First off, here's the Department of Justice stance on the meaning of the second amendment:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?P ... 1221a.html

Second, does anyone have any further information regarding having a firearm in a car on a college campus?

You should read RSMO 571. It's the weapons chapter of MO law: http://www.moga.state.mo.us/statutes/c571.htm

Specifically:



bold added.

so unloaded in a locked trunk is ok, then?

You won't go to jail for it, but two things could happen:

1. UMR police search your car because they know who you are and hear that you've got a gun on university property. You don't go to jail because you haven't broken any laws, but you get kicked out of UMR (for breaking UMR rules) and you have to pay a lawyer 10x what your gun was worth to get it back (after they confiscate it).

2. Someone else searches your car because they find out who you are and they want a gun that won't be traceable to them (ie to use in a crime) and they go ahead and steal your stereo, CDs, and whatever else is in your car. You have to report that your car was broken into, report the stolen items, file a stolen firearm report (so police don't find the gun at the scene of a shooting and come arrest you) at which point they ask where it was and you say "in my car, at the dorms" and you get kicked out of UMR anyway.

I would suggest a safe deposit box at a bank. They are cheap, safe, and can hold most handguns. If you need to store a rifle, I suggest you find some close friends who live off campus (people you can trust, obviously) who can hold it for you. Don't leave it in your car, especially if you post on Seek42 saying "it's okay to keep a gun in my car, right" because some tech-savvy person could find out who you are (or know anyway) and steal it.

What about pellet rifles?

Are against the rules in Res Halls, but not sure if having one in your car would get you in any trouble

Woah, I would think carring a gun (whether the bank knew about it or not) would be a bad idea. Just as bad as having it in your car.

Hell, at my bank, there's a sign that disallows sunglasses, hats, or hooded sweat shirts, not to mention a .45

If NOTHING else, i'd recommend having a fellow gun-owner with a gunsafe (such as myself) store the gun for ya.

...This is why you bring the gun in, very discreetly, AND field-stripped. It's no bank employee's business what's in your safe-deposit box. Most places will put you in a room by yourself with your box, so you can do what you will with it.

This is not to say that you should turn the Bank of America into your personal armory. But if you want to keep one or two pieces safely, that's fine. Put them in a shoe box or something small enough to fit in your safe deposit box, field-stripped and without ammunition. Put the shoe box in a backpack or fabric sack. Take it in to the bank, without opening the bag until you get alone with your deposit box, and without ever opening the shoebox. Now, so long as you're not in your box any more than about once or twice a month (i.e. Friday afternoons before you go to the range), then nobody asks questions and you have no problems.

If you do have questions and want to make sure it's completely legit, talk to one of the sales associates (discreetly) about keeping a field-stripped pistol in a safe-deposit box. Fair warning: If the answer is "no", don't try it.

I have seen few banks with the no firearms sign, at least around here. They know that the people who legally bring guns in to the bank aren't the ones they need to worry about. They also know that the people who legally bring a gun into the bank are the ones who are gonna save their butts if someone decides to execute everyone in the bank.

That said, if you don't have a CCW permit, DON'T CARRY IT INTO THE BANK!!! Put it into a box, with the slide/barrel removed. There is no law against that.

The only issue I could think of would be that you might not get back from the range before they close, especially on a saturday. It wouldn't be a big deal to keep it (in the box, disassembled) in your trunk until the bank opens the next day, or at the latest two days.

Crapfully crap - there may not be a law against the compontents that make up a firearm into banks, but you're not gonna see me do it. It seems like asking for trouble.

Okay... don't see why.

Out of curiosity, what's the usual method for carrying a concealed weapon? When it's cold I can visualize something like an armpit holster covered up by a jacket/coat, but warm weather rains on that parade (unless you're wearing a suit). Just carrying it in your pocket, if that's even possible, seems clumsy and somewhat unsafe.

I know there's the old standby ankle holster, but that also seems a bit awkward in snap decision times.

There are the ankle holsters, there are actual pocket holsters as well. They line the gun up and keep it from fumbling around, and as importantly they also break up the outline so nobody sees a gun shaped object in your pocket.

There is mexican carry (shove the gun in your waistband, doesn't work well for me though), there are holsters that go on your belt that have the gun on the outside (and your shirt covers it), there are holsters that go on your belt but hold the gun inside your pants. I like the ones that attatch to the belt but keep the gun inside your waist line, but because I am so skinny I can NOT keep the gun to the side, I'd have to have it front or back only and the one I tried was not angled in such a way that this would be a good way of drawing it.

The most common method (for law-abiding citizens, criminals will usually put it in a pocket or mexican, since they usually have a stolen gun and don't want to spend $100 on a holster) is an IWB (inside the waistband) holster. It holds the gun so that the barrel is beneath the pants, and can be covered by a shirt. I've made a few holsters (and can make some for anyone who wants one) which can be seen here: http://web.umr.edu/~ikellogg/Holsters/

The black tuckable one (which means you can tuck a shirt in over it) is the most comfortable.

Sorry for the simple question, but what does "field stripped" mean? I know nearly nothing about guns, but I may get one in the future when opening my own business. Thanks for the help.

Carl