imported post
Your post brings up a good point to remember, every state has different firearms laws. I can have a firearm in a case, unloaded with a loaded magazine next to it traveling through Illinois and be legal, while in California, or Maryland or some other state I may be breaking the law.
Something else that may be coming- A friend of mine told me he was traveling on I64 earlier this month and he saw state troopers setting up signs. One sign said K9 unit and the next one Drug and Firearms Checkpoint. He had never heard of a firearms checkpoint, nor had I. It wasn't set up so he didn't need to stop. One thing to remember at a checkpoint like this is that you do not have to allow your vehicle to be searched. You have the right under the 4th amendment to just say no to the request for a search. At least you can't be singled out for stopping at a checkpoint. A former police officer told me either every car must be stopped at a checkpoint or in a sequence, say every 10th, 11th or 15th, orwhatever. I'm sure they wouldn't stop every car on theinterstate. They can't just stop you because you look suspicious or have an out-of-state plate on your car.
BTW, The Supreme Court has ruled that checkpoints can't be set up for the purpose of looking for illegal drugs. Checkpoints for DUI are another matter, and I don't imagine that there has been a ruling on firearms checkpoints. They say that they do arrest a lot of drivers for making an illegal u-turn before a checkpoint. If a trooper asked you if you had any loaded firearms in your vehicle and you said yes I would assume that this would be "probable cause" for a search, even if you refused a request. Not answering the question is not "probable cause" for a search, we do have the 5th amendment too. BTW, I'm not a lawyer but I'm quite sure I'm correct on these points.
