I cannot imagine how having a gun in your glove compartment counts as being concealed, but I guess thats a job for the appeals court to figure out. I suppose the argument might be that although the gun isnt on the person it is ‘readily accessible’.
Notes From The Bunker
Sounds like a tactic where they punish people financially by making them pay huge legal fees to defend bullshit charges. Happens all the time up in the great white north. You get off but you’re financially ruined and usually divorced by the time the crown finishes with you in court.
Lock it. Then they need a search warrant to open it. Old biker trick.
“Heightened expectation of privacy”.
This is one of those things where the patchwork of concealed carry laws makes me crazy.
After reading the laws as detailed on this page:
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/wisconsin.pdf
It seems he was indeed in violation of some law. (regardless of how stupid that law may be) Maybe not their concealed carry law but possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Wookie:
Hi!
If you think “making sense” is their intent, there’s a bridge I could sell you…
Stay Frosty!
I’m under no delusions. Sense is something I’ll never see from the .gov crowd.
The point I prolly should have tried to make was it’s incumbent upon the gun owner to know the local laws. When I took the classes for my carry permit our instructors were repetitive about knowing the law.
Was also trying to point out just how fouled up the minefield of these laws can be.
Whether you agree with the laws there or not, and I’m not taking any sides here, it just looks like a plain case of the dude screwed up and got caught doing something he should have not done. Even if those silly laws do infringe our 2A rights.
Just sayin.
Three felony theory,you are violating at least 3 laws at all times even if they are contradictory or better yet nonsensical. That way they just have to decide what to go after you with.
That’s the law here in Washington, too. When I bought a handgun recently, the shop person told me to leave it in plain sight with the barrel open. Putting it a the trunk is fine, but our car doesn’t have one. If it’s in the glove box, it’s considered a concealed weapon.
Gotta get a permit one of these days. It doesn’t cost all that much, but it’s a hassle.
The two spots you want to avoid having a gun is glovebox and console. (Or any builtin storage bin, for that matter) Apparently, the State thinking is that those spots are where you keep the paperwork for the vehicle, and so a natural place to be accessing while a cop is walking up or standing there. (As if that is where you are keeping your ghettoblaster for those times you have to deal with those pesky police types.) As a consequence, those two areas are accorded special rates of badness in court in some states. In a few others, that may be the state’s preferred location for car guns.
Consistency? Saywhat?
The WI law used to say that even in plain sight on the dash was considered concealed. Republicans got the majority and changed it so even commoners without CCW permits could leave a gat on the dash in plain sight. In 15 years of Cheesehead living, I’ve seen open carry once despite it being constitutionally OK with the state.
In the most regulated states, firearms anywhere in the car need to be unloaded and in a separate case from any ammo. Had to travel through Illinois once and looked up state-level rules. The variability is maddening.
In Illinois it must be broken down and in a locked case with ammo seperate if possible
If you are a non-Illinois resident with a concealed weapon permit, on the other hand, then you can carry a loaded handgun in your car or on your person (so long as you remain in the car) legally.
It just depends on what State you reside. Where I live, (Nevada), concealed refers only to “being on your person”. Concealed does not apply to a glove box, center console or under the seat. You can also have a hand gun loaded in the vehicle without violating any laws.
In my experience reading the laws, a conceal carry permit is required to have a loaded weapon in a car, whether on you or not (some states require it to be on you).
Specifically in the states near me, a loaded magazine is allowed as long as it is in a separate compartment and can’t be ‘readily accessed’ to load the gun. In these cases, the ‘separate compartment’ can be another pocket of the same bag.
There are many good reasons to have a permit and only a few disadvantages, so i suggest getting one if your state allows it.
My permit is the second amendment of the constitution. I don’t need the governments permission to be armed, anywhere or anytime. Luckily the state I live in (Arizona) is getting awfully close to making it illegal to NOT have a loaded gun on you at all times.
My sister in AZ might be ok with that requirement. She learned to shoot as a pre-teen, and tells me she could outshoot all the guys in her teens/20’s group (Dad taught all his kids to shoot as pre-teens, even the step-daughters in NJ). However, her husband would probably have a heart attack over that! (I’m unsure if he even knows about her shooting history)