In Arizona, constitutional carry legislation allows you to carry a firearm, openly or concealed, with or without a permit or license issued by the state. However, you must satisfy specific legal requirements under Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 13, Chapter 31. The statute regulates the use and transportation of deadly weapons on state roadways and public lands.
You learn about the legality of carrying a loaded weapon in a motor vehicle in Arizona in this article. Particular attention is paid to the statutory requirements regarding the ages of various age groups and the prohibited places. Learn these laws to understand the difference between legal possession and a felony charge, which often lies in the fact that “open carry” by a person under the age of twenty-one and concealed carry by one above the age of twenty-one can be challenging to distinguish.
Who Should Not Carry a Gun in Arizona?
You first should find out whether you should have a loaded gun in your car before doing so, in accordance with the Arizona law. Arizona recognizes specific individuals as prohibited possessors under Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3101.
Convicted Felons and Individuals on Probation
If you fall under this category, having a gun in your car is a severe felony. You are prohibited from having a firearm if you are convicted of a felony and have not yet had your civil rights restored. Carrying a gun in Arizona is also restricted to any person who is on probation for serving a domestic violence crime or a felony.
Individuals with Mental Health or Disability Adjudications
You are prohibited from having a gun if you are considered dangerous to yourself or others, found to have a persistent or acute disability under a court order, or have a grave disability. The adjudication of mental health is another crucial factor in firearm eligibility, and it is a complicated process through which the rights can be restored.
Undocumented Immigrants and Incarcerated Individuals
You are not allowed to own any lethal weapon if you are an undocumented immigrant or already imprisoned in a correctional or detention facility.
Drug Users, Discharged Military, and Those Under Protection Orders
Users of illegal drugs or those who have been unfavorably discharged from the armed forces are also limited under the federal provisions that Arizona law is implementing. You cannot have a weapon in your car legally, regardless of having a valid protection order or a restraining order that prevents you from having an intimate partner or child. Breaking these laws by possessing a loaded gun in your vehicle and being a prohibited possessor is usually a Class 4 felony charge that has a presumptive prison sentence.
Does the Type of Gun Matter?
When driving in Arizona, the specific type of firearm you have in your car does not change your right to carry a loaded weapon, provided the gun itself is legal. Many residents carry handguns, rifles, or shotguns for self-defense or hunting purposes. Arizona law is quite liberal in terms of these standard types and does not limit the magazine capacity or the aesthetic aspects of these guns. It is legal to drive with a loaded shotgun in your passenger seat or a loaded handgun in your pocket, provided you are of the legal age and do it where it is legal.
The legal environment is much different if you hold National Firearms Act (NFA) or Title II weapons. This category comprises fully automatic guns, sawed-off shotguns, sawed-off rifles, and silencers. These items can be legally possessed in Arizona, but they are subject to high taxation and require registration with the federal government for tax stamping purposes.
When you are in your car with an NFA weapon without the federal documentation and a registered tax stamp, then you have violated the federal law and the state laws. Carrying explosive devices and other destructive devices is also not allowed under normal carry laws.
To gun owners with ordinary semi-automatic or revolving firearms, the kind of gun will not be a limiting factor in consideration of their right to carry. Instead, the legislation is concerned with the manner in which the weapon is held and the location where the gun is taken.
How to Tell a Cop You Have a Gun
When dealing with law enforcement agencies, and you are carrying a loaded gun in your car, maintain a calm and tactical attitude that will guarantee the security of all parties involved. Arizona law does not mandate a duty-to-inform rule. That means you are not legally obliged to immediately volunteer to disclose to the police officer that you are carrying a gun when he pulls you over because of a traffic offense.
However, you are legally bound to provide an honest answer in case the officer wants to know whether there is a gun in the car or not. When you lie to a police officer that you had a weapon, you may be convicted of a Class 1 misdemeanor under ARS 13-3102, which may result in serving jail time and a lifetime criminal record.
When you notice the flashing lights of a patrol car, you need to follow the following rules to stay safe:
- Park in a secure location
- Switch off your engine
- When it's time, switch on your interior dome light to allow the officer to look inside your car.
You should never touch your registration or insurance before you have been asked to by the officer, and ensure that your hands remain on the steering wheel at all times.
The advice many lawyers will give you is to kindly explain to the officer that you have a gun and tell him where it is before you touch any paperwork. This makes it impossible to misinterpret some sudden movements as a threat.
An officer is legally authorized to temporarily seize your weapon during a traffic stop to ensure the safety of all officers. They will generally give back the gun to you after the interaction is completed, as long as no other crimes have been committed.
Where a Loaded Gun is Unlawful
Although Arizona is a constitutional carry state, your freedom to carry a loaded gun in your vehicle is not absolute. It ends at the limits of some of the secured areas. You have to be highly conscious of your environment since, in an inaccessible location, having a loaded weapon, you will promptly be arrested. Such restrictions are frequently founded upon the particular use of the property, for example, education or government operations, and the law does not necessarily require a sign to be posted to make the restriction enforceable.
