Quick question on rental properties or Hotel Rooms

M

MikeGoob

New member
If you rent a cabin for a stay, or even a hotel room out in the middle of nowhere (ie--not counting any strange big city ordinances). Say, in Wisconsin.

Can you have a gun with you where you sleep, as if it were your home? From my understanding its not the same as needing a carry permit, where you sleep is considered a 'home' and therefore any laws allowing people to have guns in the home are allowed to have guns on a rented property.

Any truth to this?
 
Its going to depend on the laws of the land. Some states are more generous with "renter's rights" than others.

In NV, for example, you are not legally allowed to conceal a gun on your person, in your own home, without a permit.


I'd check the state laws.
 
Varies state by state. Here in SC, the standard of occupation in hotels is paying the room tax. Buddy of mine was compted a room for a few weeks in return for doing security for the motel. He paid the room tax as that protected his right to be armed.
 
I would certainly take my pistol from the vehicle to the room or cabin with me. YMMV but I will take more care with my families safety than I will with some ordinance that attempts to lessen it.
 
Here is my Go-To logic for situations like this.

1. Know your rights and know the law of the land. If it is legal for you to have a firearm, then have one where you are.

2. Read anything you sign, be it an agreement to stay, compliance form, liability waiver, etc... Businesses often include things that you can or cannot do on their property under private property laws.

3. Look for signs that say, "No weapons permitted"; and know the laws concerning these signs.

So, I hold a license to carry a firearm, and am legally allowed to carry it everywhere within my jurisdiction.
I came into a hotel and rented a room.
I either didn't have to sign anything, or what I did have to sign had no regulations regarding weapons included.
There are no prohibition signs visible.

I'm taking my gun in there without a second thought, and without announcing it to anyone. Who needs to know anyway? I am within my rights and am sure not intent on bothering anyone.

~LT
 
I'm no lawyer, but...

I'm no lawyer, but there's sure to be no shortage of other non-lawyers chiming in on this, so here goes. Besides, I'm an old hand at staying in motels, and always armed. I can't count how many times I've stayed in a presumably respectable motel and yet seen evidence that my room's door had once been kicked in.

I would think that whatever self-defense rights one has in his home in that jurisdiction would also apply in a temporary domicile such as a hotel or motel room, e.g. the Castle Doctrine.

But there are special responsibilities in a hotel or motel. You must be aware that other folks' temporary domiciles are just a thin wall (or floor or ceiling) away, and that impacts on your field of fire. And you may not enjoy the same expectation of security from intrusion. An error at the front desk may result in another innocent guest attempting to enter your room with a key, or a drunk guest may try to enter the wrong room (this has happened to me a few times; I've responded by calling out "Don't do it!" in my best "command voice", while aiming at the door; always use the safety chain or a chair or some device to secure the door). And of course the housekeepers will enter the room in your absence, so your gun cannot be left in a place where it might be discovered. I've sometimes used lockable luggage and then chained and locked the luggage to the sink pipes.

This sounds paranoic, but even make sure that there are no gaps in the drapes through which a person outside might peer through and catch a glimpse of your gun on the table, even via the mirror!
 
Here in MO our castle doctrine says you do not have to retreat from any dwelling. That includes cabins, motel rooms, RVs, and even tents.
 
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