Hey guys, my family and I are travelling up to MI for Xmas this Friday and I just had a quick question about transporting a rifle through VA. I know I am covered with my loaded pistol because NC and VA have reciprocity, however I am bringing my AR this trip. I intend to have it unloaded in a rifle case, with a loaded mag in the glove box, is this legal in VA?

I am going to preface my comment by stating that I am not a lawyer and I am not giving legal advice. Hopefully someone better informed will chime in.

As a general statement, Virginia is EBR friendly. We actually do have an "Assault Rifle" law but it seems to have very little impact on anything. Hunting laws may or may not have more authority regarding where/how your rifle is transported and where and how ammunition and loaded magazines are transported.

I believe you are correct with regards to VA/NC Concealed Carry reciprocity and you should be good to go.

That being said (since you will already be CCing) I personally would transport my rifle in the trunk or out of sight in a locked case and keep the loaded mag in a separate case out of sight and out of reach. Maybe I am too cautious. I just don't like to have a weapon or magazine in the same place that I am reaching for my Registration, Insurance Card, etc. should I be pulled over for something stupid like an HOV violation.

Again, most of this is my opinion and NOT necessarily the law. At least you get a bump back to the top and hopefully someone better informed will respond.

Edit for NOT

Appreciate the info, we have a hatchback (Chevy Volt) and the rifle will be in a case, in the hatch area, with the ammo in the glovebox.

Your trip will be covered by the provisions of the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA), but only if you adhere precisely to the requirements of the act. The FOPA is a federal law that provides protection for you if you are traveling from one area where your possession of the gun is legal, to another area where your possession of the gun is legal, then the intervening jurisdictions must give you free passage with your firearm.

Since you have a hatchback, and the luggage area is not separate from the passenger compartment, your rifle will have to be in a locked case. If you have an ordinary sedan with a separate trunk, (Does anybody drive those things anymore?) then your rifle could be in a plain zip-up soft case. But since your luggage area is accessible from the passenger compartment, then the gun must be in a locked case. Check your local gun shop. They should have some el cheapo hard plastic lockable cases for about $25.

I know you NC fellas have a "notify" requirement if you get pulled over.  

There is no such requirement here in VA.  

There is a respectful difference of opinion as to whether it is better to notify or not around here.  

Personally, I just wait & let them as the questions.

And in your case, it would be terrible if you happen to run into an officer who does not know about reciprocity (it has happened before).

Just leave the case in the back under some things so it is not visible.
'Not in plain sight' can work to your advantage.

We do not have strange laws that make a loaded magazine the same as a gun.
Long guns with chambered rounds could get you nicked under hunting regulations.

It is NOT like poaching is making much of a dent in the deer.
If you hold to 10 over and NEVER go over 80 you can cruise for the most part on the interstates and secondaries outside built up areas.
DO not get aggressive in the few sections of 65 we have.
Use a GPS to monitor accurate speed.

we don't need a requirement to notify here in VA because once they run your tag they will know you have a CCW...

That is true; or rather:

- they know the registered owner has a permit.

Can they tell if a NC driver has a NC permit from the plate?  What about from running the DL? Anyone?

FIFY.

I thought it came up if the registered owner had a CHP, too? Or is that not correct?

If you have a CCW loaded rifle in case is fine.

If you are going all the way to MI then VA's gun laws are the last ones you should worry about. I would be more concerned with MD and IL's.

Fix whatever it is that would make police interested in you in the first place.

My understanding is CHP status is included in VCIN.

No. No. No. That may be okay in NC, but not in Virginia, Maryland, or Pennsylvania.

If OP is going to Michigan, he won't be going through Illinois. If he follows the procedures required for FOPA, he has nothing to worry about in MD or anywhere else on his trip.

This.  You'll be fine in Virginia.  The only thing that could jam you up was if you were planning to transport the rifle loaded.  Many VA counties have firearms ordnances that prohibit transportation of loaded rifles/shotguns while driving on public roads.  My guess is these laws were driven more to regulate hunters than from a fear of loaded weapons, but of course it applies to everyone.  If you can avoid it, don't drive through MD with any firearms.  I drive around MD through WV into PA when I need to head north.

Loaded long arms fall under the hunting regulations.

http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_Transporting.shtm





Handguns you're fine with your NC permit.



Long arms are prohibited from loaded travel in certain counties & cities (I don't know which) so it's generally safer just to leave it unloaded while traveling.

The way VCIN works is this:

The operator's license has the CHP info attached to it.

In complete manual mode, the VCIN operator must run both the 10-28 (vehicle registration information) as well as the 10-27 (operator's license information) separately. These are two separate functions in the OpenFox software, and separate files in the DMV system that VCIN accesses. It's been a long time since I worked pre-OpenFox software (almost 10 years), and I can't remember what the old QXX commands were, but they have always been separate.

However, many MDT's (mobile data terminals, the computers in the cars) will automatically run the associated registered owner's operator's license when the plate is run. This is a software feature which is additional to the standard VCIN process, and is based on whatever operating system software the MDT uses. It is not standard.

Therefore, many cops will get the answer to both immediately upon running the tag. However, this is not the default way the system is built.

The CHP info is tied directly to the Operator's License information ONLY.

Ahem..

http://www.gunlaws101.com/article/view/peaceable-journey-law

We only went through VA,  WV,  OH and MI