Would you consider getting a CHL for an adjoining state if your existing State CHL is already recognized in the adjoining state ?

No I'm not crazy, I just have an idea. Say you're driving in the adjoining state were your in-state CHL is recognized, and you're pulled over for a traffic stop, and you inform the officer that you're carrying since the law in his state has a shall-inform rqt, and he asks for your CHL license, and you give him your CHL, and he doesn't know your license is recognized in his state, my guess is he might cuff and confiscate your gun, impound your car, take you into custody, and haul you to some kind of detention or lock-up, if he wasn't willing to find out from his own organization before he did all that.

To me this doesn't seem too far fetched, since I've been stopped in my own state and the officers who pulled me over didn't know the CHL laws in MY own state. So my theory is if some officers don't know the CHL laws in their own state, they there would be more chance of them making a mistake, at my expense of course, and that I could reduce this possibility by obtaining an out-of-state CHL.

So in the above scenario, take 2, I show him his state's CHL instead of my state's CHL, then right there I reduce my chances of getting hauled off as a result of a routine traffic stop, and what would have otherwise turned into a one or two-day nightmare, or worse if I had to hire an attorney, it simply concludes with a simple citation.

What say you ?

A lot of things have to line up on the bad side for this to be any realistic concern.
I think your overthinking this one.

I don’t think it’s worth, if the reason is as stated in your scenario. I can see getting other state’s permits, to get additional states, whatever.

If you were worried about that, put a copy of the reciprocal agreements in your glove box. Plus, the officer could be enlightened somewhere along the way, even if not by you.

I certainly wouldn’t be concerned with such.

Definitely overthinking.

No reasonable officer would go all the way through with arresting someone, hauling them down to jail, and holding them for days, without verifying the actual law first if they weren't sure.

I looked up stuff all the time. While there are a number of laws that I dealt with regularly to the point where I had the statutes memorized, there are even more criminal statutes that I rarely or never dealt with and would have to look up first. Especially when you're dealing with the nuances between what constitutes misdemeanor 3rd degree something vs. felony 2nd degree something, etc.

That's why you have code books. Or nowadays, you have access to online codes. To look it up.

From there, you also have the ability to reach out to others for assistance and clarification, if needed.

So at worst, in any reasonable scenario, you'd be looking at being detained a little bit longer during the traffic stop while the officer verified whether your state actually had reciprocity or not.

quote:

What say you ?

Too paranoid.

I hear ya. But it almost happened to me my in my own state, an officer almost did cuff me and haul me off without calling his people to make sure of the CHL law as it applied to the situation. He was hopping mad after I told him the law, and I was preparing to take a ride, get my car impounded, while trying to figure out how to secure and transport my insulin stash, blood glucose meter, and my rescue meds without getting them left behind in my impounded car, and make it all work while in jail waiting to get released on bond or however that mess works. Since most officers may figure out the rules before going to all that trouble, I'm not convinced all of them would. Even though my CHL is good in my adjoining state I don't carry over the state line because I don't trust them. Maybe I'm overthinking the situation, though based on my personal experience with this and other situations, I'm not sure it's necessarily over the top.

If you regularly spend time in that other state, then there may be one detail that makes it worthwhile.

Iirc, the federal gun-free school zone prohibits firearms unless you have a license/permit from the state you are in. So if I, as a Utah resident, am in a school zone in a different state and somehow come under police scrutiny, I am in violation of the federal law regardless of that state's laws.

My UT ccw expired during The Pandemic, so I am cognizant of this rule. I am not certain that Constitutional Carry has been found to meet the letter of the federal school zone law. (Not sure it doesn't either).

But otherwise I don't see a good reason to worry.

I completely understand. And think you are not paranoid but more like prudent. I travel through three or four states regularly. One of the states is absolutely no problem. The others are more problematic potentially. I ended up getting a permit from one of them.

Concealed means concealed. Why would a cop ever legally get into your car?

Not an expert but it seems weird to me that a state would issue a non-resident a CHL, especially if they already recognized the CHL your home state issued....

In any event, wouldn't the easier approach be to print out a copy of the adjoining state's regulations and carry that copy with you to hand to the hypothetically-underinformed LEO in that state, rather than deal with the cost and hassle of getting said non-resident CHL?

If you have a chl most states make it pretty simple and inexpensive to obtain one from them.

If reciprocity is there, then this nothing I have ever concerned myself with. I will be handing in my CHL over in 2 years, because I won’t need it, because I’ll be getting my CHL in my new state.

Some responses from people in free America who haven’t lived under the yoke of oppression might not be much help. I used to live in NY and had a carry permit there. NY doesn’t do reciprocity with anyone, and therefore no one else recognized the NY permit. I obtained a Pennsylvania permit, which was useful in a lot of adjoining states, like Ohio. I could EASILY imagine an issue in the blue steps.
For example ( I thankfully no longer live in the northeast so I do not know the current situation legality wise but this to me would be a valid example)
Let’s say for example Massachusetts and new hamphire have reciprocity and you have an NH permit. If you had the chance to obtain an MA nonresident permit to ease your mind while carrying in MA I would say it is totally worth it.

In my current situation, my AZ permit is recognized in Nevada, but if I frequented NV enough and felt it might be better to obtain a nonresident NV permit, I would probably do so.

It might help if the OP told us what states he was talking about

quote:

In my current situation, my AZ permit is recognized in Nevada, but if I frequented NV enough and felt it might be better to obtain a nonresident NV permit, I would probably do so.

Our permits are recognized, I don’t give it a second thought.
My automatic knife however I’m not sure about. I go back to the regular one I carried for years before I got the autos when I shoot matches there.

