Transportation of Firearms in Motor Vehicles in California

[Music] hi folks I'm Brusco Watney the California gun attorney gum wad I've come for over 30 years I've been very busy here in California defending gun owners in court California has without a doubt the strictest state gun laws in the entire United States the subject of this vehicle is lawful transportation of firearms in motor vehicles in the state of California and over my career this has been one of the biggest legal hazards for gun owners in California so just how do you draw fleets will transport guns when you're driving in California well the number one rule is they have to be completely unloaded and in California unloaded means completely unloaded unlike other states where merely having an empty firing chamber is sufficient compliance in California if they're the why is that if there's a live round of ammunition which can be discharged from the firearm and it's attached in any manner from which it can be fired then it's deemed to be loaded now in addition to the prohibition on carrying a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle in California we have another legal hazard for gun owners driving in California and that's the prohibition on carrying a handgun or a registered so-called assault weapon unlawfully concealed in a motor vehicle they have to be concealed but they have to be correctly concealed to be compliant with current California law so what our code says is that you can carry a handgun or a registered assault weapon in a secured fully enclosed container that's locked with a key lock a combination lock or something similar it also specifies that a secured fully closed lock container does not include a utility compartment or a glove compartment well glub-glub compartments easy but what the hell is the utility compartment our statutes don't tell us our case law don't tell us so I highly recommend that it vehicle has a front console do not use it I also recommend against the use of these compartments that even locking compartments that are often found in the back of hatchback vehicles or SUV sport utility vehicles people often ask me they say I Drive a pickup truck I've got a steel toolbox that locks bolted in the bed behind the cab with those I think they're OK the reason why there's a good argument in court that that what's called a cross bed pickup truck bed toolbox it's the functional equivalent of a trunk meaning that if you want access to it you have to pull the keys out of the ignition get out from behind the wheel walk around the back stick the key in the lock and open that toolbox just like you would if you had a trunk now I know there's some exceptions some drugs can be opened with a cable but as I said I think across a steel toolbox or a hard plastic toolbox that's bolted to the bed of your pickup truck and locked and remember to lock these containers that is compliant now we also have a requirement in California that a handgun cannot be visible from the outside of a vehicle now all of these laws apply the simple way to look at the application of these laws is if you're not on ground where you can legally fire that firearm than these laws apply so and I also want you to beware that over my career on several occasions I've had to defend a gun owner in California where they had not a single round of ammunition the gun was completely unloaded there was no ammunition in the vehicle there was no ammunition on the person of that gun over there was they didn't have ammunition in their pocket or their purse but the handgun was not properly secured in the vehicle also in California we have published Court of Appeal opinions which are field set binding legal precedent holding that even partial concealment can be a violation there's a published case where the officer the facts recite that the officers saw the butt of a revolver sticking out from underneath the front seat even though it was obvious that it was a firearm the Court of Appeal held that that was sufficient concealment to violate the statute now there are many exceptions to these prohibitions on unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm unlawfully carry concealed an unlawfully concealed handgun but here's my philosophy with the many exceptions if we need them in court great we'll use them to the fullest extent allowed by law into the best of my skills however if you have if you're thinking about relying on one think long and hard before you do and think about how you may be able to prove it in court that you fell within one of these exceptions now despite the constitutional guarantee of a presumption of innocence when accused of a crime the California courts have ruled that some of these exceptions are letter note is affirmative defenses for example if you're accused of unlawfully carrying a loaded and concealed handgun in a motor vehicle and you have a license to carry a concealed weapon and yes they are available in California in some counties other counties it's extremely difficult to obtain a CCW in California but the California courts say that it's your burden to show that you had a valid license to carry and how would you do that in court typically you would serve a subpoena duces taken on the law enforcement agency that issued your concealed carry permit in California the technical term is a license to carry a concealed weapon but like the rest of the country we refer to them here as the CCW California also has provisions forbidding the open carry of unloaded handguns and the open carry of unloaded long guns rifles and shotguns same basic rule if you cannot legally fire the gun then you can't carry it openly now this is likely to be an issue in because in ongoing and future Second Amendment litigation because basically in many areas particularly the urban counties in California it's virtually impossible of for most citizens law-abiding citizens to obtain the CCW yet they're not allowed to carry openly despite the US Supreme Court opinions in Heller and McDonald saying that we do have an individual right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment now the best