Designated Collector - Transporting Firearm

[jkasprz]

Received my approval of "Designated Collector" status in the mail the other day.
Now I can take any or all of my firearms to a friend's house to perform a private showing and not be in violation of Maryland's transportation laws.

Thoughts anyone?

From Md. CRIMINAL LAW Code Ann. § 4-203
(5) the moving by a bona fide gun collector of part or all of the collector's gun collection from place to place for public or private exhibition if each handgun is unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster;

 

[knastera]

Just make sure that you follow the rules about the firearms being unloaded and cased. I'd also follow the FOPA guidance in regard to accessibility to the driver.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mac1_131]

Someone will be along shortly to tell you that piece of paper doesn't mean squat in terms of transport. I'll save them the trouble and suggest you search up the many threads where this has been hashed out before.

At best it may provide an affirmative defense at your trial, or a reasonable cop might agree and not charge you. Not clear and I don't think there is any precedent on this to date.

IANAL

 

[Stoveman]

 

[danb]

Someone will be along shortly to tell you that the DC letter allows you to show your collection of loaded firearms to a bank teller. Turns out, bank tellers love guns and give big tips whem you show them your collection.

 

[BeoBill]

Someone will be along shortly to tell you that the DC letter allows you to show your collection of loaded firearms to a bank teller. Turns out, bank tellers love guns and give big tips whem you show them your collection.

And they like to send for their LEO friends so they can see them too. They get VERY excited...

 

[Threeband]

Oh Jeez, not this crap again.


Please save me the trouble. Just do an Advanced Search, keyword "Designated Collector" or better yet, "bona fide" user name "Threeband."

Oh hell...

https://www.mdshooters.com/search.php?searchid=27561202


I swore I wouldn't open this thread.

 

[chipd]

if you start treating it like a carry permit you're asking for trouble. look out for school zones. get a nice case so you look like a collector. don't take it anywhere you think people do drugs, or into the city.. you still have a lot to worry about. it is a great thing to have, but remember the spirit of the law. if you wouldn't believe your story, the police won't, either.

 

[knastera]

I hold a DC. From my perspective, it gives me a bit more freedom to operate in exchange for showing some common sense and discretion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fabsroman]

Oh Jeez, not this crap again.


Please save me the trouble. Just do an Advanced Search, keyword "Designated Collector" or better yet, "bona fide" user name "Threeband."

Oh hell...

https://www.mdshooters.com/search.php?searchid=27561202


I swore I wouldn't open this thread.

You made me laugh. This board is usually good for a laugh a night.

I also like what chipd posted about "If you don't believe your story, the police won't either."

OP: I swear officer, I am going over to my buddy's house to show him my collection because he is interested in them and might buy something from me.

Officer: Oh yeah, where are you coming from?

OP: Coming from Designated Collector Drive in the city of WeHaveGuns.

Officer: What's your buddy's name?

OP: John WannaBeGunOwner

Officer: Where's he live and what is his phone number?

OP. He is at 1234 NoGuns Lane, Liberalville, MD. Phone is (301)123-4567

Officer: I'm going to give him a call and see if he is expecting you, and if so, for what reason. Also going to check to see if the address you are coming from is your home address, and is so, if where you are right now is somewhere inbetween your home and John WannaBeGunOwner.


Good Luck OP.

 

[chipd]

fabsroman, you literally took the scenario i saw right out of my brain. i just didn't want to seem snide. people get offended easily here.

seriously, if you didn't call someone and tell them you're bringing guns over there, don't drive around with guns if you only have a collector's designation. and ask yourself, would I be comfortable talking to the police about my guns from here to there and back. if the answer is no, maybe they should visit you to see your guns.

 

[fabsroman]

fabsroman, you literally took the scenario i saw right out of my brain. i just didn't want to seem snide. people get offended easily here.

seriously, if you didn't call someone and tell them you're bringing guns over there, don't drive around with guns if you only have a collector's designation. and ask yourself, would I be comfortable talking to the police about my guns from here to there and back. if the answer is no, maybe they should visit you to see your guns.

It's alright to drive around with some specific guns in the trunk. For instance, a shotgun that is unloaded and that is not a Short Barreled Shotgun ("SBS") is alright. Same goes for a rifle that is not a Short Barreled Rifle ("SBR"). Driving around with a handgun in the trunk can get messy, with or without the DC letter. Guessing the same would apply to a SBS or SBR, since the code refers to them as handguns. The one thing I am not too sure about the legality of driving around with in one's trunk, unloaded, is an assault long gun. I would have to go and review the code again to see if that is alright. I know an assault pistol would be problematic, just not sure about an assault long gun. I cannot recall anything off the top of my head that says a person cannot transport an unloaded assault long gun and a 5 minute search did not bring anything up prohibiting it either.