Our circumstances are different in NJ. With a NJ Licence, PA will issue you one on the spot. NJ Has Zero reciprocity with any state, so everyone I know grabbed the PA license. PA has good reciprocals with neighboring states.

Not sure where you live, but if it's some liberal shithole (or of the neighboring state is a liberal shithole) then it might be worthwhile. It's undeniable that there are a lot of cops out there who don't know all the gun laws, or misunderstand them. I used to get calls from other guys all the time before we went to permitless carry to clarify things because I was kinda the defacto "expert" (aka gun nerd) on the shift.

One of the best things about constitutional or permitless carry laws becoming a thing is that not only has it greatly simplified the law for everybody, but it forced prosecutors to spend time doing updates for the cops so everybody has a recent refresher on it, and I think now have a better understanding of who can and who can't carry a gun than they did two or three years ago.

It also served to normalize carry so that it's perfectly legal for 99% of the adult population to have a gun. Unless we have some reason to believe the person is a felon or otherwise prohibited, the default assumption is that they're good to go. On a typical traffic stop interaction, that means we run their info to check driving status and vehicle registration, and if nothing pops up they're good to go. We have a lot more information on local folks who we regularly interact with because all those contacts are logged in our local system...all we'd get on a stranger from out of state is what their state BMV sends us and anything in NCIC.

If you live on the east or west coast, or near Illinois, it might be worth getting their permit if you can. But dealing with most of free America, especially the 29 states that have permitless carry, it's probably a waste of time.

Good post 92fs. can you provide a list of those 29 states. Thanks

^^^ wrightd,

I totally agree with you and do so myself.

I live in New York State in a rural conservative county. A resident NY Concealed Carry license is easy to acquire here upstate and I've had one for multiple decades.
I've done quite a bit of motorcycle touring over the years and made it my business to research which States have the greatest reciprocity in regards to their chosen non resident CCW scheme.
I also have non resident "permits" for Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Utah.

The PA permit can be partially acquired online, but must be picked up in person. (at least in the PA County of my choice)
I've read some PA Counties will allow total non resident online/mail acquisition, but have no personal experience doing that. Do your research.
NH & UT can be acquired totally online/mail without having to pick up in person.

I strongly suggest getting the CCW App installed on your phone. It is published by Workman Consulting LLC.
The App icon is an American Flag with a pistol superimposed on top of the Flag.
The App is available for Android & Apple for the princely sum of $0.99 annually at my last renewal.
It will build you a map where you can see where you are legal for CCW after you input your personal selection of resident and non resident licenses/permits.
The App checks for CCW law updates once a day and you can update the laws database manually as well any time you wish, particularly just before crossing a State border while on a trip.

I wouldn't travel out of my State carrying a handgun without the CCW App.
Having the State CCW Laws available for viewing on your phone "could prove" to be invaluable during a traffic stop in an out of state location.
Particularly when riding a motorcycle.
I've never been pulled over when riding any of my motorcycles, but it surely can happen.

Below is a screenshot of the CCW App showing where I can legally carry with my personal selection of resident and non resident licenses & permits.
It includes the permitless/constitutional carry States. 38 States in total for me, and coast to coast. Note the usual suspects for the overreaching liberal gun control schemes/laws.

I have checked my map accuracy against Gary Slider's website and they match. I recommend anyone using the CCW App, to do their homework/research here: https://www.handgunlaw.us/
I have a computer nerd friend that lives in Massachusetts.
One of his peculiar hobbies is to acquire every single non resident CCW permit/license available for all the US States and Territories that will issue to non residents.

When on motorcycle touring trips, I "vote" against the liberal hellhole locations that do not allow me to legally carry by not crossing their State borders.
That means I will never spend a dime inside their State borders on gas, food, lodging or tourism.
Sometimes that requires a significant detour.
On a trip to Deal's Gap/Tail of the Dragon (western NC/eastern TN) some years back, that required a significant detour around Maryland.
I had to add an additional day onto the trip to go west in Pennsylvania nearly to Pittsburg before dropping south into West Virginia. Also, another day added on the return trip.
After reading about Maryland State Police cars with license plate readers stopping/searching vehicles with "hits" from dubiously acquired "lists" of lawful CCW permit holders, it became obvious
that the intelligent choice was to avoid crossing the Maryland border ever.

CCW App.png by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

quote:

that required a significant detour around Maryland.
I had to add an additional day onto the trip to go west in Pennsylvania nearly to Pittsburg before dropping south into West Virginia. Also, another day added on the return trip.
After reading about Maryland State Police cars with license plate readers stopping/searching vehicles with "hits" from dubiously acquired "lists" of lawful CCW permit holders, it became obvious
that the intelligent choice was to avoid crossing the Maryland border ever.

MD continues to not recognize other states permits. Hopefully, we will get to where carry permits are treated like driver's licenses or marriages, and it doesn't matter which state issued them.

WRT to Maryland, there is a way to get a "wear and carry" license that is much less difficult than in the recent past. Certified firearms instructors, including NRA instructors, can qualify for a MD QHIC (Qualified Handgun Instructor Certificate). Having this certification is sufficient for obtaining a MD W&C license. You still have to get fingerprinted by an in-State facility, pass a background check, and pay $75, but it is not too difficult. Obtaining a NRA pistol instructor certificate is something that most handgun owners should do anyway, and most areas have multiple options for fulfilling the training requirement.

^^^ @ architect,
It's a pretty good road trip from my location to Maryland.
Fifteen years ago, I might have considered the option you mentioned. I am already an NRA Pistol Instructor.
Now, I will just flip Maryland the bird from across an adjoining State border, or out the plane window when flying overhead.
Maryland is simply just in the way for USA east coast interstate north/south travel. I-81 & I-95 both traverse Maryland.
It's a great reason for adding several days onto a long distance motorcycle trip!