Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I remember when I was a kid seeing people drive around with either a shotgun or a rifle in the back window of their truck. Now I'm getting old but I'm not over the hill...yet. Can someone tell me why we don't see that very much anymore? Is it because the guns are much more likely to be stolen nowadays, or is there some law prohibiting carrying firearms in the back window of your pickup truck, or is it just socially unacceptable, or is it for some other reason all together. I just remember it being much more prevalent 25 years or so ago.

Another question:

What if an individual came from an afternoon deer hunt to pick up there kids from school and the deer rifle was in a gun case in the bed of the truck. Is that breaking school policy? If a teacher saw the gun case in the bed of the truck and reported you...what do you think would happen?

How does the law read regarding concealed weapons? If you have your deer rifle stuffed under your truck seat is that concealed? What if your rifle is in a roof mount that you bolt to the roof of you truck...is that considered concealed?

Just curious, it would be nice if we could share some knowledge or opinions on the carrying of guns in public or from point A to point B.

Any input or opinions are welcomed.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

In Illinois:

1) Why don't you see guns in windows? It's illegal here. Even if it wasn't, the city/suburb folks are pretty scared of guns anyways. Thank the media.

2) ANY gun in a "gun free school zone" is a fellony and that mistake would get you arrested. Couple that with overzealous prosecutors, and your in for a world of hurt for an oversight.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Its illegal in Michigan.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

People drive around with guns in their windows here all the time.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Because its cheaper to get a bumper sticker made that says...."Yo... break into my truck and steal all my sh*t".

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Lots of guys do it in VA, I wouldnt go near a school though. I wouldnt stuff it under a seat either. The rule here is in plain sight, I believe. I talked to a state trooper who said its most likely a case by case deal. If you get pulled over with one in a shooting bag, and state that you have a gun, most likely you're ok. Act like an a$$hole and then he sees it in the back without warning, they get a little jumpy. Best way is in a case, preferably locked. Cant drive and shoot anyway, dont see why its a problem. I use a rack in the back of my truck going from home to my hunting spot. Never stop anywhere in between, and its in plain view, so no problems.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Buddy of mine has an Ar-15 in his back window. When i travel with my weapon i have the ammo in the back seat and the gun in the trunk, that way there is no way for me to be able to load and fire my weapon without getting out of the car.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Lately, I'd have to agree that there is no better advertising to a would-be criminal than a weapon in the back window. They're stealing police weapons now out of squad cars, why would they leave my personal vehiclealone?

Aside from that, what better way to thump, rumble,and bang your firearms around. Yes, some are made for it (like ARs with iron sights), but I think you'd have to ask yourself what might be served by carrying a scoped rifle that way?

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Yep. Add NRA stickers, Browning stickers, etc... to the 'Rip Me Off' advertising on trucks. What are they thinking???

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Is it because the guns are much more likely to be stolen nowadays, or is there some law prohibiting carrying firearms in the back window of your pickup

Well, it may be illegal someplace, but I have never lived anywhere where it was prohibited by law. But the danger of theft is very serious these days, and you know how law enfrocement goes bananas today about stolen guns! I think a truck rack would NOT qualify as adequately secure, unless you never left the vehicle unattended.

I personally would never subject any of my current guns to such rough transportation. I gave away my truck gun, a totally "naked" Longbranch No. 4 SMLE .303 from WWII. I bought it for $5.00. It would consistently hit a 55-gallon drum at 100 yards with issue sights and the old Dominion 215-grain round-nose factory load. I figured any moose I encountered at ranges under 25 yards with this rifle was dead meat!

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I still carry a gun in the bak window of my "Redneck Cadillac"

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Illegal in Massachusetts.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

....Still legal here in PA., but not as many do it anymore. You are just screaming for your piece to be stolen from the unattended vehicle. Another thing I never even considered was driving past a school with a gun visible. Sure could put a totally unassuming person in a big world of hurt real quick....... Man, how times have changed!! Not for the better, either, I feel.....

