Gun etiquette question...

[Rick Lee]

I am renting a car this Sat. and driving down to Asheville, NC, leaving the car there, buying a bike and riding it home the following day. The bike seller has graciously invited me to stay at his house Sat. night, as he can't be home until close to 5:00pm, which is too late for me to start my 7-8 hr. ride back home to VA. For such a trip, I always carry a sidearm, especially since my permit is valid in VA, TN and NC. I usually keep it in the cupholder of the car and then on my belt for the bike ride. But since I'm going to be a guest in a stranger's house, I don't know what to do. I doubt he's a gun hater, since he lives way out in the country, an hour away from Asheville. What if I tell him and he gets all hot about it? I feel bad bringing a gun into someone's house and not telling them about it. And what if we got stopped and he consented to a police search, not knowing I had a gun in my bag? I guess I could keep the gun unloaded and locked in a hard case, which would keep everything legal, even if he didn't know about the gun. What to do?

[Paul_Heery]

Stay in a hotel

[MRM]

It is very impolite to carry a sidearm into someone's house without telling him you are packing. Unless you have some particularized safety concerns for that period of time that require the presence of a loaded gun, why don't you just put it in a locked case and keep it in the trunk of your car.

[The Gaijin]

It is only right to respect the wishes of your host. Drop it off at a licenced gun dealer and pick it back up the following day. That is - if they are open on Sunday. Might want to offer an appraisal "fee".

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by MRM
It is very impolite to carry a sidearm into someone's house without telling him you are packing. Unless you have some particularized safety concerns for that period of time that require the presence of a loaded gun, why don't you just put it in a locked case and keep it in the trunk of your car.

Because I'm leaving my rental car at the Asheville airport and the bike seller is picking me up there and taking me to his house. I'm riding the bike from his house back to VA the following morning. I'm thinking of emailing him about it and if he has a problem with it, I'll just get the bike and ride until dark and then grab a hotel Sat. night. I highly doubt he's a gun hater and I am not about to do 500 miles in an unfamiliar car and then 500 miles on an unfamiliar bike without a sidearm. But it's not like I can do much about it if I meet him in Asheville, tell him about the gun and then he says I can't get in his car or come into his house.

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by The Gaijin
It is only right to respect the wishes of your host. Drop it off at a licenced gun dealer and pick it back up the following day. That is - if they are open on Sunday. Might want to offer an appraisal "fee".

Even if that were feasible on a Sat. night and early Sun. morning, I doubt it's legal, since I'm a VA resident and cannot buy out of state without doing a transfer in VA through a VA FFL.

[einreb]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
I am not about to do 500 miles in an unfamiliar car and then 500 miles on an unfamiliar bike without a sidearm.

Fuchin' eh, man. Just the other day, I was takin my kid down to the playground and I couldnt find my Glock. NO ******* WAY am I gonna step on that tether-ball court without a piece.

[the]

Until you become familiar with a car or a bike, they can become quite unruly and may need to be subdued with a couple of shots to the tires.

[vash]

tell him about the firearm. take it from there. i bet it is a non-issue.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally posted by Paul_Heery
Stay in a hotel

+1. Unless you personally know this seller I think you're crazy to stay at his/her house. Hotel's have cable, your own bathroom, privacy, what's to think about.

[speeder]

Why do you feel like you need to be armed for this trip?

I mean, I know that you like to exercise your legal right to pack from reading this forum, but a plane trip to a nice place and a pleasant ride home has about a 1 in a billion chance of needing heat.

I am actually in a similar situation because I just drove 3300 miles from CA. to New England and always bring my little friend on these trips when I know that I might be snoozing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and staying in motels in unfamiliar situations. Happiness truly is a warm gun when sleeping in the back of a pick-up somewhere in rural Tennessee. But when I fly somewhere, I never bring my gun. Now I am at my destination, which is a friend's house in a good neighborhood with a 7 y.o. and a 3 y.o. at home. The gun is hidden in my truck, (illegally), just last night I mentioned it to him and he said that we can hide it good in the cellar today. I would rather get shot by a robber than have a kid find a gun of mine and discharge it, but that's just me.

I am very much a believer in the right of self-defense, but frankly I do not see the need to have a gun handy outside of the home 99% of the time. For that 1%, I carry whether legal or not. Just leave it at home, you'll be fine. And a lot more relaxed.

[speeder]

Originally posted by the
Until you become familiar with a car or a bike, they can become quite unruly and may need to be subdued with a couple of shots to the tires.

Stop it...

[David]

Originally posted by vash
tell him about the firearm. take it from there. i bet it is a non-issue.

I'll second that

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by The Gaijin
Drop it off at a licenced gun dealer and pick it back up the following day.

Absolutely do not follow this advice.
Unless things have gotten more relaxed since I was a firearms dealer (over 10 years ago) this is just setting yourself up for headache. Legally, any firearm that is left in a dealers custody must have paperwork and you would have to go through the background check again. And if you're not a resident of the state, sometimes that causes more problems.

Like I said, this may have changed since I was doing this biz, but back then even if you dropped a piece off for some smithy work I had to run the check before letting you have it back. Certain states add on their own heaping pile of dung for you to work through.

The biggest reason I got out of the biz was the increasing level of BS.

I like what David advised... stay in a hotel. That way there are no issues about the gun, the hookers, or the pizza in bed while watching porno PPV.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by cashflyer

I like what David advised... stay in a hotel. That way there are no issues about the gun, the hookers, or the pizza in bed while watching porno PPV.

not that he has any first-hand experience or anything...

[gprsh924]

Last summer my friend and I (then just 18) drove from chicago to hot springs, Arkansas and back to go offroading. that was over 1500 miles. We were not armed. We came back quite alive

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by gprsh924
Last summer my friend and I (then just 18) drove from chicago to hot springs, Arkansas and back to go offroading. that was over 1500 miles. We were not armed. We came back quite alive

You're just lucky your vehicle didn't turn on you. Then you'd have to hope that your 911 call to the closest law enforcement agency would have them get to you in time. But, if you were carrying, you could quickly pump a few rounds into the cylinder block to stop it in its tracks...or at least fire into the radiator and let it bleed out.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally posted by nostatic
not that he has any first-hand experience or anything...

Mmmmm pizza stains on the comforter... I'm more of the red wine and chicken kinda guy when on travel. Can't afford hookers or PPV much less a gun and ammo.

[bell]

i would get to his house, buy the bike and leave, then find a motel nearby on the first floor where you can roll it inside for the night

[steve185]

I am curious as to why you would need to carry a gun?
Steve