Rifle reciprocity and transporting through different states.

[teddy12b]

I like to use the USCCA handgun reciprocity map to double check any recent changes in state laws before leaving on any roadtrips that cross state lines. I have one such event coming up within a week and it got me double checking. I'm good on the handgun, but I usually keep an AR15 broken down in two pieces in a bag in the vehicle as well along with a handfull of loaded mags. What are the laws crossing state lines with this type of gun in the vehicle? For those interested the states I'll be passing through/into are Ohio and Kentucky. I just want to make sure I don't put myself in any kind of a bad or worse position because I'll be on the highway and don't want things to get weird if I get pulled over.

Thanks for any helpful advice.

 

[VERT]

To my knowledge no problems in IN/KY/OH. But I’m not a lawyer and I stay at Hilton and Wyndham properties not the Holiday Inn.

IL I would rethink your options. ARs are evil in that state. Plus the gun better be unloaded. They make carrying a practical long gun pretty impractical.

 

[zbloxzoid]

IL sucks.

When I drove up north to visit my family for a week, we took a detour to see her father in IL. It’s online - but to be sure I broke my AR15 into the U/L and locked it in a case. Ammo stored separately. I went and got my handgun for a lot of reasons, but one that people do not talk about is that you can carry in your vehicle. Beats unlocking a case and putting an AR together, getting the ammo from a separate container, and then being ready.

Especially driving through parts of Chicago.

 

[bgcatty]

Be afraid in Illinois. Be very afraid!

 

[VinceU1]

I was traveling from Indy to Denver on I70 and got pulled over by an Illinois county mountie. It was the middle of the night with my 2 year old daughter asleep in the front seat. 3 hours later with 4 more
Illinois state troopers and they sent me on my way. The county cop wanted to confiscate my bolt action rifles. No idea why, I guess he thought he could get some nice rifles for free. Avoid Illinois if at all possible.

 

[cosermann]

As I understand it, there‘s no such thing as “rifle reciprocity.” Each state has its own laws with respect to the proper transportation. Those should be followed.

The only other thing you‘d have going for you is the “safe passage provision“ of the FOPA [1].

[1] - Firearm Owners Protection Act

 

[BugI02]

In Ohio, you no longer have a 'duty to disclose' upon first contact with LEO but you still have to disclose all firearms if asked - and in most cases you will be asked

As far as ARs, there is language about rifles needing to be at least 24 inches muzzle to far end of stock AND barrel at least 18 inches in order to carry them in plain sight, which I find needlessly vague and confusing - seems like that AND should be an OR. I opt to carry my ARs cased in the trunk , but I'm only doing so between home and a range

Answers to Common Questions about Ohio’s New Permitless Carry Law | Buckeye Firearms Association

Senate Bill 215 has been signed into law and will make it legal to carry a concealed handgun without a license in Ohio beginning on June 13, 2022.

www.buckeyefirearms.org

Does this change how I transport long guns in my vehicle?
No. Carrying concealed, with or without a license, deals with a loaded handgun only. Transporting rifles and shotguns remains the same, meaning you must transport them unloaded, in a closed container, with ammunition in a separate container or closed compartment, in your trunk or in an area not accessible without leaving your vehicle.

Section 2923.16 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws

codes.ohio.gov

(C) No person shall knowingly transport or have a firearm in a motor vehicle, unless the person may lawfully possess that firearm under applicable law of this state or the United States, the firearm is unloaded, and the firearm is carried in one of the following ways:

(1) In a closed package, box, or case;

(2) In a compartment that can be reached only by leaving the vehicle;

(3) In plain sight and secured in a rack or holder made for the purpose;

(4) If the firearm is at least twenty-four inches in overall length as measured from the muzzle to the part of the stock furthest from the muzzle and if the barrel is at least eighteen inches in length, either in plain sight with the action open or the weapon stripped, or, if the firearm is of a type on which the action will not stay open or which cannot easily be stripped, in plain sight.

I would think you would be fine if the backpack is in the trunk, subject to where and how the loaded mags are carried, but as you can see there are just a lot of gray areas and IANAL

 

[xwing]

I was traveling from Indy to Denver on I70 and got pulled over by an Illinois county mountie. It was the middle of the night with my 2 year old daughter asleep in the front seat. 3 hours later with 4 more
Illinois state troopers and they sent me on my way. The county cop wanted to confiscate my bolt action rifles. No idea why, I guess he thought he could get some nice rifles for free. Avoid Illinois if at all possible.

