Living in a van with an AR

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UsernameO123456789@reddit

As a NYer, I would say bring a shotgun vs an AR. It’s less headache. That said, avoid NY at all costs.

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ConsequenceWise8619@reddit

I say don't! or see what the states that should not try it in have for jail facilities!

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You will be imprisoned indefinitely if you travel to a ban state, irregardless of how secure you lock up your AR. With how much LEOs love harassing people with out of state plates, your freedom is on a countdown timer if you go to any ban states, so Irecommend you avoid them.

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brandoldme@reddit

I'm just going to say don't try it in New York. In theory you can drive across the state with any federally legal firearm if it's legal in the state you started in and legal in your destination state.

But that doesn't matter to New York. They have what's called an affirmative defense. Honestly, I don't think I can explain it correctly. I had a lawyer explain it to me. But basically they're going to charge you with possession of an illegal or unlicensed firearm. You're going to have to prove with an attorney in court that it's not illegal for you to drive through the state with that firearm.

And generally speaking this means you can't stay the night there. You have to just drive through only stopping for gas and maybe something to eat.

That's just one example. And it's changing, unfortunately, every year from state to state. I don't know what is going on in Virginia and Massachusetts but I'd want to find out about those 100%. I'd want to find out about Colorado 100%. And illinois, just hell no. No DC. California is probably extremely problematic.

But if you want to come down to the South and move between Mississippi over to Florida up into the Carolinas and back over to Georgia and Tennessee, you'd be all right. Just don't have an FRT in Florida. Do not take my word for any of these states. Look that up all on your own, but I kind of went through this exercise recently just wondering because this is where I live and I travel all over the southeast. So I'm just kind of going through which states can I legally possess an AR pistol in. And it's generally okay here but there are some nuances especially in North Carolina about concealed versus non-concealed. So just really look up every state you're going to.

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TacosNGuns@reddit

Even in the south and southwest you can have issues. Oklahoma and New Mexico aren’t very friendly about guns in cars for instance.

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Kugelfischer_47@reddit

Oklahoma is a constitutional carry state though

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TacosNGuns@reddit

Now, and recently. Before ‘19 you had to have a CHL, or transport unloaded and locked. Honestly didn’t know they loosed the law

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IntrepidJaeger@reddit

Affirmative defense means that the burden of proof shifts to you, the defendant. You essentially admit to the action, but you are attempting to prove that you meet the requirements for it to be legal. Basically, the defense changes to you proving you did it the correct and legal way, versus the prosecution having to prove you did something illegal.

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WestSide75@reddit

Agreed mostly with this, but my understanding is that Illinois isn’t too bad as long as your gun is locked away, you’re only stopping for a bathroom break or food, and you’re outside of the Chicago city limits. I believe that California is similar.

New Jersey is another state I’d completely avoid with an AR in my vehicle.

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PunkWithADashOfEmo@reddit

Pro tip: just don’t go to Illinois

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WestSide75@reddit

I grew up there. Won’t be moving back ever.

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PunkWithADashOfEmo@reddit

Same, Southern Illinois ruined me and moving to the East Coast brought me back

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Redrum_71@reddit

...down by the river!!!

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Holiday-Hyena-5952@reddit

Avoid the states that have diminished or deny the 2d Amendment. That would include New York and Massachusetts and Canada (to avoid New York on your way to New England.) Stay south and west. And probably avoid Chicago & Los Angeles, too.

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AmbivalentSamaritan@reddit

You do not want to enter Canada with a firearm

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TimTapsTangoes@reddit

New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts are all very anti-gun.

Most will not respect FOPA and will only allow it as an affirmative defense. It will take you years and tens of thousands of dollars to eventually plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor and probation.

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Sal-LeMandeur@reddit

1: NEVER consent to a search (and keep it out of sight)

2: Shut the hell up (NEVER disclose you have, own, or have ever seen a gun)

Spent a year doing coast to coast with a travel trailer, including NY, NJ, IL, CO, and other shitdick commie tyrant states.

