As I reported previously, I have finally gotten my long-awaited DSA FAL receiver. On January 12th, I went to my dealer to pick it up. So, here is what a $450 piece of beautiful, machined steel looks like:
The law requires you to transport firearms in a locked case unless you are exempt from doing so under your State or local laws when engaging in intrastate transport or are in possession of special status, such as having a concealed carry permit.
Sounds reasonable, right? After all, don't most people want "reasonable" restrictions on the possession and transport of guns out in the community, right?
Here is the result of four decades of such "reasonable" gun control:
You may not understand what you are seeing here. Why on Earth do I have a cable lock through the receiver?!? Well, under the law, the receiver (or the frame in the case of pistols) is considered the firearm. What that means is that this innocent looking piece of non-functional steel is really a gun!Not a potential firearm. Not a chunk of metal.
A gun.
And if I transport this piece of steel absent a proper case, I am technically breaking the law.
And given that in the Free State of Maryland this piece of metal is a regulated firearm and subject to strict transport rules, I felt it prudent to go above and beyond. Hence the cable lock. And...
..the padlock sealing this dangerous weapon in its case. After all, a gun, improperly secured, could be used in a deadly fashion against some poor innocent. If I threw the receiver at someone maybe. But if I did that, I'm sure a police officer would charge me with "brandishing a firearm in public.". In Montgomery County, that isn't exactly a joke either.Do you see any reasonableness in the law that forces me to do this? To be caught violating the law while transporting this receiver, I would lose my 2nd Amendment rights forever and also risk deportation as a non-citizen of this country.
I'll bet you feel safer now because of gun control laws that require this.
Ridiculous.
Update: And I am not the only one who has encountered and espoused on this. Give Existing Thing's entry a read. Robb and Uncle have generously linked to this post.
Robb is right in his post that had I not done this and merely left the receiver in the cardboard box I got it in, I would have been a felon driving it home. Had I been pulled over by a Maryland State Trooper or County officer, I could have been facing gun charges for improper transport and all of the disaster that would have entailed.
In this game, "the citizen acts at their peril". I would echo Robb's sentiment and let this sink in. Reflect upon how far we have fallen that these actions are even required in order to comply with the law. And unlike Existing Thing's commentary, I'm not in California. Maryland is often consider one of the evil "seven sisters" (States with strict gun control) but of them all, Maryland has very liberal gun laws as compared to MA, IL, NJ, CA, NY and HI. I'd prefer being back in Virginia but I sure as hell wouldn't trade Maryland for Massachusetts or Illinois!
6 comments:
We are members of a sad fraternity...
http://tinyurl.com/ys63xt
Great minds think alike. Added a link to your post.
Wait? so if I were to carry in say a backpack, just the frame of my Sig P6 it's still considered a gun and I'd be breaking the law by CCW'ing w/o a permit? And I couldn't throw a an AR lower in said backpack without breaking the law. Oh how wonderful! The law requires us to case and lockup non-functional pieces of metal.
And as far as interstate travel is concerned my pistols would have to be locked & cased in the trunk even if the slides weren't attached?
Mike W,
Yes. The law defines the receiver (rifle) or the frame (pistol) as the firearm. So yes, if you were carrying a bare, serial numbered Sig P6 frame, you are carrying a firearm under the law. Same for the AR lower. Although placing the AR lower in a backpack would technically constitute it being in a "locked case".
The moment you go interstate, yes, your pistols (and rifles) would have to be a locked case inaccessible to you. Even if they were just bare frames with no action components fitted.
See 18 USC 921(a)(3)(b).
(3) The term “firearm” means
(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive;
(B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon;
(C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or
(D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.
See 18 USC 926(a) for interstate transport requirements:
Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
Sufficiently shocked now? Most people do not know how the law defines firearms.
Since my transport was intrastate, I was not subject to Federal laws. However, Maryland has very strict laws on the transport of "regulated firearms" which essentially mirror the Federal requirement listed above with the addition of "peaceable journey" requirements. Most States mirror the Federal requirement in one form or another for transport of guns within their borders.
With "gun" being defined as stated above from the Federal law.
Isn't the law fun?
Like getting an AR receiver in CA.
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