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Schools the P.O. court house libraries basicly any state or federal biulding or office it is a federal offense to even have a firearm in the vehical plain view or locked in the trunk .
I think public opin has as much to do with it as the certainty of getting ripped off .
It was nice when seatbelts were a personal choice doors were never locked and if you went some place and your car wasn't where you parcked it your buddy moved it to the other side of the lot to mess with you I hard ly leave it unlocked in the driveway and I live in a sort of U2K Mayberry.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I took hunter safety in 1973. Had atrapshoot on the last day. There were 3 of us standing at the bus stop with cased shotguns in one hand and a 2 boxes of shells in the other. Bus driver just said "leave them here in the front, you can have them when you get off."left them in the office and picked them up after school. Shot blue rocks till dark and my dad picked us up. Our firing line was the pole vault runway on the track right behind the school. Yes, the times have changed.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

The social acceptability of the gun rack has certainly changed but it also depends on where you are. I go to school in Mass and people here would have an absolute hissy fit if they saw a gun in the back window of a truck, especially one of those scary "black guns". If I was riding around back home in upstate NY I doubt anyone would give it a second look.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

It islegal in my home state but I would never wantonly advertise that I had something like that in the truck/car. Too many nutjobs running around that may try to ruin your day.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Figures.............

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

CZ2506----Ah the good old days. Back in the late seventy's my friends and I wouldshoot ducks by the Philly airport in the early AM. and get to school in time for home room.The shotguns in the car and maybe a few shells you missed stillinour pockets. My environmental science teacher even had me bring my shot shell reloader, powder and all into class to give a demonstration.Try that today!!!!!!! Ken

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Im only 20 and remember when i got my license at 16. I lived in ALabama with my mom in the middle of nowhere. We used to go to school on the half days during the huning seasona nd everyone would ahve there 4wheelers with treestands or dogs in the back of their truck and guns in the front with the doors locked ready to go hunt when school got over. We never had a problem from anyone. The principal and the school cop knew the guns were there but noone cared. Our AG teacher brought in guns for us to handle during our hunter education during school. If you failed it you failed part of the year.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

If you drive onto school grounds in WV, and I assume most other states, with a firearm in your vehicle, you can be arrested.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

One ofthe requirements in my Public Speaking class when I was a high school senior was to conduct a "how to" demonstration, showing the audience how to perform a task (of our choosing). I used a Pacific powder scale and a Lyman 310 tong tool, and taught the class how to lkoad a round of .30/'06 ammunition. I thought the teacher (an old German gal) was going to have a heart attack-but she let me do it!

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Didn't use to be that way! I had several rifles and two pistols at Texas A&M when I was a student there. Had to keep them locked up at the Kampus Kops station, but I could go pick one (or more) up any time I wanted to use it. Never a problem!

The world has gone down the tubes since those days. All we have today is a bunch of gutless turkeys running things, to whom "safety" is the main consideration. As Ben Franklin put it, "he who places safety above liberty deserves neither liberty nor safety."

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I was carrying my 870 to school on the front seat of my pickup in high school in the late 80's in WV. Just a couple of months ago they locked an entire school down here in the county because someone found a single 22 round in the bathroom. I heard a good saying once that sums up this crap.. "zero tolerance=zero common sense" Having rules with no exceptions are great for people that dont have the ability think an independent thought to start with.... works very well in today's dumbed down liberalized society...

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I'm in my early 30's and live in northcentral IL. In 7th or 8th grade i gave a demonstration for speech class on turkey hunting. I brought my 12ga., shells, decoy, and calls to school, left it in the classroom and nobody cared. later in high school we would duck huntin the am and leave my gun and ammo in the car in the school parking lot. most of the time it was unlocked!

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

My principal used to let me leave early and not count it against me, as long as I took him along hunting. There would be days that we would leave at noon and go! LOL

