Jose_in_Dallas wrote:The Annoyed Man wrote:When I go to California in May, I'll be bringing along my G26, and either my Mossberg 590A1 or my Marlin 336. I'll be towing a travel trailer, and plan on possibly overnighting at unimproved camping sites on the way. My wife will bring her G43.
Just curious but I always thought you could not bring a firearm while travelling in California. I've always wanted to go camping at one of the National Parks but not being able to bring a firearm with me has always kept me from even considering a trip there.
You cannot bring a magazine of higher than 10 round capacity. My G26 is not on the California roster of approved guns. However, the regulations concerning the approved roster apply only to FFL transfers for California residents. I may travel into and through California with my non-roster gun as long as (A) it does not have a magazine of greater than 10 round capacity, and (B) as long as the gun leaves with me when I leave. I could buy 10 round CA compliant mags for my G19 or G17 and bring them instead if I wanted to. But the G26 is already restricted to 10 rounds by its size, and it weighs less and conceals more easily, so it makes more sense as a traveling gun.
Since I am not confident that any of the above would apply to an AR15 brought in from out of state, lacking all of the California-mandated mechanical and capacity restrictions on that platform, I am not willing to tempt fate by bringing one of my ARs along. Hence my choice of either my Mossberg shotgun or Marlin 336, since either of those two weapons is perfectly legal in California. Of the two, the Marlin is the least "tactical", and therefore be the least likely to get someone's panties in a twist. OTH, it would be somewhat less useful in a tactical situation than the shotgun.
As long as I
transport both firearms lawfully while in California, which is to say unloaded and locked in a case, in the back of my vehicle or in my trailer, then they are perfectly legal for me to bring. When I am trailer-camping for extended stay (several days to a week) in/near a big city, the pistol will be uncased and loaded inside the trailer at night, while the long gun remains locked up. If I am camping overnight in more remote areas while traveling in California, I'll get the long gun out at night too. The only federal law/regulation about national parks is that the laws of the state in which the park lies apply. So for instance, it is legal in Texas to open carry a handgun in a national park......you just can't carry into any of the federal gov't owned buildings in that park. Unless California has
specific laws against possessing a firearm in a national park, the same laws that apply everywhere else in the state would apply in the national parks. In any case, I
won't be camping in any national park campgrounds while in California, so none of those regs will affect me. In the past, I've made the trip with just a pistol - usually a full-sized M&P45, which uses 10-round magazines - partly because I was staying in hotels, and partly because I didn't own any California compliant long guns that were practical for self-defense, or that wouldn't draw unwanted attention. For instance, my 26" heavy barreled Remington 700 with 5-20x scope is pretty useless inside of about 50 yards, and I can just see a CA LEO's eyes bugging out when he sees my "sniper" rifle, and automatically assumes that I'm up to no good.
So that's why I am restricting my long gun choice to a shotgun or a lever gun. If I were traveling to somewhere more gun-friendly, I would probably bring an AR15 instead, although my Keltec Sub-2000 might be a good choice. The Keltec doesn't work for California because it uses Glock 17 magazines, and I don't own any 10-round reduced capacity G17 mags, so I am leaving it at home. I am
possibly going to spend time camping in national forests in AZ and NM either going or returning (I haven't decided all the details yet), but there won't be any "gun issues" to worry about in those cases. But an AR15 solves a lot of problems if you're going somewhere that is more gun-friendly that California. It's compact and light, has plenty of capacity with the standard mags, is easy to use close up, and powerful enough out to medium ranges.