It appears that in cases mentioned above the persons VOLUNTEERED that they had a gun in their possession - they were not searched in a database first. And that carrying a loaded gun was in violation of NJ's law requiring all guns to be unloaded and locked in a trunk.
Seems there are three ways to handle this:
1. Follow the rules of the state you are in - if the law says put the unloaded gun in the locked trunk, then put the unloaded gun in the locked truck;
2. Do as you want, don't volunteer information, and accept the consequences for your actions if it goes wrong (e.g., go ahead and carry and if you get caught and arrested, then accept that you violated the laws of the state/country and take the repercussions).
3. Avoid all the amazing places that don't meet your standards.