Hello, I'm new to the forum and almost new to the gun world too. I have an appointment with my local PD next week to drop my FID app off.

 

What I would like to know,

 

I have a suburban and would like to know the best way to secure a firearm in the back of the hatch?

 

I was thinking a TruckVault but don't want to spend $1,500 for one and add 400 LBS of extra wight in the hatch as gas mileage is almost next to zero as it is.

 

So what do you do with an SUV when transporting your firearms?

Case them and place them in the back. You can not keep them in there all the time in NJ, so a vault is overkill.

You cannot keep firearms in the car. Would need a CCW for that.

 

Furthermore, NJ law states that you can only transport firearms with you between home, range, shop, place of business. So, realistically, if you are following the law, you are in the car when the firearms are. You are not supposed to stop at a point in between.

Furthermore, NJ law states that you can only transport firearms with you between home, range, shop, place of business. So, realistically, if you are following the law, you are in the car when the firearms are. You are not supposed to stop at a point in between.

Yeah....but I normally dont shoot by myself. I have someone with me. So when I stop by wawa I say what do you want ill get it, not...lets leave these guns alone and get some coffee!!!! lol

The law allows for reasonable stops/detours while legally transporting guns to or from the range. A coffee stop at Wawa on the way to the range would be reasonable. A slight detour to pick up a friend would be reasonable. A day at the beach before a late afternoon range visit probably wouldn't fly. Just keep the guns and ammo in separate locked cases and you should be just fine.

 

Ken

They should be placed all the way in the back so as not to be readily accessable to someone in the car. I also place a packing blanket or some sort of covering over the gun cases and ammo boxes so that anyone looking into your car cannot see them. The covering is not a requirement, but it is a very good idea.

The law allows for reasonable stops/detours while legally transporting guns to or from the range. A coffee stop at Wawa on the way to the range would be reasonable. A slight detour to pick up a friend would be reasonable. A day at the beach before a late afternoon range visit probably wouldn't fly. Just keep the guns and ammo in separate locked cases and you should be just fine.

 

Ken

 

Read somewhere, or heard at a range....

 

By their definition, coming from some lawyer...

 

Picking up a friend is fine. Driving to friends house to pick up a friend, but staying an hour waiting for them... is not reasonable.

 

Same thing on the way back.

 

 

But hopefully you never have to go through something that it goes down to this.

Jersey law is up to interpretation by the Officer on the scene. Be polite and courteous, he can be wrong but then you will have to prove your innocence and that is a hassel you do not want.

Thanks guys. I guess there is no vault for me. I didn't want to blow $1500 anyway...

 

Would keeping the ammo in my armrest between my seats be an alright spot if the firearm were in the hatch compartment?

get a backpack, throw it on floor in the passenger seat. or in the passenger seats behind you. Keep it simple.

Why? Don't give a LEO any reason to want to search your truck or harrass you. keep it in an ammo box seperate from your cased guns. You can even keep them next to each other in the back as long as they are in seperate containers and cases.

all good stuff gentlemen. I drive a Subaru Outback wagon, so I have the same SUV issue of no trunk.

I have a van so I am in the same boat. At least in my wifes Forrester there is a cover to pull out and conceal anything in the back.

It's good to know that as long as the firearm is in a locking case and the ammo is in a backpack or ammo box that I can keep them both in the hatch with the cargo shade pulled over them to keep them from sight.

What about a range bag? If your handgun is in a sealed plastic case in the range bag and your ammo is in its original boxes in that same range bag and the range bag is in a car trunk or back hatch of an SUV is that ok?

 

-Scott

Scott,

 

My understanding is that they both can be in the hatch/trunk, but both in separate containers.

Just remember in NJ walk on the side of caution. You are guilty until you prove innocence. And that is costly.

 

My stuff is always in seperate cases.

Thanks guys. I will do what was mentioned before and keep a seperate backpack in the trunk. This way I can put ammo boxes in there and keep gun in the range bag.

 

-Scott

Does the ammo have to be in a locked case, or can it just be stored, in, say, an ammo can?

 

Same question for the firearm - does it need to be in a locked case? I seem to remember from the dim past when I lived in NJ that it did. Or does a trigger / cable lock on the firearm in an unlocked case count? (I intend to visit a friend who is still in NJ and I'd rather stay on the right side of the laws!)

It is best to keep them in seperate cases. A lock is not necessary. A gun in a case and ammo in an ammo can is fine. Coming in with out of state plates and having a small lock on both cases could not hurt. I always try to think of what would make the Cop who pulls me over more at ease. It may be overkill and not required, but the more I try to distance myself from a wise mouth thug or a street lawyer who is going to tell the cop the law, the easier my experiences have been.

 

I have not been pulled over while transporting though, but I have read and been told horror stories from those that have and from friends who are Cops and have to deal with someone telling them the law.

 

This is just me though, I suffer from Fear of Bubba Syndrome.

 

Good luck

Thanks guys. I guess there is no vault for me. I didn't want to blow $1500 anyway...

