# Shooting fom car



## 4pwr (Mar 29, 2001)

is it illegal to shoot from a car or just shoot game from a car. Also, why do I have to have a hunting license to carry a gun in the woods ? What have been the court rulings on requiring liscensing of a right?


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Highly illegal.


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## wildboar6768 (Aug 2, 2000)

Does it make a difference if the engine in the vehicle is running or not?


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

I don't think it makes a difference but perhaps Boehr can address this.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

You may not have a loaded or uncased gun in or upon a motorized vehicle. It makes no difference it the vehicle is moving, sitting or motor off. If you can't have an uncased or loaded gun then it's pretty hard to shoot a unloaded, cased gun from a vehicle. Notice, the above says motorized vehicle, that includes, snowmobiles, ORV's tractors. combines, pickup trucks, buses, motor homes, all *motorized vehicles*.

Now there are two ways you can have a loaded gun and that is having a handgun with a CCW permit. That allows you to carry it but does not allow you to shoot it from a vehicle because another section of law also makes it illegal to hunt from *all* motorized vehicles. So if anyone wants to lose their CCW permit, go ahead and shoot, hunt from a vehicle.

The other way is to have in possession a "Hunt From a Standing Vehicle Permit". This permit is issued by District Law Supervisors for physically challenged hunters who are unable to enter or exit a vehicle without someone helping them. Not that they can't walk very far or anything else. If they can get out of the vehicle they can sit next to their vehicle as easy as sitting in it. There are a number of those permits out. Obviously, the vehicle must be off and you must be where it is legal for you to hunt also.

As far as a license to carry a gun in the woods, if you have a handgun and a CCW permit and you are not using it to shoot, you can without a license. If you have you gun, handgun or longarm and it's very obvious you are target practicing, you also don't need a license. If you are just strolling through the woods, plinking at whatever, not obvious that you are target practicing then you have to have a license. As far as challenged, been a law for more years than I've been an officer and I've been an officer for almost 21 years and has always held up in court.

As far as a right, sorry hunting is not a right, it's a privilege! Don't confuse 2nd ammendment rights with hunting. Don't confuse 2nd ammendment rights with being able to take a gun anywhere you want whenever you want. If that was the case, you wouldn't have to go through the problem of getting a CCW permit.

As far as having guns in vehicles in the city or any area not frequented by wild game, there are also laws against that in the Penal Code, City Ordinances etc.


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## bocephus (Feb 8, 2001)

say you were driving on state land two tracks and you get out of your truck and get your cased and unloaded gun or bow out of the back and shoot at a deer? is this illegal considering you uncased your weapon and you are not resting on the vehicle??


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

It would be legal as long as you were transporting your weapon legally to begin with however, tell me where you are going to do this so I'm not the poor guy sitting back in the woods that you have no idea who's around and hunting the area so I am not hunting where you are and stay safe from an accident.


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## bocephus (Feb 8, 2001)

i understand what you are saying. but where we hunt there is very little pressure during the bow season and we are ver safety cautious. of course i would make sure that nobody was around. just wanted to know if it was legal. so there is no requirments of how far you have to be from a vehicle? thanks boehr. oh yeah osceola county state forest is where i am talking about. thanks again.


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## Mtnman198 (Jan 5, 2001)

My question is, is it legal to use the hood of your truck for support while target practicing, and also I have noticed guys getting ready for a hunt and uncase their guns and lay them in the bed of their truck, loaded and unloaded would this be considered Illegal? what if they leaned it against their vehicle?


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

You may not have a loaded or uncased gun *in or upon* a motorized vehicle. 

Because of the wording it would technically be illegal however, target practicing, as an officer, I wouldn't even mention it but, I can't say for every officer.


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## sillyburt (Mar 16, 2001)

I am confused about 4pwr's question! I am not sure if he means walking through the woods with a concealed weapon or not. I have always thought if you were in the woods, say your own private land, with an unconcealed weapon, that that was OK unless there were not any local ordinances against it. Obviously if a person doing this were to point thier weapon at an animal it would be hard to argue they were not trying to hunt!!

My question and concern about this matter is what happens if I am in the woods working on my deer blind or planting crops with my dog. Then I have an encounter with a bear or a bobcat or something. Animals probably would not approach me, but maybe an animal would because of my dog or perhaps my dog would get defensive and bark. I know this scenerio sounds far fetched, but I would like to be able to defend me or my dog and continues to be a concern of mine. In my area (where I go hunting) we don't see many large animals, but if I had land in the UP that might be different.

Also, what if I were "rabbit hunting" but I had a larger caliber handgun such as a 9mm?

Thanks in advance. I'm not trying to push the law as far as it can possibly go but I do need to know where that limit ends. Also thanks boehr for supplying info on this sight so much. There are so many times when you think you may not be breaking the law and the hunting/fishing guide doesn't seem to answer the question. thanks again


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

Don't fell bad about being confused about handgun laws most, including many cops are confused too. As far as rabbit hunting, you can hunt rabbits with a 30-06 if you wish. You can also hunt rabbits with any handgun you wish providing it is capable of holding no more than 9 rounds in the magazine and chamber combined, that includes a 9mm. Obviously, if your not hunting with the handgun and you have a CCW or on your own property then the number of rounds is not an issue.

If you are on your own property and feel the need to carry a handgun for protection, then you may without a license providing you are not hunting. If you are on someone else's property then you would need a license (hunting). If for some reason you killed a bear or a bobcat that was attacking you or your dog then an investigation would determine if your intent was to hunt or not with that handgun. Now remember, if you have no intent to hunt and kill and animal because of protection, you have no privileges to keep that animal, right?

The handgun laws are very confusing and even the new CCW Law does not make that law any less confusing by the least. I very much suspect we (CO's) will have some problems with it. For example, your own property or not, you have a CCW permit and you are bow hunting with a proper hunting license. Can you have you pistol on your person, for protection or any other reason? The answer is no, because there already is a law that states you may not be in possession of a firearm while bow hunting, period. The same answer, no, is for turkey hunting, waterfowl hunting, muzzleloading season. But, I will bet anybody right now that we are going to have some bow hunters with a CCW permit get caught bow hunting with his pistol on their person. Then guess what, it's a misdemeanor and under the new CCW Law you can have a misdemeanor on your record within 3 years of getting a CCW.

I hope this answers your question because as I stated above, it can be very confusing with handguns in the equation. I don't know everything about the handgun laws but I am pretty well versed in today's normal handguns and when legal and not legal, especially when they combine hunting practices.


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