Long story, my new car has too low profile of tires to drive on the rocks at Lytle Creek so have to my wife's forester which doesn't have a locked trunk)

[Quiet]

Can I "lock" a soft rifle case...

Yes.

[tombinghamthegreat]

yes they both work but for rifles they only need to be locked for school zones. Otherwise locking them is not needed.

[okimreloaded]

I like how california believes that an locked gun case is less dangerous than an unlocked long gun when it's in a school zone and completely disregards who is carrying it. HOW about it's illegal for depressed kids or maniacs to carry unlocked guns anywhere and leave me alone to carry mine however the hell I want it.

[cmth]

You don't need to lock up long guns unless they are registered assault weapons.

(c) Subdivision (b) does not apply to the possession of a firearm
under any of the following circumstances:

(2) When the firearm is an unloaded pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed on the person and is in a locked
container or within the locked trunk of a motor vehicle.
This section does not prohibit or limit the otherwise lawful
transportation of any other firearm, other than a pistol, revolver,
or other firearm capable of being concealed on the person, in
accordance with state law.

Only pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person (defined by the state as any firearm with a barrel shorter than 16") need to be in a locked case within a school zone. As long as you are transporting through the zone, you do not need to lock up the long guns.

[high_revs]

Might be worth looking at the link below. Federal school zone law. Does not distinct between concealable firearms vs. non-concealable. I only linked this because cmth mentions school zone.

http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/index.php/Gun_Free_School_Zones#Federal

[tombinghamthegreat]

That is true there is the federal law which is confusing because it has to do with interstate commerce and transportation. As far as i can tell there has not been any convictions under the federal law and maybe someone with more knowledge could comment on this. But the state law only applies to handguns.

[high_revs]

As far as i can tell there has not been any convictions under the federal law and maybe someone with more knowledge could comment on this. But the state law only applies to handguns.

That may be true as I've not heard of it either. I merely wanted to bring awareness to OP that there are some vague Federal laws to possibly take into account. No need to be the 1st one to test it.

Who's got the best deal on rifle cases?

You can do a search for a thread started by me (or post by me) and key search words of soft cases. There are varied recommendations. Other more recent threads also suggest 511 tactical (especially the dual rifle bag), the NRA store version or (which I got) the condor sniper drag bag (dual rifle). plan out your bags correctly, i.e. plan what you want to build in the future. I ended up having way too many bags (4!) because I didn't plan it right, i.e. one for each size and each build got lengthier and lengthier.