More details please... How many years ago was this? What specific reasons did the police provide? Was there anything unusual in how you transported them?

Assuming your rifles were unloaded & in a case , you are legal both under Illinois law (430 ILCS 65/2 (b)(9)) and also protected under Federal law (18/926A).

 

[Joniki]

I travel through IL several times a year. It takes me 2.5 hours from IN to Iowa. I fuel, pee and check my attitude on the state line. I do NOT stop for anything in IL.

My worst nightmare has always been to be involved in an accident where my vehicle is towed.

 

[VinceU1]

More details please... How many years ago was this? What specific reasons did the police provide? Was there anything unusual in how you transported them?

Assuming your rifles were unloaded & in a case , you are legal both under Illinois law (430 ILCS 65/2 (b)(9)) and also protected under Federal law (18/926A).

It was 1993/4, just about the time Clinton got his way. The time was about 200AM, Westbound on I70, driving my 1988 Chevy S10 pickup with a camper cap on the back. All the rifles and the Ruger SRW were all in hardshell cases and I thought covered by things I was taking back home to Colorado. Illinois County Mounty pulled me over for "bad tail light". As far as he was concerned I was a "bad guy" and didn't care that my 2 year old daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs next to me in the pumpkin seat or that I was on a federal highway. I don't remember how the Illinois State Patrol got involved, but thank God they did cus I'd probably still be in the county lockup in what ever God forsaken county this was taking place in. I don't remember which county this was in, but it was just east of Effingham.

 

[xwing]

It was 1993/4, ...

Thanks for the update. Federal 926A (part of FOPA) has been in effect since 1986, so you were protected by Federal statute. Illinois 430 65/2 has been updated several times since then, but I suspect you were still also in compliance even 30 years ago. Sounds most likely that the county deputy didn't know the law very well, thought you were the "bad guy" and was determined to lock you up. (All assuming that the rifles were unloaded.) What's funny is that the Effingham area is actually pretty pro-2a, but there's always the exeption to the rule.

 

[04FXSTS]

The way I am reading the post by VinceU1 the firearms were in cases and in the camper shell. If correct even the Illinois law did not consider them illegally transported. As far back as I can remember the law said firearms may be legally transported in three ways.

1) Unloaded and in a case
or
2) broken down to an in operatable state
or
3) not immediately accessible.

Number one is by far the most common way but either of the three is legal. That word in between is or not and. Of course that assumes the cop actually knew the law or he may have just wanted to enforce his own interpretation that was not unusual. Jim.

 

[jedi]

I travel through IL several times a year. It takes me 2.5 hours from IN to Iowa. I fuel, pee and check my attitude on the state line. I do NOT stop for anything in IL.

My worst nightmare has always been to be involved in an accident where my vehicle is towed.

If the accident occurs in cook county, IL (aka home of chriaqi) you can kiss those firearms good bye. It will take you years to recover them.

 

[VERT]

If the accident occurs in cook county, IL (aka home of chriaqi) you can kiss those firearms good bye. It will take you years to recover them.

One reason why I don’t take my nicer pistols into IL. If if am in a wreck and I get separated from a $400 plastic gun, I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep.

Regarding handguns. Don’t forget IL now has a 15 round magazine restriction. 10 rounds for rifles.

 

[ditcherman]

Regarding handguns. Don’t forget IL now has a 15 round magazine restriction. 10 rounds for rifles.

Surely the ‘just traveling through’ laws still work to exempt us from these mag restrictions?

 

[SmileDocHill]

Surely the ‘just traveling through’ laws still work to exempt us from these mag restrictions?

My client forgot to add "Asking for a friend."

 

[Joniki]

Surely the ‘just traveling through’ laws still work to exempt us from these mag restrictions?

Waiting for a reply. IL is my route to Omaha several times a year. I may have to resort to my revolver. FUIL...

 

[jedi]

Waiting for a reply. IL is my route to Omaha several times a year. I may have to resort to my revolver. FUIL...

You can find the answer here:

HB 5471 FAQs

 

[jedi]

Furthermore the new ban in IL is for the sale of new magazines and firearms. *IF* an IL resident has those types of magazine or firearms before the law went into effective they can keep them but must "register" them with the state before January 2024.

 

[jedi]

If you can avoid IL do so.
If you can't and must travel thru the state, do as others have posted.

Pee, get gas, etc BEFORE you get to IL.
Go the speed limit and get thru IL and then rest/stop AFTER you are out of IL.