What Legal Weapons of Choice is allowed for our OTR drivers?

i'm more into clay shooting or going to some secluded places to shoot at water bottles lol

 

That's one of the best posts I've seen anywhere. Thank you for the effort.

 

XD's under combat stress FAIL.. go take a course at tac response in camden TN your pistol won't last the whole course sorry for the bad news!

 

I am still trying to figure out why it is that logbooks are required and they are so anal about HOS if technically they are against the Constitution ?? Could ya enlighten me on this one a little... not sayin don't believe ya or you are wrong in anyway.. this is just the first I've heard of this and I am curious.....

 

I carry a custom Remington 870 Express Magnum tactical shotgun with a 7rd mag. It sits unloaded in an unlocked case with 7 rds of buckshot. In the case is a Masterlock padlock. It takes me roughly 15 seconds to remove the shells from the case, lock the case, and drop the shells into the bag with the other 28 shells I keep in the truck. To date I've declared its presence in the truck to Officers in MD, IL, and WV during random DOT stops along with federal officers during the entry process at several military facilities. The only comments I ever get are admiring compliments when I open the case. The most "hassle" I've received was from an IL trooper who wanted to buy it.

I choose a shotgun for several reasons, the two most important being the prevailance of retarded handgun laws in the localities you're most likely to need a gun.. Detroit, Chicago, Youngstown, Etc, Etc... and my military experience carrying a shotgun as a secondary weapon in combat.

Its been said on this board that nothing in or on a truck is worth a human life. I disagree. I'm in that truck and I absolutely think my life is worth defending at the cost of taking someone elses if they choose to target my truck. Enter my trailer and a criminal is safe from me, attempt to enter my tractor and the funeral will be closed casket.

For the record my company supports the 2nd Amendment and encourages drivers to be legally armed.

 

Just curious. What do you tell an officer if he asks why you have a shotgun in the rig?

Pigeonhunter comes to mind.

 

I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to notice that post, lol. Sometimes my sarcastic sense of humor comes off as so serious, people actually believe it. I think I should be working at The Onion instead of driving a truck.

I rest my case.

 

As others have pointed out you are in error. This BS has been spread so wide that it has become an urban legend. Heck I even fell for it back in 1992 when I first started driving. Of course if you took the time to actually contact the federal government or even state government you would have been clued in long ago.

This was such a contentious argument at another forum I am a member of that I took the time to contact the federal government and copied the response I got to the open forum. Of course if others took the time to verify their information they would not feel the sting of humiliation and embarrassment that comes with being wrong.

Here is the letter I sent and the reply I received from DOT regarding this topic;

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Monday, August 13, 2007 01:59 PM
To: dot.comments@dot.gov (dot.comments@dot.gov)
Subject:

To Whom It May Concern,
I am trying to verify the existence of a federal law prohibiting truck drivers from carrying firearms in a commercial vehicle. I would like the exact statute so I may post the correct info on xxxxxxxxxxx. This has been an issue hotly debated over the years and no-one seems to be able to prove their case either way. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Dear Mr XXXXXXXXX,

Carrying concealed weapons is a matter of state law. Your question can best be answered by the appropriate state government. Links to state government web sites are available on: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/webstate.htmYou may also want to contact the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) field office nearest you. To find the office nearest you, please consult the following web site: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/contact/offices/displayfieldroster.asp
To contact FMCSA Headquarters in Washington, DC, please see: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/contactus/hq.htm

Sincerely,

Reference Services
National Transportation Library
Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Now you have the facts. Please stop relaying this misinformation about a "federal hand gun law." You are embarrassing yourself with your naiveté'

 

I've never been asked directly although it tends to come up eventually. When it does I relate an experience I had in Detroit.

I had a 7am Monday delivery with heavy snow predicted all night. I arrived ~ 1am, backed the truck against the building, unhooked and was sitting with the 5th wheel just under the trailer nose as I planned to grab a quick breakfast as soon as a local diner opened. About 4am I heard voices and felt my cab rock. I jumped up, grabbed the airhorn cable as my ### hit the drivers seat, horn is blaring as I start the truck and release the tractor brakes. Tractor literally jumped when I dumped the clutch in 5th. In the immortal words of Charlie Daniels... 5 young males were "steppin and fetchin like their heads were on fire and their ##### were catchin"

It was certainly funny, and I'd have loved to have had video of each face when that air horn let go and the truck started up, I'm sure they had no idea the truck was occupied. But as funny as it was, still, if I hadnt been unhooked and they had been serious about getting in the cab... I'm a big guy and no easy mark, but like Ron White, I didnt know how many it would take, but I knew how many they could use.

Most officers understand completely.

 

I have done that and you will work your butt off during that class and learn a lot too.