Transporting rifles

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Transporting rifles

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Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 8:59 pm Post subject: Transporting rifles

There is a fair bit in the press at the moment about law abiding citizens being arrested for carrying a pocket knife or similar. When we go to our local rifle club we often travel back at night in our car through urban streets and I was wondering what the local police would do if they found a rifle etc in the car.

At the moment I only have an air rifle which is in a case in the boot of the car.

Is there any legal requirements for transporting rifles? On safety grounds unloaded is obvious, but does it have to be cased and can it be transported on the back seat of the car if that's the safest place? If I were to be stopped in a random check is it best to declare that the car is carrying a firearm, or let them ask?

anneka

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 158

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 1:47 pm Post subject:

You should transport the rifle and any ammunition you have on you seperatly. So if you have the rifle in the boot then you should (as my FAO told me) lock any ammunition in the glove compartment. My car does not have a locking glove compartment - so he said use your best judgement. You can get barrel locks, which I would reccomend for a firearm but I don't even know if you can get them for an air rifle (I suppose you must). I think that if you were stopped then it would be a good idea to tell the officer who stopped you that you were transporting a rifle and why. However as I have discussed with DS it depends on where you are as to how closley these guidelines are followed.

Hope this helps,

Anneka

Ps - Should you be stopped I wouldn't run to the boot of your car and whip the rifle out to show them until you have had a chance to explain

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 1:48 pm Post subject:

anneka wrote:

Should you be stopped I wouldn't run to the boot of your car and whip the rifle out to show them until you have had a chance to explain

Sound advice

deerstalker

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 589

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 3:47 pm Post subject:

Thare are guidelines rather than laws on this subject.

Diffrent guidelines are adopted by different Police forces. There still seems some diffence of oppinion, as to whether a private car is deemed a 'public place'.

The gereral guidelines are:
Keep the rifle locked in the boot or locked out of sight.
Remove the bolt and keep it on your person.
Keep your FAC on your person (the police can confiscate any weapons until you produce the original).
Store ammunition separately from weapon where possible.
Carry your written permission to shoot with you.

There are various security devices and locks on the market, but the use of them is not mandatory (yet).

Provided you adhere to the above guidelines, there is no need or duty to inform the police you are carrying a firearm (depending why you were stopped of course), as your average bobby doesn't know much about firearms and is likely to overreact.

Officer: Excuse me sir, do you know what speed you were doing?

Driver: No, but would you like to see my weapon?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 3:49 pm Post subject:
lol Any one spot the ads on this thread? "You can search for ethics on ebay" jema

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 3:57 pm Post subject:
I like "Ethics is Power"

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 4:00 pm Post subject:
They're all about rifles now. Shouldn't it be Ethics ith a county?

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 04 7:54 pm Post subject:
When I pressed one of the links, it was an American site, but it said something like, "we see you are looking at this from the UK...." How did they know.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:34 am Post subject: Re: Transporting rifles

Treacodactyl wrote:

If I were to be stopped in a random check is it best to declare that the car is carrying a firearm, or let them ask?

I think its standard practice for officers about to carrou out a search (body search or vehicle) to ask the standard questions (are there any weapons, drugs or anything which may harm the officer etc) before they conduct the search.

I personally would rather tell the officer, even if they did not ask. I think thier reaction to finding an undecalred weapon may be a wee bit suspicious.

deerstalker

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 589

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 11:58 am Post subject:

As I said, to depends why you are stopped. If you are pulled over for a minor traffic offence it is unlikley the officer will want to search you or your vehicle.

If you are ever asked if you are carrying a weapon, so should of course, declare it.

There should never be a problem, because if you are carrying a firearm, you should also have with you your authority to do so.

If an officer wishes to search your vehicle, you have a right to know the reason for his actions.

Police officers often know little about firearms, and indeed firearms law. Despite my protests, I was once ordered to unsleeve a shotgun alongside a busy road. The officer then went ballistic and drew his baton because I was carrying a loaded gun.

I spent the next 15 minutes calming him down and explaining what snap caps were!

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 12:04 pm Post subject:
I agree with DS. I was trying to make the point that if an officer asked to search my vehicle and didn't ask about firearms, I would inform him before he found it. As DS says, too many officers don't understand they law and would react to unexpectedly fining a weapon. Declaring it in advance shows you have nothing to hide.

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