Laws on Driving With Firearms

• Laws on driving with firearms vary by state.Charles Nesbit/Stockbyte/Getty Images
  
  Federal laws provide basic guidelines for traveling with firearms on the interstate highway system; however, each individual state may have specific regulations or permit requirements. A provision of the federal law, called the Firearms Owners' Protection Act exists to protect people who are transporting registered firearms across different states from local restrictions. It is important to err on the side of caution when traveling with firearms and research the laws of the state(s) you are traveling in.
  
  

Federal Interstate Travel

• Federal law does not require a permit to travel across state lines on the interstate highway system with legally acquired firearms for lawful purposes. A person is entitled to transport a firearm from any place where it is lawfully possessed to any other place where it is lawfully possessed if the firearm is unloaded and locked out of reach. In vehicles without a trunk, unloaded firearms should be locked in a container other than the glove compartment or console. Ammunition must also be locked and stored in the trunk or in a locked container somewhere other than the glove compartment or console. FOPA also provides for necessary stops, like gas and rest. Some state and local governments treat the FOPA provision as an "affirmative defense" that may only be raised after an arrest.
  
  

Carrying On or About the Person

• If you wish to travel with a loaded firearm on your person or within reach, state and local laws will apply. You can determine what the local law is by contacting the attorney general's office in each state or by consulting the NRA-ILA State Firearms Law Digest and the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Guide. Some states will not issue permits to nonresidents.
  
  

State Law

• Most states will allow firearms to be transported in-state as long as they are unloaded, in a case and stored in the trunk or some other area that is inaccessible to the driver and passengers. Handguns and assault weapons may have different regulations. Once you reach your destination, state and local laws will govern the possession, ownership, and transportation of the firearm.
  
  

Exceptions

• Exceptions to the federal law for transporting firearms on the interstate system include convicted felons, persons under indictment for felonies, adjudicated "mental defectives" or those who have been involuntarily committed to mental institutions, illegal drug users, illegal aliens and most nonimmigrant aliens, dishonorably discharged veterans, those who have renounced their U.S. citizenship, fugitives from justice, persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, and persons subject to domestic violence restraining orders.