MI School Carry. . . WV St. Police. . . MA Stun Guns. . . Gun Sniffing Dogs. . . TSA & Locks

[Gary Slider]

Michigan – The Michigan Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling on July 27, 2018 with the media and RBKAs Orgs reporting that by them upholding the previous court ruling that K-12 schools can ban firearms from their schools. Michigan Open Carry https://miopencarry.org/ who was a party in the suit is saying “hold on a minute!” You can read what Michigan Open Carry is putting out on the ruling at
https://miopencarry.org/news/2018/07/No-The-SCoM-Did-Not-Say-That-Schools-Can-Ban-Guns
You can read the court opinion at
http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/agopinions/MISupremeCt_FirearmInSchools.pdf
For now the Courts have given Schools the right to make Policy banning the open carrying of firearms from their premises. State Law already makes Concealed Carry illegal on K-12 Property.

West Virginia State Police – West Virginia is my home state. Been living here since I was born at the middle of the last century. That makes me OLD! Our State Police will not update their website which lists states which WV honors and who honors them. If you go to the listing at https://www.wvsp.gov/Criminal Records/Pages/Concealed-Weapon-Permit-Reciprocity.aspx you will see that they are stating the five states listed at the bottom are not honored by WV. Well they are! I have emailed them more than once and nothing gets changed. People looking at www.handgunlaw.us and then the link I did have to the WVSP Listing would email me saying Handgunlaw.us is incorrect. You could click on Contact us at the bottom of the WVSP Listing and drop them an email. If you do please be nice and just tell them their listing is out of date big time. I have found out if you make them work reading your emails and they have to read a lot of them they will fix it so they don’t have that work to do! Yes WV is permitless carry but they still honor permits and it makes a difference as WITHOUT a permit WV honors if they drive onto K-12 School property with a loaded firearm they are an instant Felon! Us with valid permits can do that. Another stupid law but that is the law until it is changed.

Massachusetts - Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140: Section 131J

Sections 131¾, 131K and 131P shall not apply to stun guns. The secretary of public safety and security shall promulgate regulations restricting access or use of stun guns by non-licensed persons and establishing minimum safety and quality standards, safe storage requirements, education and safety training requirements and law enforcement training on the appropriate use of stun guns, which shall require that any stun gun purchased or used by a law enforcement or public safety official include a mechanism for tracking the number of times the stun gun has been fired. (Above is the new wording for this section after the Supreme Court Ruling saying they couldn’t ban them. The link will still show the old text of the law until they updated it. Those with a valid permit to carry in Mass can carry a stun gun also but I look for Mass to put on a lot of restrictions through Administrative Rules and they will most likely even throw in the kitchen sink along with the fridge for good measure covering those who don’t have a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Mass!!!! Other states still have bans on the books and watching to see what they do with them after the SCOTUS ruling.) https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section131J
A couple Items worth mentioning!!!

Stephen Wenger http://spw-duf.info/ sent me this awhile back and I believe it needs shared: Everyone knows that dogs have a great sense of smell. Most people know that they can detect drugs. Fewer people perhaps know that they are also capable, it is said, of using their noses to sniff out guns. But D.C. police reported an example of this on Tuesday. According to the police a car had failed to heed a stop sign around 5:15 p..m. on Monday in in the 1200 block of Neal Street, in the Trinidad area of Northeast [Washington]. Police stopped the car. As reported by the police, the driver turned out to have a valid license. But it happened, police [said], that one of their specially trained dogs was at the scene. The dog, according to a police account, gave a signal that indicated the presence of a gun. The police said that a gun was indeed found in the car. They said they made an arrest on a charge of carrying a pistol [without] a license.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...3e80e8-79ca-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – Over the years the TSA has stated that only the Passenger checking the firearm should have a key or combination of the lock on a hard sided case when declared in checked baggage when flying. This is true but there have been many debates over the years with some stating that only TSA approved Locks could be use and others saying any lock would do. The argument has been settled as the TSA is now stating in writing the following. “You may use any brand or type of lock to secure your firearm case, including TSA-recognized locks.” You can see that on their site at https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition
The Michigan Info on K-12 Opinion, Link to WVSP Listing and Massachusetts Stun Gun Law Changes have already been added to their respective state pages at www.handgunlaw.us

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – Over the years the TSA has stated that only the Passenger checking the firearm should have a key or combination of the lock on a hard sided case when declared in checked baggage when flying. This is true but there have been many debates over the years with some stating that only TSA approved Locks could be use and others saying any lock would do. The argument has been settled as the TSA is now stating in writing the following. “You may use any brand or type of lock to secure your firearm case, including TSA-recognized locks.” You can see that on their site at https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transport...and-ammunition

Gary, it's nice to know that the TSA has finally acknowledged that we can use the type of locks (i.e. non-TSA approved) that the law requires, but I'm going to suggest that regardless of what the TSA has on their web site, the use of TSA-approved locks on gun cases does not comply with the law.

The topic of transporting firearms on airplanes is found in 49 C.F.R. § 1540.111 Carriage of weapons, explosives, and incendiaries by individuals.
Title 49 - Transportation

https://law.justia.com/cfr/title49/49-9.1.3.5.8.2.10.6.html

Regarding the locks, it says:

§ 1540.111 Carriage of weapons, explosives, and incendiaries by individuals.

...

(c) In checked baggage. A passenger may not transport or offer for transport in checked baggage or in baggage carried in an inaccessible cargo hold under §1562.23 of this chapter:

(1) Any loaded firearm(s).

(2) Any unloaded firearm(s) unless—

(i) The passenger declares to the aircraft operator, either orally or in writing, before checking the baggage, that the passenger has a firearm in his or her bag and that it is unloaded;

(ii) The firearm is unloaded;

(iii) The firearm is carried in a hard-sided container; and

(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the passenger retains the key or combination.

Essentially by definition, ALL "TSA-approved" locks are locks that have a provision to be opened by a master key that TSA agents have. This allows any TSA agent to unlock a bag with a TSA lock on it, examine the contents, and relock the bag without the necessity of the passenger being present (or knowing that his or her bag has been opened). The purpose of the federal law requiring that only the passenger retains the key or combination is precisely to prevent anyone other than the passenger from opening the gun case. Obviously, if the gun case is locked with a lock that every TSA agent in the country has a key to, the intent of the law has been totally neutered.

I'm not a lawyer (as Frank Ettin periodically reminds me ), but I think the language in the law is clear enough that we can see that the use of a TSA-approved lock clearly does not comply. It's okay to use a TSA lock on the outer suitcase in which the locked gun case is being transported, but IMHO the use of a TSA lock on the gun case itself does not conform to the requirement set forth in the law.

Remember, the TSA's web site used to tell us that we should give the key or combination for the gun case to the TSA inspectors and that we didn't have to be present when they inspected the gun. I don't put much faith in anything they have on their web site. Their web site information is intended to make their work easier, not to help us understand and comply with the law.

I thought there was a sticky post/thread on this site that discussed transporting guns on commercial aircraft but, if there is, I can't find it.

 

[Gary Slider]

The TSA added the wording in that paragraph in the last week about any lock including a TSA Lock. Like you I have read the Federal Regs on transporting firearms and it always stated no one except the owner can have a key or combination. The TSA does have a master key to open TSA Approved Locks which anyone with common sense can see doesn't comply with the federal regs. Then I remember we are dealing with the Government!