LEO/MP question

[444 Magnum]

I live near a military base that has a U.S. four lane highway running through it. The hwy is patrolled by highway patrol as well as MP. The base is a gun free area for non-military.

The question I have is what am I considered as traveling across the base on a US HWY with a pistol in my vehicle. I'm not stopping on the base, I have a weapons permit, etc. but if I get pulled over for a traffic violation, vehicle/hog/deer accident etc. what then?

This base is 10 miles wide and there are any number of reasons an unplanned stop might happen.

 

[ColbyBruce]

I got stopped passing through Fort Benning, GA in 1982. We were on the way to Florida for our honeymoon, I never saw the sign saying we had entered the base. I didn’t stop right away when I noticed he was a MP. He eventually calmed down and sent us on our way.

 

[m75rlg]

Just don't commit a traffic violation.

 

[mckenney99]

In my previous life, my patrol area ran along and around a major USAF base. The roadways did not actually enter the base but the base's Security Police did have concurrent jurisdiction on the adjacent roadways. However, the SP's ALWAYS deferred to us, the Sheriff's Dept or local PD's because if the SPs made an arrest, it had to be processed through the Federal Courts downtown and it tied them up for hours and removed them from base security operations. (They would actually sit on drunks stopped at the entry gates for an hour or more waiting for us to arrive, rather than make the arrest themselves.) If you are travelling on an IS, US or State Route THROUGH a military reservation armed, I would think you would be ok, as long as the stop was incidental to travelling THROUGH the military reservation, ie breakdown, traffic crash or traffic stop as long as the firearm itself was not an element of the police contact.

 

[BSA1]

O.P.

How do you know you are on a military base? Are there checkpoints or toll booth type entrances and exits and/or signs stating you are entering a military facility? I do not see how a gun-free regulation/law can be enforced on a major four-lane public highway.

 

[444 Magnum]

O.P.

How do you know you are on a military base? Are there checkpoints or toll booth type entrances and exits and/or signs stating you are entering a military facility? I do not see how a gun-free regulation/law can be enforced on a major four-lane public highway.

There are highway signs posted stating that you are entering a military reserve and will be for the next 10 miles, highway laws enforced by MP. No checkpoints unless you take exits leading into the base off the US highway.

This 4 lane divided US highway with limited access is a major thoroughfare. It used to have a reputation as being heavily patrolled (65 mph drops to 55 mph) and speed limits strictly enforced but it doesn't seem to be patrolled as heavily in the last few years.

I carry 2 pistols in the truck at all times. I've never been stopped but I always wonder "what if" every time I drive through.