offroad said:
Too many YOUR GOING TO JAIL rules for firearms.
1) cross state lines
2) brandishing
3) semi auto anything
4) loaded.
5) in passenger area
6) modified
7) failure to tell police during a stop that you have one
8) no permit
9) no license.
What a PITA
Sorry , I'm not trying to rain on your parade , but you're not real aware of pertinent firearms laws. For instance " semi-auto anything" , there isn't a single state that has banned anything simply based on it's being semi-auto , those particular restrictions are on *magazine capacities*.
And it's completely legal to cross state lines with a firearm , the rub comes ( for instance and as an example) you try to cross to say Calif without it stowed according to Calif rules.
In quite a lot of states it's now legal to have a loaded firearm in the passenger compartment with you. Where folks run into trouble in some locales is the restriction on having loaded *long guns* in the vehicle , those are Fish and Game regs.
As for " modification " , you're overly broad , the mods that folks commonly get in trouble with are those that come under the NFA , i.e. unless you're paid the registry fees , gotten the stamp and jumped through the hoops you'd best not get caught with a suppressor , and even if you're NFA legal to own Class 3 weapons ( full auto) it wouldn't be too wise to be traveling with something full auto.
As for permits , a great many states now are *legal* open carry , Ariz , Alaska , Vermont , Wyo and Kansas ( along with P.R.) are now " Constitutional carry" , meaning that no permit is required for concealed carry ****as long as you have no criminal record and are not deemed a mental defective****.
As for " telling the cop" , if you're legally carrying then you'd damn well *better* inform the officer who stops you , that's simply a matter of common courtesy and 99 times out of 100 will shortcut any hassles right on the spot. There are many instance where the officer involved will be appreciative of that courtesy.
Can you get hassled? Sure , I had an incident in S.F. wherein they seized a 3k$ Les Bauer 1911 *** even though I was legally licensed in the state of Calif*** , they ended up having to give it back when the Sheriff from my home county ( at the time) in NorCal informed them of the actual FACTS , those being that Calif permits issued by the " shall issue" counties in the North State are valid ***state-wide***.
As for brandishing , that's a word that at times is used in an overall too broadly applied manner based on the whims of the officer.
The problem basically comes down to the hodge-podge of different laws in some areas.