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Moving cross country with guns


4 Mile Drifter

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I'm sure this has been discussed before and, if so, a link to the thread would be great.  I'm kind of panicking as the move gets close and just couldn't find the right words to check for prior threads.  

 

We're moving from Washington to Virginia. I have a small number of guns - 3 rifles, 6 pistols and a shotgun.  Our moving company said we can't leave them in the safe.  We'll be towing a horse trailer filled with tack and tools (no horses) but I'm worried about leaving the guns every night when we land at a motel (trailer will be secured with 1/2" steel cable and chain).  Does anybody have suggestions for how to move the guns without incurring enormous costs.  If the only way too get them to Virginia is via shipping do they have to be sent to an FFL or can I send them to myself for pickup at  FedEx, UPS, or the Post Office?

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions (or thread links) that parts can provide.  

 

4 Mile

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Moved in the military quite a bit and always took them with me. (trust issues)

Always drug them into the hotels and back out with me in the morning.

Make sure to keep them unloaded, secured and ammo separate. Never know what kinda commie states you'll be rollin' through.

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I do recall a discussion about this a few years ago, and I'm sure you will get some good pointers.  But as far as searching the Wire, the search box at the top of the page is very limited and doesn't go back very far.  Go to Google and in the search field type Sassnet and then whatever you are searching for.  It goes back a long time and is much more useful than the search box above.  Good luck.

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I bought an inexpensive gun storage box from Stack-On (GBC-8RTA) and bolted it in the bed of my truck, for travel to a multi day out of state match. You could bolt it to your trailer.  Lay it on its back, bolt it down and cover with other stuff. The guncase idea may work better for the limited quantity of guns.

 

Imis

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1 hour ago, Mister Badly said:

Put them in a golf club travel case and take them with you.

What he said. That's what we use when we stay in a motel and not our travel trailer. Nobody even takes a second look at a golf club case. I bought a cheap one at Bass Pro for $50.

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1 minute ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

What he said. That's what we use when we stay in a motel and not our travel trailer. Nobody even takes a second look at a golf club case. I bought a cheap one at Bass Pro for $50.

Mine's a hard case from Goodwill for $20

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I believe some states require unload magazines as well as above suggestions. Don't speed crossing Illinois!!!If it were me I break everything down. Remove bolts/cylinders/slides and pack in various luggage. When I worked out of my car, my rule was too never leave anything in the car when at a motel. 

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Never leave anything in the trailer that you expect to be there later.  The whole trailer can be boosted easily, regardless of how it's fastened to the truck.  If it appears to contain valuables, it makes a very attractive target that can be hauled away to be broken into and stripped.

 

good luck, GJ.

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9 minutes ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Never leave anything in the trailer that you expect to be there later.  The whole trailer can be boosted easily, regardless of how it's fastened to the truck.  If it appears to contain valuables, it makes a very attractive target that can be hauled away to be broken into and stripped.

 

good luck, GJ.

Has happened way too many times here in Albuquerque. Anywhere close to Interstate getaways...

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All the times I have moved I've put them underneath a tarp with couple layers of cheap stuff on top of it.

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I knew if I posted on the Wire I'd get some good ideas and also comments about what not to do.  Thanks y'all for all the suggestions. Ordered a rolling golf club bag from Amazon for around $30.  I'm sure everything will fit and I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that nobody can steal the guns without breaking into the room where we'll be sleeping.  Appreciate all the advice pards.  

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Two or three hard cases.  Bring them in to the hotel with you as luggage.  Have a blanket in the car you can drape over the luggage cart.  If possible use a side entrance and avoid the lobby.  Ask for a room on the ground floor.  If the hotel has rooms that have doors to the parking lot, so much the better.  If you must go through the lobby, act like you belong and don't pause for anything.  Don't tell the hotel you have guns/ammo.  If they ask what's in the cases, which they are not supposed to do,  say fishing polls or musical instruments or some other plausible item.

 

That's how I do it.  

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I moved from the Northeast to Texas 5 years ago.  (Shoulda done it longer ago but had my reasons, another set of stories for another day.)  At that time I had 28 firearms, at least 25 .50 cal ammo cans full of gun feed, and everything else gun related you'd expect to find in the man cave.  What I DID NOT WANT was someone watching me move any of it from the trailer into my hotel room or back into the trailer I towed behind my pickup truck.  (The empty safe was moved with all of my furniture and other stuff in the PODS container.) I stayed in name brand hotels and parked it in the best-lit part of the parking lot nearest to the front entrance of the hotels.  I never opened the trailer in sight of anyone, even though nothing could be seen even if someone did look in.  At night I hung one of the motion-sensitive intruder alarms you put on the inside doorknob a front door of your house or apartment, in an unobtrusive spot where no one would be looking for it, so at least the piercing alarm would go off if anyone touched the trailer or my truck.  The trailer was chained and locked to the truck's rear axle at night.  I didn't sleep easily or long, but it was the best I could do, short of sleeping in the truck, which didn't seem like a good idea, either.  As for the route chosen -- you MUST investigate the laws of every state on your route and plan accordingly.  For example NEVER drive through New Jersey, period, full stop.  Ditto for Maryland, and going around Maryland is a lot harder than going around New Jersey.  You may need to avoid other states, but those were my two big problems.  Thankfully, it all worked out just fine.  A buddy was waiting for my arrival and I drove straight to a safe storage location and we unloaded the trailer immediately upon arrival on my third driving day.

