imported post
The following quote is straight from the Calif. Attorney General
"Nonconcealable firearms (rifles and shotguns) are not generally covered within the provisions of California Penal Code section 12025 and therefore are not required to be transported in a locked container. However, as with any firearm, nonconcealable firearms must be unloaded while they are being transported."
Case Law regarded "loaded": People v. Clark, 45 Cal. App. 4th 1147
Clark was arrested wiht a shotgun that had in its buttstock compartment a number of rounds. In order to fire the weapon, one would have had to remove the rounds from the compartment, and place them into the firing chamber. The court reversed defendant's conviction for possession of methamphetamine while armed with a loaded, operable firearm, because the shotgun was not "loaded" within the statutory meaning. The commonly understood meaning of the term "loaded" is: to put a load or charge in a device or piece of equipment, or a gun, or to put a load on or in a carrier, device, or container; especially to insert the charge or cartridge into the chamber of a firearm. Under the commonly understood meaning of the term "loaded," a firearm is "loaded" when a shell or cartridge has been placed into a position from which it can be fired; the shotgun is not "loaded" if the shell or cartridge is stored elsewhere and not yet placed in a firing position.
BEWARE: Most LEO's don't know about this case, and you will probably be arrested for having a loaded gun. However, they are not in a position to be fired, and there is a good chance (not a slam-dunk), according to this case, that you would be OK.