 

[chipd]

Amen. I always ask myself, what would a jury think of this gun? It would be kind of hard to say you're going to show off a beater truck gun or rifle, though. And if you didn't tell someone you're bringing it over there, you had better have someone that you already talked with that will always say you're bringing a gun to them if they get a call from the cops. or you didn't think the situation through enough to be ready for it when it happens. i don't want to get caught in any lies. and i don't ask people to break the law for me and lie to cops. so i just don't go there.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Is a DC Letter better to have than not have ? Yes

Is a DC Letter a Magic Wand ? No

 

[fabsroman]

Is a DC Letter better to have than not have ? Yes

Is a DC Letter a Magic Wand ? No

I have one because it allows a designated collector to buy as many regulated firearms without having to worry about the 30 day wait period between purchases. Once upon a time, that was useful to me. However, nowadays it only applies to handguns since they are the only regulated firearms that a person can purchase in Maryland and I have yet to get my HQL (doubt I will ever get my HQL).

 

[Minuteman]

Threeband's link didn't work for me, there are several, here's one that is 100 pages long: https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=91997&highlight=Bonafide

 

[Threeband]

Why does this stupid idea keep coming up?

Would you deliberately go into combat with a BB gun?

Why the hell would you think a DC letter is going to do you any good at all when you're being handcuffed by a nervous cop who thinks hollow point bullets are illegal?

At the very best, a DC letter might be used by your lawyer as a pathetic argument to get your charges reduced, long after the arrest.

Just get a damn Labrador Retriever and go for the "dog obedience" provision.

If it ever comes up, I expect it to be decided on a case by case basis, possibly in court, possibly in a smoke filled office somewhere.


You will never, never, never, never get any binding clarification from the AG. That would defeat the entire purpose. Don't you see? They'll never tie their own hands like that.

Many, many points of law are deliberately left undefined. That's not just a gun thing, and not just a Maryland thing. These undefined, unsettled points allow flexibility in dealing with individual cases or unforeseen circumstances. They also provide job security for lawyers. All those gray areas are the playground of the lawyers.

I strongly suspect the provision was added to the law in a circumstance like this:

>The transport law was proposed and introduced.

>During the debate, someone pointed out that guns are sometimes used in dog obedience classes. "Okay, okay. We'll put something in there about dog obedience classes."

>Then it was pointed out that collectors need to be able to transport their collections for exhibit.

"Well, okay, but how can we tell it's a legitimate collector? We definitely don't want Joe Schmoe just driving around with a .45 claiming he's going to an exhibit. That is exactly what this law is intended to put a stop to."

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I'm talking about legitimate, bona fide collectors."

"Well, maybe... but only for bona fide collectors..."


Remember, this law was enacted many, many years before the "one gun a month" law, with it's "Designated Collector" exemption.


If I were a prosecutor looking to nail your ass, I would demand evidence of genuine collecting activity, and recognition as a collector by other collectors. "Tell me about your client's collecting activity." "Tell me about this so called 'private exibition' your client claims he was going to." "Was your client transporting display cases, tables, anything to facilitate his exibition?" "I notice your client was transporting 400 rounds of ammunition. Isn't ammunition normally prohibited at an exibition?"


I'm really sorry to bust anyone's bubble, but if any of us goes before an anti-gun Maryland judge and tries to argue, "I was going to stop by my friend Joe's house and show him my new Glock. I have this letter that says I'm a Designated Collector, and Joe's house is a private exibition." ... well, I don't think it will work.

Designated Collector status is not a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. It doesn't automatically make you a Bona Fide Collector, whatever the hell that is.

Bona Fide means Good Faith. The court will want to see evidence that you were acting in Good Faith. If it appears that you were trying to "game the system" I doubt it will go well for you.

 

[Doctor_M]

What a fantastic post from someone who just joined and with a 4-post count. Hmmmhh....

Advice to the OP, if this is a legitimate question, your Designated Collector Status is not a way to circumvent the transport laws (although this smell like something other than a legitimate question to me).

 

[cantstop]

I say, "Go for it, OP!"

Where most people mess up is that their collection is only a single Glock, unloaded and jammed into the passenger seat crease along with a couple of 10 round mags loaded with JHP ammo in the glove compartment. Now that really isn't much of a collection, is it? What you need is a whole range bag full of pistols, Glocks, Berettas, S&Ws, and at least one C&R sitting on that passenger seat. Now that's a collection. You still need to keep the loaded mag's separate from the pistol, like in the glove compartment. Here too, folks screw up with just 10 round mag's. A true collector would have at least one fully loaded 30 round Glock mag in their collection.

Don't forget that C&R guns are treated special here in MD, so be sure to pull that one out first when showing the unloaded guns to the LEO that stops you.

Of course, IANAL. Your lack of confidence about interpreting Maryland's gun laws will probably get you arrested, and possibly even shot. Good luck!

 

[daggo66]

I hold a DC. From my perspective, it gives me a bit more freedom to operate in exchange for showing some common sense and discretion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're certainly welcome to your "perspective", however it carries no weight of actual law.