Attorney Explains How to Transport Guns In California

come on everybody in this video I'm be discussing how you can legally transport firearms in the state of California although I am a licensed and practicing attorney in the state of California this in no way is legal advice my goal with this video is just to give you guys some foundational knowledge on what exactly California's laws say about how to transport firearms so as the general rule the best practice is always to transport a firearm unloaded in a locked container so a lot of questions that come out of this is what exactly is unloaded so let's look at what exactly unloaded means so unloaded actually means that there is no ammunition either in the handgun in the firearm or attached to the handgun or firearm so for example I have my Glock 19 right here it is unloaded this magazine is empty safety check so for the purpose of California as long as there is no ammunition contained inside or attached to this handgun this can gun is considered unloaded as you can see there's no ammunition actually inside this magazine so even if the magazine is attached to this firearm like this there is no ammunition either inside this magazine or inside this farm and we'll cover what exactly lock containers are in a second but for example I have this container here I could actually have this handgun like this it doesn't with the magazine attached to it no ammunition in it there's no ammunition to actually contained inside the slide either I can transport this firearm like this also for the purposes of transporting a firearm in California let's say I did have ammunition in this magazine as long as this magazine is not a fix to this handgun I can still transport this magazine with this handgun so let me clear that up a lot of people say if there's ammunition in this magazine I cannot transport this handgun and this magazine in the same container in the same law container a lot of people say it would be violation to California law to transport a firearm in this manner even though the magazine with the ammunition is not affixed to the handgun that is incorrect you can transport the handgun with a loaded magazine in this same law container because the magazine is not attached to the actual firearm if this magazine were attached to this firearm or let's say I had a round actually chambered in the handgun then I would be violating California's transportation laws but for the purposes of the language there is no ammunition actually inside the handgun or affixed to the handgun therefore I can transport this handgun with the magazine whether unloaded or loaded in the same container the only caveat with that which I keep harping on because I'll get a lot of questions about it is the magazine cannot be attached to the handgun if it has ammunition in it but it can be in the same law container so for a quick summary unloaded means that there is no ammunition actually in the firearm or attached to the firearm unloaded does not mean that you do not have any ammunition or magazine anywhere near the firearm people who say that you cannot transport a farm in the Tsing container with ammunition or with a magazine is incorrect simply there just can be no ammunition either in the chamber in the magazine which is attached to the firearm or there can be no ammunition actually in the cylinder of say like a revolver so next let's look at what exactly is a locked container a locked container means it is something that is fully enclosed and prevents the access to the firearm and the container is locked if it is locked with a padlock a key lock some sort of combination lock or other locking device which can be defined in Penal Code section 16 850 there are specific definitions of actual locking devices under that Penal Code if you want like to go take a look for yourself so for a first example of what exactly a locked container is you can see I have this metal lock container here it has a key lock on here it key opens and closes it but it is fully enclosed and it has a locking device this qualifies as a locked container now I've seen a lot of confusing discussion about well does the lock container hafnium metal does it have to be plastic can it be fabric things of that nature what exactly is the material under California law the language does not specifically define what type of material the locked container has to be therefore it does not have to be a metal container it can be any type of material that you want so for example I have this soft case here from our rifle this would qualify as a locked container as long as I put some sort of locking mechanism on these two little zippers here and actually lock these in place so that it could not be accessed this would qualify as a locked container another example of a qualifying lock container would be your simple box that you get with a firearm that you purchase our handgun then you purchase for example I bought a Glock 26 this case came with the Glock 26 this would qualify as a locked container as long as I put some sort of locking device on it that prevented the access to the firearm so if you hear out there that it has to be some sort of metal or hard case that is not true it just has to be fully enclosed to prevent the access and there must be some sort of locking device on it so the next issue that comes up is a lot of people ask well do glove boxes and utility departments qualify as a locked container specifically under this language in California those type of compartments do not qualify as locked containers there are multiple sections in the Penal Code in California's penal code that expressly prohibits someone from storing a firearm or transporting a firearm in a glove department or a utility box those do not qualify as a locked container as a general rule do not transport firearms handguns any type of firearm in those type of compartments they do not qualify as a locked container another question that comes up a lot is what about a trunk does a trunk qualify as a locked container a trunk only counts one it can be locked and cannot be accessed from the inside of the vehicle for example I Drive an SUV an SUV you technically under