Transporting and storing guns

Here you get a range of advice and tips on how to look after your firearm when you store it, and how to stay within the law when you transport it. There is quite a lot you can do to extend the life of your gun, and there are also a number of rules that we strongly recommend you follow. Penalties for breaking them can be fairly severe, and in many countries weapons laws have been tightened in recent years.

Storing guns in a gun cabinet

There are several good reasons to get a gun cabinet for your firearm. First of all, it helps keep moisture away from your gun when it is stored for long periods without being used. Moisture can be very harmful to your gun, as it causes all sorts of problems such as rust.

But depending on where you live, it may also be a legal requirement to store your firearm in an approved, locked gun cabinet. The rules exist for simple safety reasons. Should you be the victim of a burglary, it is crucial that the thieves cannot open your gun cabinet and gain access to lethal firearms. If you have a key to your gun cabinet, you should therefore also hide it in a very safe place where nobody but you will find it.

Rules for transporting guns

The rules here are often a little less clear-cut than for storage. Typically, the law says that your gun must be transported safely. What that means in concrete terms is open to discussion, of course. But at the very least it means you should keep your gun under constant supervision, or at least have it locked in your car and suitably covered if you leave the car.

We recommend getting some kind of container to carry your firearm in when you transport it. Whether it is a gun case or a gun bag is perhaps not the most important thing in itself. What matters is that with a gun case or gun bag you can easily pack your gun away, and then perhaps throw a cloth or blanket over it, so nobody can see that it is, for example, a gun bag lying in your boot.

There should of course be no ammunition in your firearm during transport either. All these rules exist for two reasons. Most importantly, safety. Should you be unlucky enough to be robbed, there must not be a loaded firearm within the criminal's reach. Secondly, they are about public order. Lethal firearms do not belong in public spaces where everyone can see them, so the aim is very much to keep guns out of sight of the general public.

Always bring your documents

You must of course always remember the relevant documents when you are transporting a gun or going hunting. Above all, that means your hunting licence and firearms licence. If you are unlucky enough to be stopped without your documents in order, you risk a very high fine.

So we definitely recommend that you keep an eye on the weapons law in your country, update your knowledge regularly and perhaps stay in contact with the relevant authorities if you are in the slightest doubt about what you may and may not do. The penalty for not doing so can be severe.