Gun in an RV

M

mapsjanhere

New member
After an encounter of the non-smokey bear kind, my wife decided our RV needs an armed option. Since I don't want to check every local jurisdiction on gun laws, I figured handguns are probably out. I did go for a take-down Browning BLR, assuming that a disassembled rifle shouldn't get me in trouble anywhere outside NYC. It stores nicely, and I still can have it ready faster than I could load up a regular lever action due to the magazine.
Does anyone know if even this way I might run afoul of the law somewhere?
 
What type of RV do you have?

My wife and I travel several months at a time in a Class A and I will not be without a weapon. I usually tote two handguns and a shotgun. The shotgun stays in a locked metal case which is kept in the closet and I have a small safe which I store the handguns when they are not needed or I am so place where my CCW is not honored. Almost every where you are allowed to protect your home and in effect, your RV is your home.

My personal feeling is that I take my weapon every place I go, even if my permit is not honored. I would rather explain why I was carrying and pay the fine and do the time than to end up dead because I was defenseless against an armed thug.

Best advice I can offer is do not...do not try to go into Canada with firearms. They are very restrictive. If you are not going to a named competition, you will have to leave your weapons at the border crossing and return to pick them up. Not too bad unless you don't want to come back thru the same border crossing.
 
I agree on the permit issue, I much rather argue with the ranger over the gun I did have than the bear without. But I'd still like to know the legal ramifications (mostly out west, I don't think I'm going to make it east of the Mississippi anytime soon RV wise).
 
I would rather explain why I was carrying and pay the fine and do the time than to end up dead because I was defenseless against an armed thug.
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In NY, that would be a felony. Unless you have a NY state pistol permit, and they don't issue them to non-residents.
 
Sadly what sound like good logic on the board could have you in deep trouble with the law. In Ohio you can not have a loaded gun in the RV unless you have a carry permit and that only covers loaded handguns. A loaded magazine is a loaded gun weather it's for a pistol or long gun. En-blocs and stripper clips are not loaded guns under Ohio law. Confused yet? And that's just one state.

To answer your first question, yes your plan of a take-down rifle with a loaded magazine would be a major problem in Ohio.
 
I don't think there's any good substitute for reviewing the laws of wherever you're going to be. There's just too much variation, and there's no "one size fits all solution."

And some places it won't be just a matter of paying a fine or getting a ticket. Some places it will be a felony. And that would mean arrest, bail, legal hassles, lawyers, expenses and perhaps a loss of the right to possess a firearm.

Check out the books available from Bloomflield Press (http://www.gunlaws.com/). They may have something that can help.
 
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The RV is your domicile while you are living in it just as a hotel or motel room would be. There should be no problem with having a firearm in the coach; but I would not declare it if stopped just as I would not declare a firearm in my principle place of residence.

Check the domicile laws in the states you intend to visit.
 
I disagree with the above statement. The RV is a vehicle and almost every state treats it like a vehicle, not a DOMICILE. Which means, if you have got a loaded handgun you better have a CCW for that state, and in some states they do can't a loaded mag as a loaded firearm.
Best bet is always to check the state laws where you will be traveling, because as someone else said, there isn't a "Do it all" answer.
 
What are the odds of a LEO even asking to search an RV?
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I believe there was a case several years ago in California where a man's RV did get searched because he had a "Defended by Smith & Wesson" sticker on the back. A firearm was found and he was charged.

The case eventually went to the Cali Supreme Court, if I recall; They ruled that his RV was, in fact, his domicile and that the search was illegal and he was entitled to have the firearm in his own home.
 
Jimpeel, my point wasn't that it isn't legal everywhere, it was that most states treat it as a vehicle....and the ones that don't have different restrictions. I was stating there simply isn't a do it all answer
 
What are the odds of a LEO even asking to search an RV?
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Doesn't matter what the odds are, the answer is still, "No, I do not consent to any search of my property, in fact, that is exactly why I locked the doors behind me when I exited the RV!"
 
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