the language of California law does not have a trunk because the rear of the SUV can be accessed from other compartments of the interior of the vehicle an interesting issue that arises out of this is some vehicles may have a trunk technically a trunk but the trunk can be accessed through maybe a drop-down portion of the rear in California that would not qualify as a locked trunk because you can access it through the interior of the vehicle if you have some sort of drop-down your safe bet would be to also put the firearm that you're storing in the trunk in some sort of container and lock that container as well do not rely just on the trunk because under the language of California you might run into an issue where they say well you could actually access the firearm or you could access the trunk through the interior and therefore it is not considered a locked container so I've been talking generally about storing all firearms unloaded in a locked container there are some nuances on specific types of far so let's talk about that handguns and pistols have to be transported unloaded in a locked container at all times so that is your rule for handguns and pistols this is different from shotguns and rifles they do not have to be in a locked container they can be in a container out of plain view but they don't have to be locked now I want to take a quick pivot because some of you might actually ask about registered assault weapons I understand that these type of rifles are not actually assault weapons but in California there was a law that was passed where individuals would have to register specific rifles as assault weapons so some of you might have registered your rifles as assault weapons in the state of California you have to transport assault weapons at all times unloaded in a locked container with the transportation of registered a double use you can only transport those a double use to and from specific locations for example you can transport them from your home to your FFL you can transport them from the FFL back to your home you can transport them from your home to a gun range you can transport them from a gun range back to your house but it's only these two and from location there are specific locations that you can transport them to I'm not gonna list all the locations but there are specific places that you can transport those aw soon from the language in California is very strange it creates these weird grades these weird loopholes these nasty areas where you may get caught up on so my recommendation my general recommendation is if you are transporting a registered aw make sure you're only going to and from approved locations don't do random stop off don't just throw the rifle in your car make multiple stops make sure you're going from point A to B the next area I want to cover is transporting firearms within defined school zones so here federal law would actually apply not the State of California's laws federal law requires that all firearms within specific school zones be unloaded in locked containers so if you're transporting a firearm and you're within the range of a school zone they must be unloaded in a locked container so here you can see why there are various factional scenarios that could apply and and there are certain areas here that might blend together for example you may be transporting a rifle and think of that you can transport that rifle just unloaded in a container but it doesn't have to be locked well if you enter into a school zone or the area of a school zone while you're transporting that firearm you and fall under the federal laws and it must be actually locked so federal law actually defines school zones as in here within a thousand-foot of the school grounds of a K through 12 so that it specifically is the school zone definition it's a thousand feet of a K through 12 school so last let's look at what is the penalty for violating these transportation laws in the state of California most criminal charges involving firearms in state of California are considered wobblers the prosecutor is actually granted a discretion of charging you with either a misdemeanor or a felony if you were charged with a misdemeanor the penalty can be up to a year imprisonment in jail or fined up to the amount of a thousand dollars when charged with a felony the penalty can be up to three years in jail and up to one thousand dollars in fines so for both of these it's an and/or they can charge you with jail time or a fee jail time and a fee it's really up to the discretion of the prosecutor if you actually are convicted of the felony that then affects your ability to purchase firearms down the road so that's why I always recommend you be very cautious when you're transporting firearms so that's a quick summary of transporting firearms in the state of California if you have any specific questions go ahead and write down in the comment section below and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability if you found this video helpful or you find my videos helpful in general and you would like to support the channel the best way to do that it's enjoy my patreon and I'll put a link down the details to my patreon page another way you can support the channel is using the various affiliate links down in the description so as always things you guys for watching don't forget to Like and subscribe and never forget a nation that draws a great distinction between scholars and warriors well if it's law's room I coward since Wars levels

Channel: Armed Scholar

Views: 33,329

Rating: 4.9584846 out of 5

Keywords: transporting firearms in a vehicle california, transporting guns in california, transporting firearms, locked, driving with guns in ca, how to transport firearms in ca, how to transport firearms in california, driving with firearms in car, california gun laws explained, how to transport guns to the range, how to transport guns in a truck, transporting guns in a car, driving with guns in california, how to transport a gun in your car, how to transport a gun in a car, motorhome, truck

Id: QI9RaMgkpMo

Length: 10min 26sec (626 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 18 2020