Road trip CCW peculiarities

LVSteve

LVSteve

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
22,473
Reaction score
34,012
Location
Lost Wages, NV
Drove to Texas for Christmas which to the casual observer should create no issues as AZ, NM and TX all recognize a NV CCW permit. Being curious/careful, I checked up on the rules in those states to avoid any "gotchas". Good thing I did.

Turns out all these states have certain special rules about where you cannot carry, but how you are supposed to recognize where they apply is baffling. There are things like "if the business earns more than 60% of it's income from sales of beer and wine". Do they post their accounts on a board by the front door? Then there are rules saying don't carry in a place that serves hard liquor. Again, it's not always obvious what restaurants can and cannot serve an out of stater until you get inside.

Then there are the rules on what would be called brandishing or flashing a gun in NV. The Texas law is written in a legalese that took me a few goes to unravel, and even then it looked a little like a "catch-all" type of deal. Maybe it's written that way to give DAs and judges some wiggle room.

The biggest "gotcha" I found was in NM. Apparently, carrying a concealed BUG in addition to your regular CCW is a no-no. Did not see that one coming, and as a habitual pocket carrier of a Ruger LCP it's a good thing I checked. I carried "heavy" on this trip, i.e. OWB under a cover garment, and it would have been too easy to gear up and forget the LCP.
 
Register to hide this ad
Come to Ohio, we are Constitutional Carry now, but the rules do apply.

If You are drinking, don't carry.

CC only applies to handguns! Big Knife/swords/axes had best be unaccusable, and long guns loaded in a car is a big NO-NO!

We have a no gun zone sign, must be RED circle w/ slash on a black gun, must be posted in plain sight at/on the entrance (not somewhere inside!)

No Brandishing or threatening with CCW. Open carry is legal with CC license (don't know about out of state license).

If a business asks you to leave because of your gun, take your money and leave! If you had started your meal, that is their problem. If you have a group, you are their ride, and they should leave their half-eaten meal unpaid for also!

Ivan
 
Preaching to the choir OP! My wife and I travel a lot in our motorhome, so trying to keep up with laws in all the individual states can be somewhat of a challenge.

I usually research and familiarize myself with each state before we arrive. And you are correct, each one is a little different. Keeps me out of trouble though.
 
Visit Montana,

From the Dept of Justice.

Montana law allows any person to conceal carry a weapon without a concealed weapon permit, so long as that person is eligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law.

Montana law allows any person to conceal carry a weapon in state government office or state building, but only if that person is the holder of a current, valid Montana concealed weapon permit

Montana issues concealed weapon permits, which must be applied for and obtained from your local Montana county sheriff.

It is illegal for a person to carry a concealed weapon into a courtroom or space controlled by a Montana court, unless otherwise ordered by the judge in charge of that court.

It is illegal to carry a concealed weapon into a Montana public school, unless otherwise ordered by the school board in charge of that public school.

It is illegal to carry a concealed weapon into a federal office or building.

Montana law allows local governments to regulate the carrying of both concealed and unconcealed weapons in certain areas. Please check local regulations. County sheriffs can provide information on where concealed weapons are prohibited in their counties.

Montana has no prohibitions about carrying a weapon in a motor vehicle.

Here a weapon covers Knife, sword, hatchet, AR with a 30 round mag stuck in it. The only way your going to get a ticket for having loaded guns in your rig is if there are enough of them to put you over your GVW

The local sheriffs are very limited as to where they can prohibit guns. Your good to go on any public road. A few parks, hospitals and treatment centers and a few government building are about it and they have signs.
 
I moved from Vegas to Ohio 1.5 years ago. The CCW in Vegas took 118 days from application to receipt. Ohio CCW took 20 minutes. In Vegas my AR could be cruiser ready, not here. It's best to keep a low profile and not become an item of interest to officials. John German says, " Don't go with stupid people to stupid places and do stupid things".
 
Being Ohio born and now residing in Michigan I am well aware that carrying where alcohol is served can be a problem. In addition Michigan doesn't permit CCW with a blood alcohol content over 0.02%. Yeah, enjoy just one single beer and your CPL is void until your BOC is effectively zero. My solution for all of these issues is to not carry in any venue that is likely to serve alcohol, be it Bourbon, Wine, Beer, or Hard Cider and I don't drink when I am carrying.

Some may consider this an imposition and loss of free will. However what is undeniable is that consumption of Alcohol can lead to bad decisions and mixing bad decisions with a gun can end up in Death or Prison. Yeah, I'm a prude and think that guns and alcohol should NEVER be mixed. If you don't adhere to this then you are IMO foolish. Perhaps a few times of having to dodge a Drunk Driver will change your mid.
 
