Traveling with your AK

[zeme05]

My wife and I were talking about vacation and I thought the AMD in a tennis racket bag would be the perfect traveling gun. We wil be staying in our travel trailer at night. We will be staying in New Mexico and Colorado but got to thinking if you traveled into a prohibited state what are the ramifications, arrest,ticket,or what?

[nalioth]

So long as you are traveling, you are protected under FOPA.

FOPA includes your stops at motels along the way (but not any side trips).

[zeme05]

Good info, I will download and keep.
Thanks

[KernelKrink]

FOPA is a good idea, but it contains no penalties for authorities who violate it and several jursidictions openly ignore it. As a result, say you are travelling through a prohibited state and get pulled over for a bad taillight. "Do you have any guns"? "Why yes, officer, locked in the trunk unloaded as per FOPA." While you will be released eventually, there is nothing to prevent the cop from arresting you or confiscating the gun. Rarely will the gun be returned to you without a lawsuit to demand it's return, and the costs usually far outweigh what the gun is worth.

http://www.nraila.org/pdfs/torracovpany.pdf

[Expertowgunner]

[QUOTE=KernelKrink]FOPA is a good idea, but it contains no penalties for authorities who violate it and several jursidictions openly ignore it. As a result, say you are travelling through a prohibited state and get pulled over for a bad taillight. "Do you have any guns"? "Why yes, officer, locked in the trunk unloaded as per FOPA." While you will be released eventually, there is nothing to prevent the cop from arresting you or confiscating the gun. Rarely will the gun be returned to you without a lawsuit to demand it's return, and the costs usually far outweigh what the gun is worth.

More than likely he will ask you "why do you have a cop killing assault weapon in a tennis racket case?", and you then tell him its your right to bear arms and you are doing it legally via FOPA. He then beats your ass and takes you to jail along with your gun.

That was meant as a joke, but the couple years i spent selling guns, and a lot of my clientele were police officers, about 50% had this attitude and this is in southwest mo

[Expertowgunner]

I actually had ordered a FN 5.7 and a PS90 for a client that was a well to do law abiding citizen (he was a cardio surgeon i believe) and i had one of my cop clients in there looking at smith .38 snub that he was wanting as a backup. The surgeon was excited and started going through his new toys and while handling the guns, the cop turned to face him and his eyes got huge. He proceeded to let my loyal customer that he believed that he shouldnt own "cop killer" guns and if it was up to him he would have them banned cause "what would ever need those for". The surgeon smiled and said that he bought these for the same reason he bought his barret 82a1 and his registered full auto m16 trigger group he was putting in a LWRC M6, "because he can".

Ive got a couple cop buddies and the point of that was not to bash cops, but to understand that when unfortunately you get a biased or pissed off cop, you tend to suffer for it and honestly i would not carry my ak like that for the sake of the FOPA law as 99.9% of le officers dont even know what the hell that is, hell the most of the atf agents i dealt with didnt even know most of the gun laws that THEY had pushed forward (i asked a atf agent about 922r stuff and he just looked at me and said wtf is 922r?)

[zeme05]

You are probably correct in your statement albeit sad.

[GOVTMOD]

FOPA, For those jurisdictions that don't like it, which are the ones where it's needed, will arrest you. They will also eventually release you and drop the charges stating that FOPA is a positive defense smile and walk away. There is still an ongoing battle running through the courts against NJ Port Authority, etc. over FOPA.

A gentleman was on his way from SLC to Allentown, PA via Newark to pick up a car he had bought online. He was delayed in Newark and had to stay the night in NJ, he declared his .45 upon rechecking in the next morning and was arrested and spent about a week in jail.

Funny thing, at this exact same time I was doing the opposite trip. Driving from SLC to Allentown and flying back. I knew the attitude of the NJ authorities and insisted I fly out of Philly instead of Newark. It cost me an extra $50, 45 min drive and a overnight hotel stay but I knew it was worth it after I read about the other guy 2 wks later.

[pale horse]

I was thinking about moving to the states and am waiting for that thought to go away. I planned to show up in Kentucky with my family ,very little cloths and most of the fire arms with us by plane . Not all mind you as I have a truck full but a few sniper rifles some ar,s and some ak,s we where leaving most of the nice hand guns behind but taking the 50 cal. I thought about getting tore down and them saying what the fuck are you doing with so much guns and your family? It looks like the move is on hold and its really I cant just walk away from Alaska I have been here near 40 years.I think my radical views may not go over so well in the states.

[GOVTMOD]

Originally Posted by pale horse

I was thinking about moving to the states and am waiting for that thought to go away. I planned to show up in Kentucky with my family ,very little cloths and most of the fire arms with us by plane . Not all mind you as I have a truck full but a few sniper rifles some ar,s and some ak,s we where leaving most of the nice hand guns behind but taking the 50 cal. I thought about getting tore down and them saying what the fuck are you doing with so much guns and your family? It looks like the move is on hold and its really I cant just walk away from Alaska I have been here near 40 years.I think my radical views may not go over so well in the states.

You are fine and will probably fit in with most of us. You just have to avoid certain states. The short list is CA, NY, NJ, MA, DC & IL. Some of the other states/localities are a uptight about various types of firearms but aren't completely gestapo about firearms in general. Some weird restrictions like suppressors in OR and parts kits in WA but they wont flip out on you because you have a gun in your luggage or car. Most everywhere else you'd probably be ok. Check the regulations of any state you might be visiting and make sure you can accommodate them when there.

[maxxmojo]

In regards to the OP, most western states are somewhat gun friendly from what I've seen, with Kalifornia being the huge exception. If for whatever reason you get pulled over and the AMD comes into the equation just let the officer know you're staying in your travel trailer at night and just want some security. Pretty much every highway patrolman I've known (there's always exceptions, obviously) would totally understand your situation. Just don't keep it loaded and you'll more than likely be alright.

[Zx-10R]

Good to know regarding traveling with AK...Am thinking to do the same soon and that helps when I consider the fact that my handgun may not be enough.