When I was first starting hunting before me and my buddies had drivers licenses, I could call that principal and take a gun into school with me an leave it in his office. Then after school he'd give me the gun and I'd get on the bus with a buddy who was on a different bus route and we'd to to his place hunting. I graduated in 2001. The fun like that ended in 1999 when that principal relocated to another school.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I don't beleive it's illegal in New York State, but I don't see it much anymore either. I was one of those guys who used to carry them in my back window, but times have changed. I too am now an "old Phart" and don't believe they should be carried in plain sight. Now you can buy carriers that go behind the seat which is probably the place to transport them if you need to. As far as someone entering a school yard with a firearm, I would say that's a deffinate no no. Where I work, if you get caught with a firearm in your vehicle, your terminated. Last deer season, a guy stopped in at work with a deer he had taken that morning just to show it to the guys he worked with. Nice deer too, 10pt. Anyway, he got nailed and theyterminated him after 29 years of service.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Funny how things change. I can remember guys with rifles on racks in their trucks in the school parking lot. No one gave it a second thought.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I haven't kept guns in my truck ever since my $900 rifle got stolen from behind my seat 2 1/2 years ago (along with about everything else in my truck). When I saw my stereo was gone my heart sank. When I looked behind the seat and saw my rifle was gone I just about cried. I might start keeping guns in my truck again once I move to a different town, but they surely won't be in the back window.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

That's just plain ignorant. Probably could happen where I work too...

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

i think most people leave them out of the window because of criminals

two i think if you were in a school zone you might be in trouble

I knew a kid in high school a rural hunting area
that went rabbit hunting and got home late he forgot to take the shotgun out and went to school

Well the cops pulled him out of class.
He got kicked out for 2 week and was not going to be able to come back to school for the year
But with some b*tching from a lawyer they let him back .

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

Good observation sjalter,
I too have noticed the changing of the times.
Upto 1980's it was very common to see gun racks on pick up trucks in the suburbs .
I believe the Columbine shootings changed everything coupled withthe Clinton years agressive democrat sponsored anti-gun bills/ campaigns of the 1990's are the primary cause the errosion of the gun culture.
(JUST SAY NO TO HILLARY IN 08')
The urbanization of America is another factor , as more farms and woods yield to the bull dozer so goes the rural culture.
Mayberry is gone forever folks , welcome to the New World Order .

America will never be the same. [:@]

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I'd rather not give away any advantage I may have to anyone. I'd rather be thought of as the underdog, works for me.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

It's legal in KY to have it in your truck backwindow rack,but now days thats just begging some SOB thats to sorry to work to break your sideglass out and take it.A friend of mine had this happen a couple of years ago at the funeral home,which is right by the court house/police station here in allen co.The gun was never found a rem.700 270cal.that was given to him by his dad.So it's not wise a gun rack behind the seat would have probably prevented this since the theives wouldn't have seen anything vuluable they probably wouldn't have been in his truck.And a firearm in your vehicle on school property, parking lot,bus road,or pickup lanes is the best way I know to get 3 meals a day delivered to you and your cellmates,even in rural towns some prosecuting attourney would have a field day with this and after jail your gun rights would be gone for ever probably even after 7 years and you got your other rights reinstated your gun right's would never be returned.A concealed carry permit wont help on school property law enforcement is disarmed on school grounds here in KY they are allow to lock'em in their cruiser trunk.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

And we wonder why our schools are getting shot up by kids these days. They're too easy to get in, blast away, and get out in a hurry with no one there to protect our kids.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I just simply fail to understand why the police are not permitted to carry on school property. Whose idea was that ???

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

yeap all schools should have medal detectors and two armed guards for every 200 students and the principal should be trained and armed

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I agree that a cop in school without a weapon is just another target,but I guess they are afraid of the liability if a student were to somehow get it from him and use it to commit a crime.I don't know with all the latest shootings there may be a change in this soon,it would make sense to me to have them patrol the halls armed,because some of the students do.What the hell is wrong with the world,when I was a kid we traded pocket knifes at recess,we even traded with the teachers and coaches,that would be a suspension and a possible lawsuit now days.What are people teaching their kids?I dont remember any cuttings or anything,I saw a few busted noses and black eyes,but not hundreds of stitches from knives or bullet holes and body bags.Not sure if this is state law or local ordinance,they might be armed in bigger schools here in KY.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

I stand corrected our one uniformed officer in the county high school has patroled the halls for the last two years armed.For several years he was unarmed after he entered the school.I talked to a friends son and he said that they started packing a couple of years ago while he was in school.sorry for false info but it was true three years ago.

RE: Shotgun/Rifle in truck back window?
 

you know i just got thinking the one big city school i went to had them armed in indiana

I also remeber that and another school had a city police office in the school one school had like four cops in the the office