Interstate Travel to Another State

[MattH]

I might be heading south this year for Christmas.. Florida to be exact. Im under the impression that North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida all agree with Virginia CHP licenses and laws. Georgia seems to be the only state that is an issue. Any suggestions, or before entering Georgia, pull over unload everything and store the gun in the rear of the vehicle? Sometimes is seems like carrying a firearm for your protection can be more of a legal risk than a criminal conforontation itself. Any help will be appreciated.

[tursiops]

While you are in Florida, go get a FL permit.....done on-the-spot, not expensive, gives you many more states than VA, especially GA.

[MattH]

Is that right? I'll look it over again, im assuming Georgia allows Florida. Good idea though. How do I get through Georiga legally on the way? Thanks.

[jdonovan]

Any suggestions, or before entering Georgia, pull over unload everything and store the gun in the rear of the vehicle?

yes, exactly.

[BW1911]

MattH, I believe you have answered your own question correctly in your original post. For a state that doesn't allow CC on your permit, you MAY be able to open carry (check that state's regs, try http://www.handgunlaw.us). For Georgia, see Ga 16-11-126, which APPEARS to me to allow car carry in your own car if you are otherwise eligible for a (Georgia?) permit, but IANAL. Safest bet would be unloaded, locked in case or in a trunk, which I believe to be legal everywhere (even DC *shudder*) due to interstate commerce regs (18 USCS § 926A). http://forum.pafoa.org/concealed-open-c ... earms.html

The Florida CHP does appear to add 7 states to a Virginia CHP (NH, AL, GA, KS, CO, OR, WA, again per http://www.handgunlaw.us) but it's not clear to me whether any of those additional states require the reciprocity to be valid only for resident permits (I have not read each state to determine). In other words, if a state on that list honors only resident permits, then holding a resident VA permit and non-resident FL permit would not work for a state honoring only resident permits if I added it to my list only by holding a non-resident FL CHP. I have previously considered non-resident permits in both FL and/or Utah to open up my options, but for now I think I will wait and see what happens with the national reciprocity bill which is currently being considered in Congress.

[MattH]

Thanks for all the replies. For now I will plan on disarming and storing upon entering Georgia. I will do some research on the resident/non-resident aspect for the CHP permits being accepted in the states they have agreed on. Thanks again.

[MattH]

Florida honors Georgia, and Georgia honors Florida... Georgia Honors Non-Resident Permits/Licenses From the States They Honor... HOWEVER .. Florida will only honor permits from residents of the states they honor. They will not honor a Non-Resident permit from any state they honor.

So, if I get a Florida Non-Resident permit I will be in good shape with Georgia because they (Georgia) will honor Non-Resident permits from the states the honor (Florida)

I received this information from the website that BW 1911 provided. Thank You
http://www.handgunlaw.us

[ProShooter]

Most people who take our Utah permit class do so just to be able to carry in Georgia.

Utah's permit is much cheaper to maintain that Florida's and doesn't require live fire like Florida does.

[Chasbo00]

An Arizona permit may be a good option too. You shouldn't have to do any additional training and can apply by mail.

http://www.azdps.gov/Services/Concealed ... ts/Obtain/

[tursiops]

Most people who take our Utah permit class do so just to be able to carry in Georgia.

Utah's permit is much cheaper to maintain that Florida's and doesn't require live fire like Florida does.

The advantage of Florida's is that you can just walk into the office there with a copy of your class certificate from VA, do no live fire, take no class, and be done. That mitigates the fact that Utah is cheaper....

[ProShooter]

Most people who take our Utah permit class do so just to be able to carry in Georgia.

Utah's permit is much cheaper to maintain that Florida's and doesn't require live fire like Florida does.

The advantage of Florida's is that you can just walk into the office there with a copy of your class certificate from VA, do no live fire, take no class, and be done. That mitigates the fact that Utah is cheaper....

