Back when I was about 13-14 years old in the late 1970s (in NY State no less), my friend’s older brother (who was 16) would load up their father’s guns in the trunk of their family car, and take us out to an empty field/forest on the edge of town, where we would shoot bottles, cans, etc...
A local cop drove up. He came over, said hello. He asked who owned the guns (sammy’s dad, sir!), asked if we had permission (yes sir!) looked around, told us to be careful, and left.
I can only image if this were today.... the sheriffs, dressed as Seal-team 6, would have come in helicoptors, we would have been arrested, and sent to gitmo
when I was in high school, several students would have their rifle in the back window. (they used to make gun rack ). the only time a cop would pull us over was when he wanted to know the make and model of the rifle. We would usually have a lengthy conversation about it. He would then leave. Maybe he was checking or maybe he was just being friendly.
{circa 1965}