Have gun may travel?

The inherent novelty of a recreational vehicle is the convenience of bringing your home with you wherever you go. RV enthusiasts can travel on their own schedule and take a break from noisy neighbors and lawn maintenance.

But, like any hobby, there are hazards. A broken-down RV on a dark rural road can make an easy target for unsavory characters.

Some argue that traveling with a gun is the best protection for these situations. But that can be a potentially criminal undertaking when traveling from state to state, as many RV owners do.

For example, consider a trip across the state line from Kentucky to Ohio. It's perfectly legal to have a gun in the glove box in Kentucky - whether it's locked or not. Cross over the border, however, and it's a misdemeanor.

In Maryland, it's illegal to transport a gun unless the driver is headed to target practice. South Carolina and Florida do not consider a loaded gun in the glove box a concealed weapon.

Typically, laws are generally the same from state to state, "but not with gun control," said Scott Kappas, an attorney and author of the Traveler's Guide to the Firearms Laws of the Fifty States.

Kappas was inspired to write his book after his father, "an avid RVer," asked for some advice about traveling from state to state with his firearm. After a list was compiled, it made sense to publish it in book form, Kappas said.

"It's something that comes up quite a bit," he said. When crossing state lines, drivers can go from "law abiding citizen to felon."

The book is updated on an annual basis as gun laws change across the states.

Another tricky legal question in regard to RVs is search warrants. The general consensus is a search warrant is required to search a home, but not a vehicle.

But what if your home is a vehicle?

Most states consider an RV a vehicle when the four wheels are rolling or it can be readily moved. When it's parked and hooked up to utilities, it becomes a home. The exception is Texas and Washington, which consider an RV a residence regardless of its status.

"The courts have interpreted it that way," Kappas said.