Thread: Safe transportation - legal requirements?

Thanks Cordite. The car/pub point above is tricky, I've known many hunters enjoying a good lunch after a hunt and the guns have to be stored somewhere. What is the ruling on this? Must guns always be accompanied 100% of the time even if secured in vehicle and hidden?

Originally Posted by yosamitesam

Thanks Cordite. The car/pub point above is tricky, I've known many hunters enjoying a good lunch after a hunt and the guns have to be stored somewhere. What is the ruling on this? Must guns always be accompanied 100% of the time even if secured in vehicle and hidden?

Basically cannot be 'unsupervised', which is not actually defined anywhere so open to interpretation. If you can sit by the window and park where you can see the car I'd say its clearly supervised, if the car is alarmed and you can hear it... maybe? Its a grey area AFAIK.

Personally if I'm going to be away from the car for more than just paying for petrol etc I generally have the bolt separate and slip it into my pocket anyway, even when the car is locked/alarmed. Doesn't take much effort and its another layer of security. Obviously not such an easy option for firearms without easily removable bolts though.

The magazine thing also seems to be a grey area (when not installed the magazine is probably not part of the gun? especially if you have another empty magazine installed) but it doesn't really take any effort to load a magazine when you reach the hunting area rather than before going there so why risk it.

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Basically cannot be 'unsupervised', which is not actually defined anywhere so open to interpretation. If you can sit by the window and park where you can see the car I'd say its clearly supervised, if the car is alarmed and you can hear it... maybe? Its a grey area AFAIK.

Personally if I'm going to be away from the car for more than just paying for petrol etc I generally have the bolt separate and slip it into my pocket anyway, even when the car is locked/alarmed. Doesn't take much effort and its another layer of security. Obviously not such an easy option for firearms without easily removable bolts though.

I would just take the bolt with me, cover the gun, close windows (unless you have a rottweiler on the back seat), at least you have taken some reasonable steps, that is not what cops would interpret as an unattended car, so Mike from the police firearms group says. Other reason I don't think they'd press charges if you do the above, read up on Richard Lincoln and what happened to him when he stuck to the law as it is written when he needed to take a leak. And no, don't want to start that debate up again.