way to avoid these problems being accused of a crime while transporting your lawfully owned lawfully possessed firearms of a motor vehicle is use a portable walking container now even I tell people even if you have a vehicle with a traditional trunk still use a locked container cars are mechanical devices you can have a mechanical breakdown you can be involved in an accident a drunk driver blows a red light t-bones you and your car is leaving the scene not under its own power but on the back end of a tow truck you need to be prepared to get your firearms home lawfully and discreetly so use those locking containers now on the same subject lawful transportation of firearms in a motor vehicle in California I'm often asked what about a motor home well here are the simple rules for the transportation of firearms and motor homes in California while you're driving it it's treated just like a car or a truck when it's parked and you're down for the night or for a few hours it depends now if you just pull into a rest stop along the high along the interstate highway because you know you need to get a few hours sleep and you don't want to pay $100 or more for hotel room there now does that qualify as your temporary residence or campsite that's one of the exceptions in California you can have a loaded firearm that your temporary residence or campsite that language is in the Penal Code section that creates this exception however if you end up in a jury trial it's normally considered a question of fact to be determined by the jury and by the way questions of law determined by the judge so if you end up sleeping at a rest stop you take your firearm and you load it and you end up in front of the jury you can expect a seasoned district attorney to argue where the picnic benches where the fire pits and then you've also in addition to the problem of getting around the loaded you have the issue of unlawful concealment yet even put in a lock and container that you can open quickly maybe it has one that's equipped with a biometric lock although is an emergency I'm not very trustful of electronic devices a I'm old-fashioned I tend to like a key that I can turn all right now regarding campsites keep in mind that some public campgrounds may have additional restrictions on the possession of firearms and they may have more strict regulations concerning how firearms can be possessed for example in California state parks the regulation basically says it has to be locked and disassembled when you're traveling through anti-gun states like California there is a federal law I sometimes called the safe passage Act and I've got an article on my website gamma comm that addresses this and also have a video up that will talk about this what it basically says is that say for example is straight of beginning with an example let's say you live in Florida and you're going to go moose hunting in Maine and you're going to travel by car or truck so you you're going to go through Massachusetts once you get to dealing with knowit aureus anti-gun state well this federal law says that if it's legal for you to possess and carry the firearm in the state that you're departing and the state of your destination then you can lawfully drive through god states that require that you'd have a special permit or license because federal law preempts state law under the Supremacy Clause the United States Constitution you do have to have the firearm in the ammunition separated they should both be under lock and key again read my article on this subject on gun law calm or watch the other video on that subject now people often ask me what happens if I get caught unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm in my vehicle or on lob I have a handgun either exposed unlawfully exposed to my vehicle or unlawfully concealed in my vehicle well historically most of these violations have been prosecuted as misdemeanors and in fact California law provides that if you have no prior felony convictions no prior misdemeanor convictions for weapons or drug offenses and the firearm is listed in your name and what's known as the automated firearm system here in California the district attorney can only file in this demeanor charge or they can file a felony but you'd have good grounds to move for an order to have it dismissed before trial the af-s is known as that again is known as the automated firearm system and here in California for decades if you purchase or have a handgun transferred to you through a licensed dealer a record of that transfer is created at the state capital at DOJ headquarters in Sacramento and as of January 1st 2014 the central record-keeping function was extended to rifles and shotguns so when you drive with Motor Vehicles be careful I also recommend you watch another one of my videos close encounters gun owners and law enforcement contacts any other questions please visit my web site Gamla comm there's many other articles and questions various materials all intended to help gun owners survive in California without having to come in and see me and sit across the desk and write me a check with a lot of zeros keep in mind also that this is general information that I'm providing it's subject to change I don't think we're going to see much pro-gun legislation here in California don't expect any of these got these laws to be repealed by our legislature however the pro Second Amendment movement has had great success in the courts the last ten years and I think we're going to have even more success alright folks thanks for watching good shootin happy hunting come back and watch again soon [Music]

Channel: GunLaw.com

Views: 186,701

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Keywords: colodny, bruce, guns, firearms, gun, firearm, car, truck, rv, motorhome, campsite, camping, camp, california, lawyer, attorney, how to, tutorial, travel, california gun laws, gunlaw, gunlaw.com, bruce colodny, cars, gun law, gun laws, california gun law, 2nd amendment, second amendment, constitution

Id: lboffNTbxn0

Length: 13min 36sec (816 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 17 2017