Transporting thru DC by a no-resident


mrappe

New member
I will be traveling thru that part of the country and was wondering what the laws are reguarding driving thru the are with handguns?
 

You ARE covered by FOPA, and if arrested while actually following FOPA you will not be convicted. However, if you make one slip, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

If you are driving, drive straight through (course of normal travel). If you are flying, you could get into trouble. For example, if you are making a connection and get laid over in DC, and they give you your luggage (with gun case inside) back(!!!), you are then in illegal posession of a firearm. Case law will eventually make this legal, but for now, at least two courts have upheld convictions.

Best advice is of course to avoid any city that will arrest you if possible. There is no reason to go through DC, as it is faster to go around. If you HAVE to go through DC, you must be doing business there. In that case, you are obligated to follow their laws. So, before you get there, mail your firearm to yourself at a legal destination.
 
technically....as long as you stay on the interstate going around the District...Capital Beltway....you are not actually going "into" the District. Stick to the roads, beware of the....oh wait. Stay on the highway and dont' visit the sites...
 
DC Info

DCA - Reagan is in Virginia, not DC. Best way to deal with DC is to go from VA to MD, staying west of the Potomac, on I-495.

As long as you are in VA, you will have no problems - open carry without a permit is legal. There is a short streach of the George Washington Parkway near the Pentagon on the Virginia side of the Potomac that is technically in DC. Stay off the GW in that area, and you are good to go.

MD has some goofy laws and no receprocity, but if you are just traveling through, the Federal Law seems to work.

This may all be mute soon - between the Palmer case and the GOP taking over the House, DC may suddenly become like Alaska or Pennsylvania.

Check the Link Removed and Maryland Shooters web sites for more info.
 
I live 2 miles outside DC. You are protected by FOPA while on travel through DC and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals held recently that FOPA protection applies if you stay overnight but don't have "access" to the weapon. Leave locked in the trunk or locked container. The only problem is DC is in the 4th Circuit and other circuit rulings are not binding on other circuits.

My advice is to avoid DC if you can. VA laws are much more gun friendly. Legal OC. If you must stay in DC do not remove the weapon from the trunk or locked container. You may ultimately win a legal battle over this but is the hassle worth it?
 
"Safe Passage" provision "Wikipedia"

One of the law's provisions was that persons traveling from one place to another cannot be incarcerated for a firearms offense in a state that has strict gun control laws if the traveler is just passing through (short stops for food and gas) and the firearms and ammunition are not immediately accessible, unloaded and, in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment, in a locked container.

An example of this would be that someone driving from Virginia to a competition in Vermont with a locked hard case containing an unloaded handgun and a box of ammunition in the trunk could not be prosecuted in New Jersey or New York City for illegal possession of a handgun provided that they did not stop in New Jersey or New York for an extended period of time.
 
"Safe Passage" provision "Wikipedia"

One of the law's provisions was that persons traveling from one place to another cannot be incarcerated for a firearms offense in a state that has strict gun control laws if the traveler is just passing through (short stops for food and gas) and the firearms and ammunition are not immediately accessible, unloaded and, in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment, in a locked container.

An example of this would be that someone driving from Virginia to a competition in Vermont with a locked hard case containing an unloaded handgun and a box of ammunition in the trunk could not be prosecuted in New Jersey or New York City for illegal possession of a handgun provided that they did not stop in New Jersey or New York for an extended period of time.

18 USC § 926A - Interstate transportation of firearms | LII / Legal Information Institute

Define extended period of time. That is the catch 22.
 
I have read reports of people getting nailed for spending the night due to a unscheduled layover in Chicago. The District is not far behind in terms of overzealousness to gun ownership. Best bet is to fly into DCA or IAD and stay in Virginia. I avoid going into the city as much as I can.
 
I believe there is case law on the meaning of interstate travel as it relates to 926 (FOPA). I believe the decision was if you do more than an incidental stop (food or restroom) you are no longer traveling THROUGH as mandated in FOPA.

The case of an unscheduled layover is in Revell vs Port Authority of NY and NJ and the problem was not the layover itself. It was Revell taking possession of his suitcase when he went to a hotel. Leave the suitcase with the airline and you should be legal.
 
Damm, thought someone was going to suggest a drive-by!

You can do a drive by, just not the dc style. Drive around the beltway. You cannot stop except for gas and perhaps a potty break as long as constipation does not keep you on the can for more than ten minutes.
 

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