Except that Florida's will cost you $107 to renew in 7 years, whereas Utah's 5 year renewal is $15, thus is cheaper to maintain.

Also, if you took a gun safety class here in Virginia to apply for Florida's permit, you'd have to do the live fire part which can be an added cost.

[BW1911]

An Arizona permit may be a good option too. You shouldn't have to do any additional training and can apply by mail.

http://www.azdps.gov/Services/Concealed ... ts/Obtain/

Thanks for this post. When I plugged Arizona into the CHP map, it shows that GA, AL and KS are all covered, which neither FL nor UT do by individually, and KS and GA happen to be two states I travel to/thru frequently.... Thanks! I still wonder what will eventually happen with the national reciprocity bill that has been passed in the House...

[mrjam2jab]

As stated above, GA allows car carry without a permit....just make sure you don't for get and carry it out of the car.

AZ...your VA permit will suffice for training requirement and the fingerprints do not have to be done by a LEO dept. $60 for initial and $43 for renewals.

[Chasbo00]

Thanks for this post. When I plugged Arizona into the CHP map, it shows that GA, AL and KS are all covered, which neither FL nor UT do by individually, and KS and GA happen to be two states I travel to/thru frequently.... Thanks!

Arizona is a good deal. Easy to get, inexpensive and it offers these additional states beyond those covered by a VA permit:

AL, GA, KS, NV, and WI

An Arizona permit covers CO and NH too; but, there is a catch 22. You must be a resident. CO an NH don't honor non-resident permits from other states. So, a non-resident permit from Utah or Florida won't help here either.

Actually, There are a total of six states that don't honor non-resident permits other than their own, if they even offer one (for example, SC does not issue non-resident permits). They are:

CO, FL, ME, MI, NH, SC

[BW1911]

Arizona is a good deal. Easy to get, inexpensive and it offers these additional states beyond those covered by a VA permit:

AL, GA, KS, NV, and WI

I emailed the Arizona folks today (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and got a nice response. They commented that Arizona is a Constitutional Carry state and that a permit was not required for AZ if over 21 yo (of course, I only want it for KS and AL/GA, so I still want the paper). They also listed some new ways to demonstrate competence/training, then said an application packet was in the snail mail. A pleasant interaction, so far.

[Chasbo00]

I emailed the Arizona folks today (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and got a nice response... They also listed some new ways to demonstrate competence/training, then said an application packet was in the snail mail. A pleasant interaction, so far.

Good to hear it has been smooth going so far. Please let us know how long it takes AZ to send your permit after you apply.

[MattH]

Seems like this is a GREAT topic for alot of people. Thanks for all the knowledge.

[pete]

One thing to note about all this reciprocity stuff.... the maps at at usacarry.com are more accurate than the ones on handgunlaw.us. Usacarry takes into account whether your permit is resident or non-resident.

For instance, I have the VA resident's permit. I've recently applied for the AZ non-resident permit (should be here around end of January). Mapping this on usacarry shows that this combination will give me the additional states of AL, GA, KS, NV, and WI. (Actually, I think WI is going to start accepting the VA permit soon.)

Mapping this on handgunlaw.us makes it look like I will also obtain CO and OR. This is NOT the case because those states only accept resident permits. The handgunlaw.us map does not take this into account. It assumes all of your permits are resident.

[GarySlider]

pete,

If you look at a map you create at Handgunlaw.us you will see this wording at the bottom of every map you create.

Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Maine only honor permits from residents of the states they honor. That is on the bottom of every map you create. It also states that on our main page map.

As for USA Carry. Do be advised that they are not up to date on their maps and they even carry Minnesota as being honored by New Mexico. New Mexico dropped MN over a month ago. They also are not up to date on who Wisconsin honors.

Gary Slider
Co-Owner
www.handgunlaw.us

[Chasbo00]

@GarySlider - thanks for maintaining a great site and keeping the information current. WWW.handgunlaw.us is my go-to site for national-level handgun info.