MN is an interesting state. Deep blue, not terribly gun friendly - handguns require purchase permits and they just did away with private transfers. No right spelled out in the state constitution. No open carry without a permit.

But CC is easy to get and there are very few restrictions on where you can carry. The only statutory no-carry zones are schools, child care facilities, jails, courthouses, and state mental hospitals. No gun signs do not have force of law.
 
Holden6v8 said:
Signs in bars and the like have to be conspicuously posted saying 51%, meaning if they make that much of their business in alcohol, no carrying.
Click to expand...

Holden, it may not be obvious to some that you are in...and speaking of...Texas. :) I saw but a handful of such signs in my trip out this past April. Stopped in Fredericksburg for lunch, but ended in Round Rock and Georgetown area. Here in Aridzona, a No Guns sign on the door is optional for the merchant. There has to be a specifically posted sign next to the posted alcohol license of the establishment.

In traversing that lonesome stretch of NM on the I-Ten, I took my BUG from my pocket and put it in the glove box. However, I don't think I even stopped for gas in NM. Made it into El Paso before doing so.
 
Last edited:
It's tough and one of the things you need to plan for when traveling through multiple States.

I retired out of CA & still have a CCW. But even though I was allowed to keep hi-caps when I retired, I no longer reside in CA. So when I go back, I only bring 10 rounders. I'm sure plenty of other retired LE who travel back don't really care.

And I've got family in NM, so I always have to remember to dump the BUG when I hit the State line. One of the Hotels dining areas in NM was serving cocktails and had the "no firearms" posted.

But honestly, I usually just do my thing and don't worry about it.
 
Last edited:
Which is why I print out the laws of any state I might be traveling to and keep it in a file folder with differences from Montana law highlighted just to be sure.
I have been using handgunlaw.us to look up these states.

Randy
 
Last edited:
My road trip gun has long been the 1911 of my youth. I thought its low capacity was safe everywhere. Thanks for opening my eyes to individual states loopholes!
 
People are big on states rights until they find how how messy thar can be with all kinds of things. Concealed carry is just one. A Federal permit would save lots of confusion.

My NM permit doesn't work in the two states I visit every year - CA and IA. It's fine everywhere in between. It's annoying.
 
Last edited:
While it might well be a pain in the rear with individual states, I am totally unimpressed by the federal governments to do ANYTHING in a reasonable and effective manner. I do not believe I want them regulating and issuing my carry permit. If you believe the anti gun states and politicians wouldn't make it worse consider what happened in New York and California once the Supreme court told them they had to give out permits.

I believe a federal permit would be every bit as useful in states like CA, NY and NJ as a parachute in a submarine

While traveling to a few states can be a pain, there are less than 20 that are a total NO GO with a Montana permit, and I can easily avoid spending ANY of my time or money in them. The majority of the western states have figured out that the honest citizens are NOT the problem and have dropped the whole permit thing or honor others permits. Only the states living in fantasy land cling to the idea that idea that restricting honest citizens will stop crime. With a Montana enhanced permit and the ability to read, I can travel to all but 3 of the states west of the Mississippi with little worry.
 
Last edited:
biku324 said:
People are big on states rights until they find how how messy thar can be with all kinds of things. Concealed carry is just one. A Federal permit would save lots of confusion.

My NM permit doesn't work in the two states I visit every year - CA and IA. It's fine everywhere in between. It's annoying.
Click to expand...
Yes, a federal permit would be as simple and straightforward as the income-tax code.
 
Holden6v8 said:
Signs in bars and the like have to be conspicuously posted saying 51%, meaning if they make that much of their business in alcohol, no carrying.
Click to expand...

I frankly think rules like this are stupid enough to be ignored. I can see saying that you can't carry and drink, but saying you can't carry in a place that makes more than half their money from booze is absurd if you're not drinking.

Unless the place provides armed security during all business hours to protect you from the scumbag who's walking in because he knows everyone is unarmed, I'll keep my gun on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LVSteve
Texas road trip Part 1 : Which vehicle?
Replies
6
Views
2K
Nevada Ed
Nevada Ed
Dump1567
Just returned from a road trip.
Replies
12
Views
2K
Dump1567
Dump1567
ddeanjohnson
  • Locked
WITHDRAWN
2
Replies
22
Views
11K
Truckman
Truckman
G
Hard to post this - my son is an alcoholic
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
3K
pawncop
P
the ringo kid
  • Locked
Here's the scoop getting you LTC in Texas.
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
6K
Tinhack
Tinhack

Latest posts

Back
Top