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Loaded Car Carry

NewZealandAmerican

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
348
Location
Greater Salt Lake City Metro area far south suburb
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It is legal to open carry your holstered gun in you car, but does it mean you break the law when you set your feet on the ground after exiting you car? On foot you can only open carry 2 actions from firing (unchambered).

If this is correct i guess you have to empty the chamber every time you step out of your car which is unnecessary gun handling that is potentially unsafe and an "ND" likely occuring.
 

younggun20

Regular Member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
276
Location
Ogden, Utah, USA
imported post

even in the car i leave it 2 actions away for the same reason. a hole in the dash.. or my leg would really put a damper on a good day
 

swillden

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
1,189
Location
Firestone, Colorado
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NewZealandAmerican wrote:
It is legal to open carry your holstered gun in you car, but does it mean you break the law when you set your feet on the ground after exiting you car? On foot you can only open carry 2 actions from firing (unchambered).

If this is correct i guess you have to empty the chamber every time you step out of your car which is unnecessary gun handling that is potentially unsafe and an "ND" likely occuring.
Yep. If you don't have a permit, it's probably best to keep the weapon "Utah-unloaded" even while in the car, just because you don't want to have to handle your firearm that much. Besides creating a potential ND, it's generally better to avoid re-chambering a given round too many times, because it can result in pushing the bullet into the casing too far, increasing pressure during discharge to a potentially dangerous degree.

Generally, this bullet "setback" isn't an issue, but if you're loading and unloading your gun a half dozen times daily...
 

utbagpiper

Banned
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
4,061
Location
Utah
imported post

NewZealandAmerican wrote:
It is legal to open carry your holstered gun in you car, but does it mean you break the law when you set your feet on the ground after exiting you car? On foot you can only open carry 2 actions from firing (unchambered).

If this is correct i guess you have to empty the chamber every time you step out of your car which is unnecessary gun handling that is potentially unsafe and an "ND" likely occuring.
This is true if you are stepping out of your car onto a "public road". If you are stepping out onto your own driveway, your own business property, your own ranch/farm field, or maybe even onto State or federal land where you can legally carry a loaded gun without a permit, then there is no need to unload.

And remember, only a handgun can legally be loaded in your car if you don't have a permit. Long guns are still required to be unloaded if a person doesn't have a permit.

Now, if you are stepping out into a "gun free school zone" (don't forget the 1000' rule, or in Utah day cares, preschools, colleges, vocational schools, etc) then you can't legally take your gun out of the car (loaded or not) without a permit unless you are on your own property.

With some work and a little luck, it won't be much longer before Utah has permit-free carry. But even that won't do anything abut the school zones, as rarely enforced as they may be.

I'd suggest getting a permit and not having to worry about such things.

Short of that, I'd suggest carrying Utah unloaded and carrying a really good map or personal GPS system on which you've notated all the school zones.

Or, you might have a loaded gun you leave in the car for when you are in the car (with all the joys of properly securing it when you leave the car and then making it reasonably accessible when you get back in), and a Utah unloaded gun on your person.

Charles
 

Pistol Pete Utah

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
215
Location
Sandy, Utah, USA
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NewZealandAmerican wrote:
, but does it mean you break the law when you set your feet on the ground after exiting you car?
I would have to look it up, but just thinking out loud, this depends on what ground your feet land on. (Public yes you have to go with one out of the pipe, (private) I believe you can CC. Say you are on private property like your driveway, then you walk into your house. Or you pull up to your warehouse which (own) orrent it is your place of business, then you get out of your car in the parking lotand walk inside.

I would think that would be fine but I would have to look up the Utah Code first, but I am not a researcher, so look it up and let me know if my thinking was correct.
 
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