ctom

I have and hunt with a CVA Optima pistol and have always simply transported this gun in the van in a hard case where it is broken down into three basic pieces: the scoped barrel, the hand grip/trigger and the fore grip. If the gun has a load in it at the end of the day, the primer is removed but the load remains in the barrel. This is legal here in Minnesota. I've always just grabbed the beast and hand-carried it to the stand and back and on occasions that I want to take a little still hunting in. Yesterday a local CO was checking people for fishing licenses along the river behind our home and stopped on his way to his vehicle and chatted a while. Just on the off chance I asked him about Minnesota's concealed carry rules for black powder pistols IF the weapon is holstered. Eye opener here.

Someone suggested a holster for that gun and I bought one. It fits the pistol like a custom-made glove. I mentioned this set-up to the CO telling him my uphill hikes will now be done hands free. But while he was standing right there I asked about any conflict with the state's concealed carry garbola. He said that loaded and primed or other-wise it was totally legal to carry the pistol in the holster as long as I am hunting. He went on to say that 99% of the tickets issued during the hunting season involving all handguns is a matter of not being able to have a HOLSTERED handgun inside a motor vehicle unless the OWNER HAS a current concealed carry permit. Transporting a loaded, but un-primed/capped, black powder handgun of any kind inside a motor vehicle has to be done in a hard case either locked or dis-assembled or a fully zippered soft case if the owner does not hold a permit. I was ready to just pop the prime out of the breech plug and re-holster the gun for the drive home at night or to the hills the next morning. Am I ever happy I had this conversation.

Assembling/disassembling this gun in the dark or low light is a bona fide pain in the arse so I think I'll keep the gun in the hard case for home storage and going to the range, but I am going to check out the smaller sizes of soft AR cases for running back and forth while hunting.

All states are different in their transport/possession regulations regarding hunting handguns, even if its a black powder arm, so it may be a good thing to check out before the season opens and the man with the star is a greater presence than usual.