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Reversi8@reddit

There’s not really much that would have any effect on someone traveling through Colorado. Though I see they did recently add a law requiring unattended guns in a vehicle to be locked in a hard case.

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roytwo@reddit

I had a similar concern with my long post retirement road trips. My decision was to make my road guns a lever action rifle and a revolver, both in the same caliber so they could share ammo (.44mag). My thought is that those two types of firearms are the least controversial , and would best keep me out of trouble in restrictive states. In reality, in 99.999% of the cases when you need a firearm, these would serve one just fine .

Regardless of the politics of gun restrictions, I just want to have some self defense and not have to deal with unnecessary drama in some restrictive state .

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Jupitor13@reddit

My Instructor advised to me to research each State that I plan to travel through as I full time.

I've been carrying pepper spray, I don't feel under guned. I can shoot somebody from he comfort of my cab and drive away.

NY is beautiful. I would go there 100%. An option may be to ship your AR from an FFL to an FFL in your next State. And carry pepper spray. If you defend yourself with an AR anywhere, it will cost you a lot of money, jailtime, etc.

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HeughJanus@reddit

dont go anywhere near shithole states like ny if you plan to go through with that. there have been stories where people have caught felonies for passing through with no intention of stopping there just because they had a "high capacity" mag

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_Why_Not_Today_@reddit

I’d stay away from MA, NY, NJ and Maryland. Don’t ask, don’t tell and don’t do anything stupid.

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WindstormMD@reddit

MD should be fine actually. If he has questions on specific details /r/MDGuns is a good resource, at least those of us stuck here because of life and job situations try our best to make it useful and push back against the garbage

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AP587011B@reddit

If your gun is illegal there and / or you haven’t gone thru the proper steps there then you are in violation of state law

You would be arrested if caught and treated the same as any terrorist or gang member

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DBDude@reddit

The Firearm Owners Protection act is supposed to help you in such cases, but that doesn’t stop a state like New York from ruining your life by dragging you through the legal system for as long as they can. There was a bill some years ago that put teeth into FOPA, with early termination of such cases and compensation, but the Democrats of course wouldn’t let it pass.

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IanKelsonMD@reddit

Have bigger problems if you’re living in a van.

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Sianmink@reddit

Technically you're protected under federal safe passage laws.

Practically several states don't give a flip and will arrest you and ruin your life anyway.

My advice is to limit where you travel.

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MArkansas-254@reddit

Yep! This. If they want you, they will take you and you get to fight it out in court. How wealthy are you?

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Sianmink@reddit

"Living in a van" wealthy.

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WestSide75@reddit

This is the best advice.

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MArkansas-254@reddit

Good luck. If they want you, they will take you. The only solution is to not go or go unarmed. 🤷‍♂️

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Kromulent@reddit

technically, yes

in practice, big mistake

you get arrested, you pay a lawyer crazy money, some day you might get your van back, and maybe you go to prison anyway

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Gr144@reddit

It varies a lot. I would not travel to NJ or Mass with a gun. States like NY or California should be fine to bring a gun that's legal there. I won't bring an AR unless you are only going to gun friendly states. I would bring a revolver, pistol with lower capacity mags, or a shotgun if you plan on spending anytime in non-gun friendly states.

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Username7239@reddit

FOPA protects you only when you can legally possess your firearm in the state you came from and the state of your final destination. You are not allowed to make any unnecessary stops along the way. States like NY, MA, CT, NJ, HI,etc do not give a fuck that you are probably a nice guy and don't mean harm.

Want a real world example of what happens when you try something like this? Ask poor Kyle, a veteran who spent over four months imprisoned before his trial. https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/10/23/massachusetts-air-force-veteran-guns-case-funds-raised-to-release-kyle-culotta-from-jail/

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That said, concealed is concealed, whether its on your belt or locked in the back under a bench...

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MVGbear@reddit

There are plenty of states that don’t care. There are also those that do. The only real answer to this is to look up the laws specific to the states you plan to travel through.