 

Would keeping the ammo in my armrest between my seats be an alright spot if the firearm were in the hatch compartment?

 

No. The ammo should be in a locked cased. The firearm/s should also be in a separate case/s from the ammo.

 

Dick's Sporting Goods has a single gun case for about $16 and a double for about $21. They also have an ammo case for less than $10. You can get inexpensive but strong combination locks at Home Depot. I like the kind with three or four wheels rather than the cheap dail type. This may be overkill but when it come to firearms, The New Jersey Appellate Court in State v. Pelletieri stated, " When dealing with guns the citizen acts at his peril."

Just to clarify what NJ LAW says or does not say, ammunition need not be in a separate case than the firearm. The firearm just can't be loaded. Even the airlines allow both in the same case. Although it is good practice to keep them separate just as tbtrout suggests.

"So how does one legally transport a firearm to and from the range?".

 

N.J.S. 2C:39-6(g)

 

"All weapons being transported under paragraph (2) of subsection b.,

subsection e., or paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection f. of this section shall be

carried unloaded and contained in a closed and fastened case, gunbox,

securely tied package, or locked in the trunk of the automobile in which it

is being transported, and in the course of travel shall include only such

deviations as are reasonably necessary under the circumstances."

 

So keep your firearm unloaded and in a securely tied package and store the ammo separately (i.e.: firearms in a tied box stored in a locked trunk, and ammo in the back seat stored in a closed ammo box). Any additional precautions like adding a trigger lock or lockable gun case or dismantling your firearm is totally voluntary. And remember you are only allowed to deviate in your course of travel as reasonably necessary under the circumstances. In other words, don't pack your firearms in your car on Monday for a trip to the range on Wednesday.

 

The Col. says: The NJ Supreme Court can rewrite laws and the state constitution at will. Therefore, I say go above and beyond the law. There is no penalty for being too careful.

 

Maskim: This thread belongs in the NJ firearms law section.

Quite frankly if you transport in a range bag, keeping the handgun in a separate compartment from the ammo should do it. That's the way I carry mine to the range when in NJ and so does most of the others. No one expects two separate bags or containers. Unless you are carrying several hundred rounds you might do the ammo can route which I use on occasion.

 

Common sense works quite well in these areas. You can read way too much into these statutes and everyone will have a different take.

Advice from some law enforcement officers I know........

The consensus is locked container for gun and ammo in a different container. In the trunk of the car or back storage area of the SUV.

 

That said......IMO.....

None of this is common sense by any means. It is all stupidity.

Handguns are meant to be kept loaded (cocked and locked whenever possible) in a holster on your belt.

Shotguns belong hanging in a rack on the roof of your pick-up or behind the seats in a car holster.......both methods of storage require full tubes with nothing more than a quick pump to load the chamber.

The laws in this state must change. We need to come together. We are having our right to keep and bear arms infringed upon in almost every way possible here in NJ.

Guns in the hands of law abiding citizens is good thing which we need to bring to the front lines of politics in this state.

Believe it or not, whether they be left, right, or center on the political map, there are a lot of gun owners here in NJ.

We need to vote together to be heard clearly.

The political rhetoric does nothing to answer the original question.

Common sense works quite well in these areas. You can read way too much into these statutes and everyone will have a different take.

 

Common sense will do you no good behind bars if the LEO thinks the law should be interpreted differently.

 

I was looking for an 'ammo case' to take to the range, and I recalled that my mom had an old Samsonite makeup case, complete with combination lock. So I was thinking about asking her if she still used it (despite the fact that it's powder blue). Well, I stopped at a garage sale about 2 wks ago and sure enough, there's the Samsonite cosmetic case I'm looking for, but in brown/tan (a little more manly than powder blue). $0.50 later, I'm on my way... Now I just need to figure out how to re-perfume it with Hoppe's #9 instead of Chanel #5

You can transport each round separately if you so desire. The law does not require it. The law states the firearm be secured in a case, unloaded and not directly accessible to the occupants. Not directly accessible is taken as the requirement of radial movement being required as well as several steps needed to open and access the firearm. How you are reading the separate container I have no idea. State firearm's seminars have never put forth this requirement, nor can I remember a case involving someone being charged for not having it in a separate case. If that is the way you wish to carry your ammo, that's fine. No reason you can't take the transport to a higher level. But don't put forth incorrect information to newly minted firearm's owners looking for information.

I transport my firearms only in vehicles without trunks. Between my three cars, and my buddy's two cars, we don't have a separate lockable trunk between us.

 

I put a trigger lock on each firearm, and lock the ammunition in a locked surplus ammo box (purchased from AmmoLock; I'm going to buy their kits for my other boxes too). My buddy does not lock his firearms, but does have all the ammo in a locked plastic ammo box.

 

In the pickup, we stuff all the stuff behind the seats, except for the two ammo boxes which are in the bed of the truck. In the big SUV, it's all at the back of the luggage area. In my little compact, the ammo and most firearms in soft cases are in the hatch, but rifles in hard cases are on the back seat.

 

-Melgamatic

Sounds like you have it covered quite nicely.