If leasing an apartment, some thoughts on what to do and not to do if you have firearms.
Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- A Virginia Citizens Defense League member got an unpleasant surprise when he advised his apartment’s management that there are firearms in an area where maintenance needed to do some work.
He found out in short order that the lease agreement prohibited firearms on the property!
The agreement was poorly written and could have been interpreted as only illegal firearms, but management claims any and all firearms would be prohibited.
Some thoughts on this:
- Read your lease agreement carefully for restrictions on firearms before signing it. If you haven’t signed the agreement, you could ask for a waiver if you really like the facilities, and see what they say. Worst case, look for an apartment somewhere else.
- Tell no one that you have firearms, including management and neighbors. What they don’t know, won’t hurt them.
- Always lock up firearms that are left behind when you are not there. Use a safe, preferably not marked as a gun safe, so that workers or management don’t know what is inside the safe and can’t find out.
- Be sure to lock up ammo and gun accessories, too, leaving no hint of your ownership of firearms.
- When transporting firearms out of the apartment, carry them in nondescript cases that don’t scream “gun.” This is especially important for long guns.
If you are unsure if your lease allows firearms or not, don’t ask, don’t tell!
About Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL):
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
For more information, visit: www.vcdl.org.
The more people there are who know you have guns stored at home/apt, the more people who can tell another who may decide to rip you off!
In prosecuting crime, I found this to be happening, especially friends of your friends.
“Loose lips sink ships” can be true here for guns and Ammo too!
But, Joe Bob TurdsForBrains plasters his rusty ole pickemup truck with “Follow me home, I’ll show you where my guns live”, Molon Labe, Glock, Sig and NRA decals, and then wonders how anyone knew he had guns in his truck or apartment/home?!?!?!?! Ya can’t cure stupid.
OV, Or the bow string, either!
I even went so far as to remove my NRA sticker for fear that some snowflake might key the car.
@Bill, In the times in which we live, every American should be aware of and practice operational security.
And in the larger sense: ALWAYS read ANY agreement (not just apt. leases), before you sign! How are you to know what all you are signing away if you don’t? 🙂 And in another little “life hack”, don’t ask for a change when you find something (gun restrictions, for example…) objectionable in an agreement you might sign. Don’t ask permission, that is bargaining from a position of weakness. Cross out the objectionable clause and initial the change. If the other side initials it also, the clause is null and void. Now you are negotiating from strength, e.i., the assumption that… Read more »
I agree. Don’t advertise you have firearms or are carrying them. Surprise works both ways. READ anything you are asked to sign. When I lived in apartments the management and the maintaince crew would “visit” my apartment on a regular basis. I got robed more than once by someone who had keys. If something doesn’t meet your standards and/or needs and the landlord won’t budge ….. walk away.
Arm up, carry on.
Good advice. What you have is absolutely nobody else’s business. Stay gray.
Texas passed a law last year that makes it illegal for apartment complexes to have this verbiage in their leases and makes it perfectly legal to have firearms in apartments our lease living spaces.
Apartment landlords have no more right to infringe 2A rights than it does to deny a minority to rent because “they have an all white policy”. Using a private property argument is not justifiable (unless it is the home of the landlord). If renting to the public and operating under business license, they are a commercial enterprise, not private. Same is true with those businesses banning guns on the premises of other commercial establishments. They don’tget to carve out a 2A exclusion for themselves. It’s unconstitutional infringement.
Texas does not allow landlords to restrict possession, however even here I agree with not letting anyone know. Apartments are notoriously insecure and you have no need to become a target.
While I can see sneaking a safe into an apartment in a wardrobe box while moving in, how does one discreetly carry a long arm? Broken AR maybe, but a mosin-nagant or similar is just too long to tuck into a pocket or pretty much anything.
the cover of darkness works well. hanging garment bags also are an option, boxes for golf club bags. get creative
Imagine if the local Mall decided Victoria’s Secret was not a suitable vendor for a public shopping venue. What’s next, discouraging married couples because it might make unmarried couples uncomfortable living near them, or the lease holder for a restaurant dictating the type of foods available to be sold.
Have a PO Box for all your mail, firearms magazines and pro RTKBA memberships. All your mail.
Don’t ask, don’t tell is always the best policy.
Good common sense advice. Even if only to keep the land lord happy. And don’t advertise to crooks looking to steal them.