Carrying handgun to Florida on motorcycle?

[Jhaydeno]

When my details are a bit more finalized I'll be putting out an open invite for anyone who wants to tag along in any capacity!

If you just wanna go a day or two, or tag along till meeting with other friends is all fine by me. The more the merrier!

I may be interested in tagging along down the Appalachians for a few days. Considering a trip with friends to Big Bend National Park as well...

[RLS]

Stay out of MD - period. Kinda hard to fulfill FOPA on a motorcycle. That and they are assholes that check your license plate and request carry license info with respective states to have reason to pull you over to get you on MD law(it has happened before).

DE allows for UNLICENSED OPEN CARRY but the gun must be visible and in plain view. One of the major cities does require a DE permit or reciprocal license to merely open carry(one of the grandfathered ordinances). ...this is assuming you don't have a license that DE honors.

WV = no problem, reciprocity and constitutional carry
VA = no problem, no reciprocity but honors licenses from all states
NC = no problem, reciprocity
SC = gun must be in latched saddlebag.
GA = no problem, reciprocity
FL = no problem, reciprocity(can only carry concealed)

Legally safest option is to go west in PA to I79, then south thru WV, avoiding MD all together.

The DE city of which you wrote was Dover. That is no longer a requirement. The law was changed some years back.


Rick

[icp4life162005]

I may be interested in tagging along down the Appalachians for a few days. Considering a trip with friends to Big Bend National Park as well...

What a coincidence.. I was just saying that if this trip went well my next trip was likely towards texas...
I wanna go down the Nachez Trail!

[knight0334]

The DE city of which you wrote was Dover. That is no longer a requirement. The law was changed some years back.


Rick

Thank you! That is good to know. It has been awhile since I last researched DE.

[Jhaydeno]

What a coincidence.. I was just saying that if this trip went well my next trip was likely towards texas...
I wanna go down the Nachez Trail!

There*s a motorcycle shop out of Fort Worth that does a great 1600 mile, 4 day round trip to Big Bend every year. Usually there*s 15-20 people that go. If your interested PM me, I*ll put you in touch.

[gghbi]

What a coincidence.. I was just saying that if this trip went well my next trip was likely towards texas...
I wanna go down the Nachez Trail!

That would be the Natchez Trace... From just West of Nashville TN to Nachez MS on the Mississippi River. Nice way to pass a couple of days (or more) if you are heading in either direction.


Here's a good source of info: http://npmaps.com/natchez-trace/

[icp4life162005]

That would be the Natchez Trace... From just West of Nashville TN to Nachez MS on the Mississippi River. Nice way to pass a couple of days (or more) if you are heading in either direction.


Here's a good source of info: http://npmaps.com/natchez-trace/

That's the one!

[SevenMilePete]

15 South out of Gettysburg to 29 South is a good route for getting through Virginia if you're not intending to do the Parkway. Four lane the whole way with some limited access so you make pretty good time compared to the highway.

That route would take you through MD.

[ray h]

So I'm looking to go on an adventure.

Never been south and it's getting to be time to do some traveling in the spring/summer.


I'd like to leave PA, head down through the Appalachian mountains down to the smokeys for a ride on the dragon,, then scooting over to Alabama for a pit stop at the Barber Motorsports Museum, then running to the gulf at mobile Alabama, and then along the gulf through the everglades and down to the keys. Return trip along the beach as far as I can to get home. **


Now, what I'm looking for is info on reciprocity and Non-res license to carry, and even more specifically, what states to avoid at all costs(jersey!, MD?, del?)

I would greatly appreciate any advice for a trip like this. I'm planning on backcountry wild camping in the mountains. Wanna be able to defend myself if needed against 4 and 2 legged critters.
Out of state travel and firearm travel are both drastically new to me lol trying to do the correctly and safely.

I have dreamed of that trip for a few years. My dad lives near Tampa and my wife and I try to drive down once a year but ive never riden down and back. I haven't had enough vacation to do the trip right and stay off the interstates and just relax and ride. When my wife and I drive down we are usually just trying to get down and back as efficiently as we can.
Anyway, as was said, Maryland is the only state you need to unload and lock the gun up. I live on the MD/PA line so I do some riding through MD, I've got a hard plastic pistol box and a small pad lock and I just unload the gun and lock it in the box and put it in a saddle bag while riding through MD. don't be afraid of MD, it sucks but as long as you comply with 18 code us 196a and keep it unloaded and locked up, and conduct yourself reasonably if you were to somehow get stopped while in MD, you will either be good to go or will eventually win a decent law suite against the state. Seriously, if you are in compliance with the law and conduct yourself normally, a LEO would have to venture way outside of the law to jamb you up, not that that couldn't happen but it could, and has, happened in Pa or any other place as well.
If you go through SC (sounds like you may avoid SC), they require the gun to be off your person and placed in a console or glove compartment. It doesnt need to be unloaded or locked. While on a motorcycle a closed and fastened tank bag or saddle bag complies with SC requirements, really as long as the gun isn't on your person or able to be directly obtained without opening a closed and fastened compartment you are good to go. You can not carry it on your person in SC so if you stop over night in SC you are on your own to decide how to handle that. I've heard of people that do carry it from their vehicle to their hotel room and back, without issue though.

[PickingPA]

I don’t mean to steer away from the bike trip, but I’m curious about SC. I had just assumed SC was similar to MD -red on the map (get through as quickly as possible, no stops, gun and ammo separated and locked blah blah, no more than 5mph over the limit)

I’ll be driving to Florida (first time to FL since I began carrying regularly) with the family at some point this summer and I realize MD & SC are the areas of legal caution. I’ll take 81 to limit my exposure in MD, but there’s just no way to avoid hours of driving through SC without really going out and around.

Distance and time-wise, SC would be our logical stop for overnight lodging. However, to comply with FOPA, we are planning on slugging through and spending the night in Georgia. That last few hours through SC is going to be a nightmare with the kids.

But now reading some of the replies in this thread, it would appear that SC is not MD level restrictive in regards to non-reciprocal LTCF carriers. I looked up the info that was referenced in this thread and it confirms that vehicle carry is allowed, loaded and within reach (glove box, closed console ok)

And I didn’t know Florida requires all carry to be concealed. Not that I’d open carry anyway, as I rarely do. But it’s good to know to be cautious about printing, which is tricky in the summer with shorts and a t-shirt

Thanks for the info