Traveling with a firearm

[mrbladedude]

Hi all. My name is Bryan and i know this topic has probably been beaten to death but i am still unclear of a few things.

I stay in VA at the moment but I go to NJ and PA often. My wife has family there and we go visit for a weekend at a time every now and again. I recently bought a handgun. I want to take it with me so that I can go shooting with my wife's Grandfather in PA. However. I am reading some info online that says NJ is going to give me a hard time.

Our trip goes like this every time. Leave VA, on 13 ( i think ), go through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey. Stop in New Jersey and stay the night at my wife's parents house. Next day we drive to PA to my Grandfather's and go shooting etc have lunch. Head back to NJ that evening and stay the night. Drive back to VA the next day. I am not sure if we go though a bit of New York interstate or not.

I plan on getting my concealed carry permit but at the moment I have not got one.

To be safe, My handgun will be in my trunk unloaded and the Magazines in my glove compartment, also unloaded and the ammo um i guess under the seat? Trunk maybe? I have a pistol safe at my house but i will not bring it. If the pistol seriously needs to be locked up, i will put a lock on the Glock factory pistol box that the gun came with.

If by Murphy's law or some other unfortunate occurrence I ended up getting pulled over in New Jersey and my firearm was found. What would happen?

Do you think there is anything else I can do to further safeguard myself from getting in trouble? I really don't want to leave my gun at home.

[knight0334]

Do not take a handgun to NJ. If caught you will go to prison for a long time. It doesn't matter if you have a license from your home state, or any other state. The only way you can have your gun in NJ is to have a NJ permit, or to be going directly to/from a state sanctioned shooting range.

Once you have your VA license you can carry in PA. You will still have to lock the unloaded gun up while driving through MD.

[mrbladedude]

Do not take a handgun to NJ. If caught you will go to prison for a long time. It doesn't matter if you have a license from your home state, or any other state. The only way you can have your gun in NJ is to have a NJ permit, or to be going directly to/from a state sanctioned shooting range.

Once you have your VA license you can carry in PA. You will still have to lock the unloaded gun up while driving through MD.

Would that be a concealed carry permit or a different one to be able to visit family with a handgun in NJ? Would it be possible for me to get one?

[donm]

Would that be a concealed carry permit or a different one to be able to visit family with a handgun in NJ? Would it be possible for me to get one?

Assuming you're not a cop, the only way to be legal for an overnight stay in NJ is to get an NJ Permit to Carry. They are virtually impossible for residents to get, and available only to non-residents like armored car drivers who go there on their rounds. Unless you're a close relative of Governor Christie, you won't get one. Unless you can leave the gun in friendly territory like Pennsylvania during your sorties into the Garden State, leave it at home. If you are caught in NJ with a handgun (and even long guns are a problem without a NJ Firearm Owners ID) and can't convince them you are directly passing through, you will likely be a "guest" there for several years. A resident who committed no other crime was recently sentenced to 7 years, though the governor commuted his sentence because he was moving at the time -- Google "Brian Aitken". I live about 20 minutes from NJ, and would NEVER take a handgun there, except on a trip directly to New Hampshire. Fortunately, I have no compelling reason to go there.

[mrbladedude]

Wow looks like a major headache. Does anyone know a way to get to PA from VA that doesn't include interstate time in NJ or NY?

[donm]

Wow looks like a major headache. Does anyone know a way to get to PA from VA that doesn't include interstate time in NJ or NY?

PA is a big place. Where in Pa and where in NJ? I95 through Delaware brings you into the Philly area without traveling through NJ.

[wis bang]

Wow looks like a major headache. Does anyone know a way to get to PA from VA that doesn't include interstate time in NJ or NY?

I-83 up from Baltimore or I-81 up from western VA - both lead towards Harrisburg. Take the Pa Turnpike towards Phila -or- I-81 to I-78 towards Allentown and drop the guns at Grandfathers b/4 visiting NJ

[tl_3237]

I-83 up from Baltimore or I-81 up from western VA - both lead towards Harrisburg. Take the Pa Turnpike towards Phila -or- I-81 to I-78 towards Allentown and drop the guns at Grandfathers b/4 visiting NJ

IMO that would be fraught with danger with respect to Federal and Commonwealth law. It may also raises issues regarding the return trip Pa-> Va.

Ref: 18 USC 922(a)(5) and 18 Pa CSA 6115 re temporarily giving Gramps the firearms. 18 Pa CSA 6106(a) transport from Gramps to Va.

[pyld]

Wow looks like a major headache. Does anyone know a way to get to PA from VA that doesn't include interstate time in NJ or NY?

You can pass thru NJ with a firearm, provided that you don't stop for anything but gas and that said firearm is unloaded with the firearm in a locked container in the trunk with the ammo in a separate locked container. The glove box nor console qualify as a "locked container."

Don't stop overnight. Don't stop to sightsee. Don't stop to do anything unrelated to getting your ass thru NJ.

There are probably going to be those who have a more extensive knowledge than I on the real-world applications of the "safe passage" provisions of the FOPA of 1986. When I move a firearm thru NJ, I do as I described above and I don't even stop for gas.

[mrbladedude]

Pretty uptight state hey. Dam. Ya my grandfather lives in the Poconos. Alpine mountain. Thanks for the heads up guys. Looks like I will be avoiding NJ entirely.