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I recently moved from Maine to Wyoming. I put all the guns in hard cases then loaded them back in the safes. then I put the safes all the way in the front of the rental truck. then packed all the house stuff behind them. they would have to unload everything else to get to them. Also when we unloaded to the storage units they ended up towards the front where I could access them.

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You don't have enough guns to be a problem.  Get you a six or eight pistol gun case that will make it easy to take into your motel room at night.  Sounds like your longs are taken care of.  If you can run a loging chain between two of the wheels on the horse trailer using a Master Lock do so.  If you have any hollow points put them in a cardboard or tupperwear box in the off front corner of the trailer and cover with all the tack.  Make that the hardest place to get to in the trailer.  I think it is NJ that they fine you for hollow points.  If you get stopped DO NOT TELL THE OFFICER YOU ARE TRANSPORTING GUNS!!!!!!!!    If asked are you armed answer yes if you have a gun on you.  If no gun on you answer NO!  DO NOT GIVE AN OFFICER THE OK TO SEARCH YOU VEHICAL!!!!!!  If asked say no!!!  Some states require you to inform the officer, if you are stopped, that you are armed, if you have a gun on you.  Watch carrying a knife as the laws are so different in each state about the blade size and type of knife.  It is a good idea to have your DVM information for truck and trailer and insurance info clipped together and where you can get it with out opening a glove box or console box.  Keep you gun cases covered with your othere suitcases, that will break up the outline.

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I recently moved from MO to MA—and then back again--so I did some research about moving guns.  The only state you will have in your travels that you will need to really watch out is Illinois.  Keeping the guns locked up in a hard case and ammo in another locked case in IL.  But in downstate IL they are much more lenient according to a SASS member I have talked to in the past.  And if you time it right, you will not be in IL very long.

 

Several responders above suggested “go straight through the lobby”, “get a ground floor room”, “try and stay at a motel where you can park in front of your room”, “use a covered golf bag”,  and I suggest 2 inexpensive plastic gun cases from Walmart for the long guns and a couple of attache type tool boxes with foam for the pistols.  I can carry 4  pistols each  in the two that I have.  As suggested if you can stick them in the very front of the horse trailer and cover them with tack and anything else that is going, you should be golden.

 

Guns and Ammo (Sept 2021) has a new listing of the 50 states and DC on how gun-friendly they are and has them ranked from bad to good.  (I will include their ranking below—(xx))

 

Since you are going from WA state to Virginia,  I suggest this route so that you will go through the most gun-friendly states and have interstate all the way.  (Except where you live in WA and where you are ending up in VA)

 

First of all, go to Google maps (on your phone) and put in WA state as your start and VA as your destination.  Then add in these stops:  Sioux Fall SD, and Kansas CityMO.  You will probably have to move them around until you get them in order:  WA, Sioux Falls, Kansas City, and VA.

 

One thing to keep in mind, as you get close to each of your added  “stops”, is to erase it from your list so that it will send you through and not side track you down to some town center.

 

You will end up with this route in your phone:

 

WA   I-90 East  going thru WA (#39),  ID (#2), MT (#3), WY (#1), SD (#7)  to Sioux Falls SD.

At Sioux Falls SD  I-29 S going through (NE #35), IA (#31), MO (#17)   to Kansas City MO.

In Kansas City you will get on  I-70 E

In MO at WenzvilleMO, you will go onto I-64 E  (you will go through the St. Louis suburbs and go straight across the Mississippi bridge into IL.   For a short distance, you will also be on I-55.  You will leave it in just a few miles into IL.

 I-64 E will take you all the way to VA passing through the states of IL (#41), IN (#20), KY (#11), WV (#14) and into VA(#36).

 

Good luck with your move.       Dr. O. R. Vet

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I-64 through Illinois will not be a problem. That part of the state is very gun friendly.

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https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150101/guide-to-the-interstate-transportation
 

While certain jurisdictions are known to look for ways to violate your rights this article can help you understand how best to protect yourself legally. 
 

Seamus

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