Owning a pistol without a conceal carry license
 

I'm looking to purchase a firearm legally. I own a shotgun, no restrictions or permits required, but I'd like a handgun to keep in my home and take to the range/private residences that will allow me to shoot there.

I live in a college town, so the local police department are a little uncooperative with basically everything. I have read to contact your local police department for a conceal carry, but I suspect that they won't be very helpful, and I also suspect that such a permit will cost more than the firearms I can afford.

Without such a license, how can you keep and own a handgun? Between taking it from the store and your home, your home and the range, etc, how is this manageable? I suspect keeping a firearm on the seat, even if that's the legal way to do it, is a terrible idea. The police in the area are VERY well known for random traffic stops without reason, and for searches without warrants (they've been known to tell you "you can let us or you can wait til we get in contact with the magistrate and get a warrant, and if you make us do that, we WILL find something"), so carrying it in plain sight or hidden without a permit both seem like bad ideas.

So how can I manage this? I live in West Virginia.

I suggest before you think about buying a pistol become aware of all the handgun laws in your state. For instance here if Texas a civilian who can legally own a handgun can carry that handgun in there own vehicle cocked and locked any where as long as I (a law enforcement officer) can not see it.

I get conflicting information. I get stopped fairly often (not for speeding, just because the officers around here have nothing to do), and they always ask if I have firearms or knives in my vehicle. If I had a license, or it was legal to carry them and they were in my name, I don't know why this would be an issue. I do short films fairly often, so I've got props, as well, and I always get heckled for my prop weapons (none of which fire, most are plastic). Is this just scare tactics, or?..

If you carry a handgun in your car, don't do what people say is the "right" thing to do and leave it sitting in the passenger seat (Cops are very quickly threatened by this). Put it in the glove compartment, or under your seat. If you are pulled over by a cop, calmly and politely tell the officer you have a legal firearm concealed in your vehicle. NEVER, EVER keep it loaded in the car.

And you can get a pistol permit without getting a carry permit. This just means you can't carry it on your waiste as a sidearm. Transporting it in the car is a moot point.

Open carry, keep it unloaded in "luggage" etc.

What's the rules on carrying a gun while traveling on a plane? Are you allowed to bring it with you at all, or no? If you can, do they just put it in the lower bay where it can't be accessed? I'd assume they wouldn't allow it for carry-on, since that makes a terrorist's job all too easy.

I can only imagine how many government censors I've alarmed by my word usage. :eek:

JUST TO BE CLEAR, I'M NOT A TERRORIST.

Hopefully that will be a safe precaution.

unloaded, in checked luggage. I know plenty of people who fly their rifles on hunting trips.

Does having a gun in your luggage mean you are likely to have a snapped glove and a bad afternoon? :D

Actually I was researching Oregon state laws, since I'll be moving up there, and I learned that if you are a concealed carry permit holder and you have a firearm in the car or on you, you're not required by law to inform the police officer that you have a gun. It's a courtesy, really. In Ohio, however, when a cop pulls you over, if you have a gun and you don't tell him right away, it's against the law.

Also, according to wikipedia (and since this is important I would definitely double check this with your state's legislation) you can open carry, meaning your gun can be out and on you in plain sight, without any permit or license. Lucky you!

Still, I'd look online for your state's constitution and read up on it regarding firearms and weapons policies with regard to ownership and carry. Yes it's arduous and irritating sifting through all that text, but the knowledge is worth it.

Keep in mind I'm giving advise based on the strict rules of infamous New York, so I wasn't aware it is considered "courtesy" in some states to tell an officer you're packing heat. In mine it is a health risk to not tell the officer. You are liable to get bad lead poisoning.