https://www.foster.com/duff-on-hospitality-law/guest-room-privacy-and-the-fourth-amendment
Clearly you were in the process of renting the room therefore you have 4th amendment rights. Since they are only pursuing hotel policy and not criminal law I'm unsure the legal ramifications you may have against them. I guess they are taking over your right to self preservation assuming responsibility for your safety. Will you have access to the gun in the event you go outside the hotel?
Courts have recognized that the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches and seizures applies to searches and seizures in hotel and motel rooms. Certain exceptions allow for warrantless searches and seizures, (by police) including consent. In broad terms, the consent exception means that a party's agreement, actual or implied to a search and/or seizure renders a warrant unnecessary.
In general, during a guest's stay at the hotel, only the guest may consent to a search of his or her room. While hotel staff members may access the room for cleaning and maintenance during the guest's stay, they are not authorized to allow police to enter the room. Thus, during a guest's tenancy at the hotel, employees should not allow police to enter the guest's room without a search warrant.
Well, this covers the police being involved in the unlawful search and seizure.
Reading further in this article...
A justifiable ejection will also extinguish a guest's Fourth Amendment protections. A guest's tenancy expires after the hotel has identified grounds for eviction and taken affirmative steps to repossess the room.
Examples of what courts have found to be valid grounds for eviction include
- Raucous behavior.
- Illegal activity, including storing illegal drugs.
- Failure to pay for the hotel room.
- Intoxication, disorderly conduct, and carrying a gun in the hotel.
- Odors of marijuana (except in those states that have now legalized recreational use) and complaints of loud noise.
So now I'm totally cornfused.
Respectfully, the Constitution is a restriction on government. It does not apply to hotel management (unless they are acting as an agent of the police).
For law enforcement to enter the room, they must have one of the following:
- Consent
- Warrant/court order
- Exigent circumstances (some sort of emergency)
- Hot Pursuit
The 2-3-4 Rule explains the terms used above.
I like the way you think.
Don't let anybody shame you for spending some jack on a special occasion.
I think you will find that almost every hotel hast his same policy “they don’t want firearms on the premises”. Hilton, Marriott, you name one and they all pretty much have a similar policy. Before Covid I stayed in a hotel sever nights a month and the solution was simple! Don’t leave your gun in your room!! NOT EVER take it with you everywhere you go. All of the hotels I have in have this policy and I ignore but I follow the one simple rule the gun goes with me everywhere. Yeah I have almost taken it on sales calls and had to walk it back to the car at times but I have never left it in a hotel room. Once you know the rule it’s easy it always leaves the room with you either contacted on your person or inch a backpack or briefcase etc.
No kidding. I had to go to Corporate in OKC for a meeting. Was told to park in a valet lot across the street. I didn't have a secure place in the vehicle to leave the pistol so was danged sure not to leave it anywhere in the vehicle.
The Kimber Stainless 1911 in .45 was with me. Not a small gun and it was summer time with no jacket.
Corporate policy was zero tolerance for firearms in the building.
Found a brown paper sack in the street likely from some homeless buying a fifth of cheap stuff so put the pistol in there and carried it in past security.
Sat on the corner of my desk all day and I was terrified that someone would ask about it but they didn't. When lunch time came around, I stayed in the room saying I had my lunch with me.
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