Good morning fellow members. Taking my teenage son on a road trip. From gun friendly Maine through Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, then onto Ohio. What am I legally allowed to possess in the means of self defense?? And. What would you bring if you were taking your teen o a similar trip?? Thank you

Pump shotgun.

Assuming there's no issue in Mass&Ohio, a Shockwave would work nice. Can't keep it loaded in your car though (at least in NY).

Id take what I normally carry. Probably not legal in some of those states but I dont recall ever following the laws in any state in regards to my personal safety.

Sometimes its a P30L....other times its a 10.5in 300blk and slick plate carrier. Depends on my mood. Always looks the same on the outside though.

FOPA provides some protection, with qualifiers. Read here:

https://www.nraila.org/article...state-transportation

You can travel with whatever is legal in your home state as long as you don't plan to stay in the crossing state for any substantial length of time. It's a grey area created as part of the 1986 machine gun ban. I forget the official name of the law. It tried to address ridiculous interstate gun laws as they pertained to transport.

ETA: Here it is...the Firearm Owners Protection Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...wners_Protection_Act


Sorry Hayes, I just saw your post. You covered it. I'm slow today.

WOW! New York State laws are awful for the law abiding citizens. Massachusetts is awful. Along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania. You are not legally allowed to defend yourself. What a joke. I’m only trying to be compliant and not break any laws while bringing my son on a father son road trip. And the unhinged liberal states which I’m going to be traveling through and staying for several nights at each state. Don’t allow you to legally defend yourself with anything other than foul language. This is awful.

228:

Please oh please DO NOT include Pennsylvania in that dung-pile list. We are very gun-friendly here. It's not clear where you originate, but Maine and PA used to have a recip agreement.

PA is an open-carry state - but for transport in the car you may need to keep it in the trunk.
I suggest you reference one of the many sites for applicable PA regs in your situation.

With whatever weapon you do carry along, don't ask, don't tell and don't speed.

I figured the safest way from where I am in NH to relative safety in Matamoras, PA, was to cut across VT to Albany then south to PA - about 150 miles of exposure. Going through MA, CT & NY is longer - about 210 miles of risk.

I have a Walther PPS 9MM (original) with 6/7/8rd magazines.

I carried it for about a year and it's a great gun; now I use it for travel to odd places (CA, etc).

Slim, small, low cap, cheap if it's lost / stolen / etc.

Handy Reference on state laws, reciprocity, etc.

https://www.handgunlaw.us/

The old saying you can beat the rap but not the ride comes to mind. I moved out after suffering 50 years of living as a gun owner in New York.
While technically FOPA protects you if you pass through NY ( nonstop )
During that travel pistol must be unloaded and locked away inaccessible to vehicle occupants, and NY law states it is illegal to possess a pistol without a NY permit. If something happens and you are stopped and the pistol found you WILL be arrested in NY.
Not worth the risk in my mind. A long gun such as a pump shotgun is the best bet and yes shockwaves are ok in NY but again while traveling through NY must be unloaded

NYS and NJ have been known for going out of their way not to follow FOPA. If you have a handgun you will be arrested. In addition, there are many restriction on their definitions of "Assault Weapons," e.g., AR's, AK's, etc.

Be very careful.

I'm thinking these comments won't be welcome on a handgun site. I returned from Seattle a few days ago & was out there almost two weeks. No handgun for me and even a "dangerous knife" (Seattle's term) is illegal there. I was caught off-guard and confronted one day - nut case threatened to "torch" me if I didn't quit following him (I wasn't). I did not do anything to provoke him, he just walked out of bushes and went nutso. I didn't even have any pepper spray, or anything else - but, I managed to de-escalate by smooth-talking him.

So, to my point - I could have easily avoided the whole situation had I kept up my situational awareness. I think you can travel very safely - and avoid jail time (with a handgun), by being careful where you stop, watching your 6, and staying situationally aware every time you step out of the vehicle. Just my two cents ...

quote:

Originally posted by mr228:
WOW! New York State laws are awful for the law abiding citizens. Massachusetts is awful. Along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania. You are not legally allowed to defend yourself. What a joke. I’m only trying to be compliant and not break any laws while bringing my son on a father son road trip. And the unhinged liberal states which I’m going to be traveling through and staying for several nights at each state. Don’t allow you to legally defend yourself with anything other than foul language. This is awful.

They won't even let you bring a pocket knife when visiting the attractions in N.Y. You leave it with security and pick it up when you leave at most places. Carnegie Hall (Rockettes) didn't want to give it back!!

quote:

Originally posted by rpm2010:They won't even let you bring a pocket knife when visiting the attractions in N.Y. You leave it with security and pick it up when you leave at most places. Carnegie Hall (Rockettes) didn't want to give it back!!

As much as I love the idea of the Rockettes at Carnegie Hall, I think you meant Radio City ...

quote:

I think you can travel very safely - and avoid jail time (with a handgun), by being careful where you stop, watching your 6, and staying situationally aware every time you step out of the vehicle. Just my two cents ...

I prefer to avoid states I can't legally carry. with CCW permits from a few key states and reciprocity agreements there aren't that many. WA, i believe, recognizes permits from utah which is relatively easy for non residents to obtain and wa will also issue permits to non residents. so a little bit of planning gets you covered.

quote:

Originally posted by toivo:

quote:

Originally posted by rpm2010:They won't even let you bring a pocket knife when visiting the attractions in N.Y. You leave it with security and pick it up when you leave at most places. Carnegie Hall (Rockettes) didn't want to give it back!!

As much as I love the idea of the Rockettes at Carnegie Hall, I think you meant Radio City ...

Oh yeah that's right...Radio City, my bad!

Even though it sucks, mace may be the best answer.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
FOPA provides some protection, with qualifiers...

I don't believe it covers standard capacity (10+) magazines (not LEOSA for that matter?).



That said, I know people from out of state who come to NY to shoot in pistol matches all the time, including at least one who was questioned by the cops (about his guns). Luckily for him he had all his ducks in a row (and no evil "high caps") and had no issues. He was 100% legal and was lucky enough to have officers who knew the law, or were at least willing to listen to them. lol
I would not like to bet on that being the norm.