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

For crying out loud...

You guys don't listen to reason very well....

The size of the vehicle MAKES NO DIFFERENCE...big truck or Kia, makes no difference at all.

 

Yeah. But where does the email say that?

The only reason i'm bringing this up, is because CMV operators are already exempt from alot of laws, and rights that "civilians" have. You might get a few troopers that will let you go without a problem, but there is always that one that's having a bad day... You never know.

It also depends on your company, most of them won't allow that.

 

Companies don't allow it (big ones that is)...but who are they to decide my fate. Its a cruel world out there, best to be prepared for it.

I do know...
The trooper can have a bad day all over himself...I know the laws pertaining to this, and he CAN NOT do anything about it provided I follow his states laws regarding it.

CMV or not does not make any difference....and I can prove it to him the easy way or the hard way (the hard way will make him look like an idiot in front of his peers)

Is it possible that one may run across a trooper that does not know the law??? YES...happens everyday (but it is becoming less frequent due to the sheer number of people that carry firearms these days)

I'm sure I can spout off enough state laws to make him doubt his decision to detain me without first checking with his superiors.

 

There is NO LAW forbidding the LEGAL carry of a weapon in a CMV. Either FEDERAL or STATE.
If there were, I am sure a person as smart as you would be able to provide a LINK and something more than the usual BS rhetoric.

 

I would have provided a link IF that's what i was trying to imply. You've seen for yourself from the responses in this thread that this issue has always been a 'grey area'. You can't get an answer from the companies that you drive for because they aren't interested in obligating themselves to anything, nor do they want you to carry a weapon in your truck.

That would be like assuming that because it's illegal for them to search someones home/personal vehicle without consent that it should be the same for a CMV, correct? Sadly, many DOT officials and government agencies will tell you otherwise, as well as some of the companies that you may drive for. That would be like implying that just because cars are allowed to idle for as long as they want, big trucks can do. And so fourth.

You can't get proper information from DOT officials, because most of them DON'T KNOW EITHER.

The point is, there is a fair chance that you will run into the wrong cop. Searching your truck isn't supposed to be legal, either, but it's done every day, without consent.

Grey area's are worse than laws, laws are written in black and white. I am not saying that it's "against the law", but i am saying that most people don't know what the law is, law enforcement included. This email would be like me writing the ILDOT officials to ask them if i was allowed to travel directly through their state without any rest period, they would ofcourse answer that it was not against the law under the assumption that i was driving my personal vehicle, and not a company truck, which is how this particular email was answered as the person who authored it never hashed out the details of this particular debate.

 

This is NOT a grey area. All the proof has been given that you need to prove that. Anyone who even considers carrying a weapon, regardless of where or what type of vehicle it's in, and does not research the laws for the state(s) they will be passing through is not smart enough to own or carry a gun in the first place. There are plenty os us here that know these laws and the proof has been given several times in this and other threads to back it up.

 

I have sent a follow up email back to ISP and am waiting for their reply. I'll post the response I get back from from the ISP. I have taken the time to read through the Deadly Weapons Article 720 ILCS 5/24 and did not find reference to a different standard for CMVs or CDL holders. Feel free to check out the state police site here:
http://www.isp.state.il.us/foid/firearms.cfm

As for the Federal Law myth, See 18 US section 926A. It makes no mention of a separate standard for CMVs. Going back to a previous posters response from DOT, each state sets local laws regarding the transport of firearms. So if you decide to carry, do yourself a favor and check with state/local law enforcement before doing so!
Sec. 926A. Interstate transportation of firearms



Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or
regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any
person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from
transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to
transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he
may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place
where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during
such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the
firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible
or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such
transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle
without a compartment separate from the driver's compartment the
firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container
other than the glove compartment or console.

EFFECTIVE DATE
Section effective on date on which Firearms Owners' Protection
Act, Pub. L. 99-308, became effective, see section 2 of Pub. L.
99-360, set out as an Effective Date of 1986 Amendments note under
section 921 of this title.

 

And just to be perfectly clear...Sec. 926A. Interstate transportation of firearms is a Federal Law...not a state law. So it DOES apply here.

 

Any update, indycolt?

 

I sent the following as a follow up to the original email:
Josh Hxx
<jodh@ymail.com>
08/31/2009 08:28 PM
To Brian_Copple@isp.state.il.us
cc
Subject Re: transporting a firearm


Thank you very much for the quick reply Sergent Copple. If I may, I would
like to ask a follow up question. I am also a CDL license holder. Would
Illinois law remain the same for a CMV or is there a separate statute for
CMVs? US DOT suggested I contact State and local law enforcement to make
certain there were not additional restrictions for CMVs.

I received the following reply:
09/01/2009 10:45 AM
Brian_Copple@isp.state.il.us
Subject Re: transporting a firearm

Nothing changes for CDL holders.

Sergeant Brian Copple
Illinois State Police
Safety Education Unit Manager