Firearms on public transport

[Hayden 93]

As I'm sure we are all aware fuel prices are rising to levels which can only be described as downright ridiculous and unsustainable at best. For instance, diesel at my local petrol station just reached £1.89 per litre, then the cut in fuel duty was announced lowering it to £1.84, for a whole 20 hours until the greedy barstewards subsequently raised the price by 4p per litre taking us straight back to £1.88. With me being lucky to achieve 26mpg daily this is becoming rather expensive.

So my question to those of you with experience of it is as follows, if I want to go say 200 miles via train/bus for a couple of days stalking, how easy/convenient/possible is this with a rifle in tow and what steps did you take to make yourself "fly under the radar" so to speak? Obviously you don't want to be rocking upto the station with your rifle in a rifle shaped soft slip so any advice would be appreciated as I continue to explore my options.

Regards
H

 

[Donkey Basher]

In the past I took two Pelican 1750 cases from central London on the tube to Waterloo & then train down to Winchester without anyone appearing concerned. One was empty, the other wasn't. Both were strapped together so they could be wheeled and/or carried as one unit & neither had any visible indicators of what they might be used to carry. My advice would be travel off peak & remember what condition 4 on your FAC says!

 

[Husky]

If you haven't got a Blaser or similar, you can get rifle cases that look like guitar cases.

 

[Shootgun]

Take the rifle apart if you can, and pack it in a back pack.

 

[JTO]

Gorilla GC-RFL Gun / Rifle Flight Carry Case | Gorillacase

Removable Eggbox Foam Padded InteriorFully foam linedCarry HandleStrong Latches (Lockable) with keysNumber locksExternal W x L x D: 1350 x 350 x115 mm1330 x 335 x Base 60 Lid 457.8kg

www.gorilladj.co.uk

If you can find one!

 

[stevec]

I have looked in to this before and the rules on trains are fairly strict. I understand that it is illegal to travel on a train with a firearm unless you are on the Caledonian sleeper

 

[stevec]

I would be happy to be corrected on this as have to travel from Edinburgh to Sussex soon and would prefer not to use the sleeper or drive.

 

[stevec]

I think the rules are Condtions of Carriage from memory

 

[Rasputin]

As a student I didn’t have a car so the train/bus/tube was my only option. Shotgun went in large sports duffel bag with each part in a sleeve. Quite easy really. Rifle went in a rectangle style peli case.

 

[Tazz]

The National Rail Conditions of Travel, which operate in the UK, allow for the carriage of “unloaded firearms, properly licensed, with prior permission of the train company and carried in accordance with the law and any other specific instructions”.

The above statement from the Transport Governing body seems to open the door to travelling with firearms but puts the yes/no at the level of the individual rail company. As an Example Scot Rail did introduce a ban on travelling with firearms

 

[YoungGun]

Clapham to Argyll and back (with an uncleaned stags head) no problem on the train (a few smiles).

 

[muddy42]

I think the rules are Condtions of Carriage from memory

I understand that conditions of carriage are rules/regulations not the law. All the train company technically do is refuse passage, in other words throw you off at the next station. They also don't have the right to search baggage. I put music or tool stickers on my cases, so that is what they are. I have travelled with Scotrail no bother. Caledonain sleeper requires you to notify them in advance.

 

[NullMac]

I put music or tool stickers on my cases, so that is what they are. I have travelled with Scotrail no bother.

Good man !

Joe Blow does not give a stuff what's in the case

 

[Wyre Forester]

I'd be pretty wary of this somewhat *blasé* approach:

what do you do with your guitar case when you need a dump?

How do you explain to the police that you took your rifle, disguised a a guitar, on a train, without the operators permission - and in contravention of the COC - went for a dump and some scrote nicked it?

If I wanted to retain my FAC, as well as avoid all the other unpleasant consequences, I'd talk to the train operator and if they said 'no', I'd suck up the cost and drive...

In fact no, I'd just drive - far too much to go wrong.

 

[Rasputin]

I'd be pretty wary of this somewhat *blasé* approach:

what do you do with your guitar case when you need a dump?

How do you explain to the police that you took your rifle, disguised a a guitar, on a train, without the operators permission - and in contravention of the COC - went for a dump and some scrote nicked it?

If I wanted to retain my FAC, as well as avoid all the other unpleasant consequences, I'd talk to the train operator and if they said 'no', I'd suck up the cost and drive...

In fact no, I'd just drive - far too much to go wrong.

Given the price of guitars I would expect you would take it with you for a dump…. Like any other sane person.

People get on flights for gods sake and miraculously still do it. Talk about being over dramatic!!!

 

[Husky]

How do you explain to the police that you took your rifle, disguised a a guitar,

I would like to see a rifle disguised as a guitar, as opposed to a rifle in a guitar shaped rifle case.

 

[hairlesshunter]

You would definitely not be able to travel On a public first bus as It would break a number of their rules and I would imagine it would also apply to arriva too

 

[iain b]

You would definitely not be able to travel On a public first bus as It would break a number of their rules and I would imagine it would also apply to arriva too

No problem on a bus. In case, pay fare sit down enjoy the ride.

 

[Pedro]

As a general rule, public transport bodies these days simply aren't allowing firearms on their vehicles. I guess I can see their logic because somewhere along the line will be a person dressed in an outrageously loud tweed suit (plus fours and equally outlandish socks and garters) sporting a pair of shotguns off to some shire to blast game birds from the sky and frightening little children on the train and woke people everywhere. It can't be to prevent terrorism, because any competent terrorist isn't going to be put off by a rule that says "don't bring your guns or explosives onto our train please, thank you, oh and mind the step".

However, where there is little or no alternative they do seem to let you travel with your firearms, albeit generally with conditions. One example are the ferries to Orkney. Obviously lots of people go there duck shooting and so travel with guns and sometimes rifles. Although you could take a plane, you simply can't drive there for obvious reasons. The same goes for international flights to, say, South Africa. Most carriers will allow firearms, but from what I've read mostly on here, it can be a royal pain in the derrier. But there's really no alternative.

I must say that you could probably travel on trains and buses all your life with suitably disguised firearms, (a guitar case? Are you thinking of a violin case to hide your tommy gun?) but I guess really that's down to the individual whether he wants to do that.

 

[hairlesshunter]

No problem on a bus. In case, pay fare sit down enjoy the ride.

Not if i was driving it unfortunately