K-12 Schools and University Property
The location where gun owners are most likely to get into trouble with the law is on the property of a K-12 school. Arizona law strictly forbids you from carrying a loaded firearm in your car when you are on school grounds. You are either picking your child up at school or you are at a sporting event, and you should have your firearm fully unloaded.
Also, when you leave your vehicle unattended on school premises, the firearm should be locked inside the car and stored in a manner that prevents it from being detected from the outside. Lack of these particular unloading and storage regulations may lead to a felony charge involving the use of weapons.
University campuses have a somewhat different code of regulations than those determined by the Arizona Board of Regents. Although the three largest state universities, ASU, UA, and NAU, typically have policies that prohibit weapons within buildings or during events with a crowd, they cannot completely ban the possession of a firearm in a vehicle on a public right-of-way.
However, their internal policies typically state that any weapon stored in a car or vehicle on campus should be locked and not visible. The individual policies of any given private college or community college that you visit should always be checked because they might have stricter guidelines on whether weapons can be kept in their parking lots.
Privately Owned Property, Employers, and Government Lots
Arizona law grants the right to restrict or prohibit firearms on the property, including parking lots, of private property owners and business owners. But to make it illegal to have a gun in your car, a business must qualify under specific criteria.
As a rule, the business or employer can only bar you from keeping a firearm in your car when there is:
- A fence or other physical obstacle in the parking lot
- Restricted access to the parking lot by some security measure, such as a guard or a gate
- The entity provides you with a secure location to store your weapon, accessible upon entry and exit
Unless the business offers these security measures and storage options, in most cases, they cannot prevent you from having a gun in your locked car, as long as you do not make it obvious outside.
When you are an employee, you need to think about whether you are driving a vehicle owned or leased by your employer. Employers can issue orders to their workers, both private and public, prohibiting them from bringing firearms into company-owned cars. This may be a question of employment policy as opposed to criminal law, though breaking such a policy may automatically cost you your job.
Even government parking lots are marked by notable names; they also have specific designations. While many public lots allow for vehicle storage, certain secure areas, such as airports, nuclear power plants, and hydroelectric facilities, are strictly off-limits. You must look for specific signage or security checkpoints that indicate you are entering a restricted government zone where firearms are prohibited.
Understanding Age Restrictions
At the age of twenty-one years or above, and not a prohibited possessor, you have the full benefits of the Arizona constitutional carry laws. This implies that you may keep a loaded handgun in your car, either in an open or concealed position. You do not require a concealed weapon permit to place a loaded gun in your glove box, under your seat, or in a center console. The law considers your car as an extension of your home when it comes to self-defense, and you can have a weapon within your reach and out of sight without being fined by law.
The regulations are different when you are between 18 and 20. At this age group, you are usually allowed to have a loaded gun, but you are expected to follow the open carry regulations in the car. This implies that the weapon can be seen by anyone who will peek into the vehicle. If you do not want the gun to be lying on the seat, you need to carry it in a certain way. For individuals in this group, the gun must be stored in a case, a holster, a scabbard, or a visible storage space, such as a map pocket or a glove compartment. If the gun is under the seat or in a place that is not easily noticed by looking at the outside, then you might be charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Interstate Travel vs. Arizona Law
When you leave Arizona, you have to understand that the liberal "carry a gun" laws of this state do not accompany you across the border. Each state possesses its own assortment of gun control laws, and other states in the region, like California, have very stringent regulations on loaded handguns in cars. Once you cross state boundaries, you are typically covered by a federal statute known as the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA). This federal safe passage provision gives you a chance to carry a firearm across a state in which it may otherwise be illegal, but under stringent circumstances.
With FOPA, the gun should be unloaded, and the gun and ammunition should be locked in a container that is out of reach of the driver and any other passengers. If your car has a trunk, the gun should be stored in the trunk. When you are driving an SUV or a truck that does not have a trunk, the weapon should be locked in a case other than the glove compartment or the center console.
You also have to be going somewhere where you can legally have the gun, from somewhere where you can legally have the same. If you spend a long time in a restrictive state, you might lose your federal protection and become vulnerable to local prosecution. To prevent a local felony arrest, always investigate the laws of the place you are visiting and the states you will be passing through.
Talk to a Phoenix Criminal Lawyer Near Me
Knowing gun laws in Arizona is a requirement for every gun owner who opts to carry a loaded firearm in their car. Although the constitutional carry system in the state offers a great deal of freedom to any citizen who acts within the law, such freedom depends on the citizen's ability to follow the state's age limit, avoid illegally located places, and adhere to the protocol of interaction with law enforcement agencies.
Even one slip-up, like forgetting to unload a firearm before going into a school zone, or even not being able to keep a weapon in sight because you are younger than twenty-one years old, can lead to criminal charges that can result in charges and the loss of the right to own any weapon.
If you are facing a legal issue related to carrying a gun in your vehicle, you will need a robust defense strategy. At Phoenix Criminal Attorney, we defend individuals facing charges of misconduct with weapons and allegations of unlawful firearm possession. Protect your rights and your future today by a thorough consultation with a criminal lawyer at 602-551-8092.
