LEOSA: Qualifications and Covered Firearms

[Smokey613]

Upon checking further, Alabama makes it pretty easy to get your LEOSA annual firearms qualification card so that looks like the route we will go. You sumbit a request online with documentation, they assign a location for you to report to and you qualify and good to go. There is a small fee but worth it for us.

 

[GerSan69]

I'm due in a few weeks for my yearly qualification. Either the sheriff's department or the local PD will do it for me. I'd rather have the PD guy as the Sheriff's deputy makes me do push-ups and run around. I asked him why and he said that the slot time he had for me was always with the SWAT team. It seems that my year is up when their 6 month qualification is up. Lucky me. I also get to qualify with my AR-15 and sniper rifle at the same time.

Which city and county? I did mine with Mesa PD the first couple years after I moved down here....

 

[GerSan69]

This brings up an interesting question. As a TCOLE firearms instructor, I can qualify retired officers for LEOSA compliance and do several a year. I plan to retire on 12-31-2018 and we are moving to Alabama. My TCOLE Firearm Instructor certification does not expire as far as I know and my wife and I plan to keep our Texas Peace Officer licenses active even though we will not hold an active commission. Would it be acceptable for me to qualify my wife annually to meet the LEOSA requirements?

I would expect that if they allow private testing, there is some sort of "approved instructor list" of non-agency people acceptable for LEOSA qualifications. I suggest checking with whoever is the agency responsible for LEOSA in your new state.
In AZ, for example, the Dept of Public Safety (DPS) publishes the application, issues a card similar to the AZ CCW permit and has a list of approved instructors on their web site. OTOH, Colorado does the same by each county instead.

 

[Dutchboy901]

Big D,

NJ is another one, their RPO permit, which only came into effect around the time LEOSA was enacted, demands certain requirements, mental health check w/ annual renewal, and their qualification course also requires night fire, they emphasize that no hollow point ammunition is allowed.They also have a maximum age limitation.

As we see in the LEOSA, that is not what the federal law says.

Another problem, their twice annual qualification required you to send them a certificate signed by the instructor, listing your specific firearms used for qualification, they issued an annual card ($50.00) that said you met the qualification, but that card has been rejected in a nearby state as not being a "record of qualification."

Hello Tony. Being new to this forum, I just ran across your post. You note in your post that the state issue LEOSA card has been rejected in a nearby state as "not being a record of qualification". May I ask, what state?

 

[blues7]

Hello Tony. Being new to this forum, I just ran across your post. You note in your post that the state issue LEOSA card has been rejected in a nearby state as "not being a record of qualification". May I ask, what state?

These states cannot supersede federal law. This is not to say they can't arrest you and make you miserable until they decide to release you with or without the assistance of an attorney.

I have legal coverage for such an instance but I am hoping to never put it to the test.

I'll be very interested to hear from any of our members carrying under LEOSA who run into such issues...and how they were resolved.

 

[Dutchboy901]

That's the point. Yes they can hassle you and most likely in the end you will probably be exonerated as long as you are doing everything above board. It's just the BS they can put you through. I'm a retired LE from NJ and don't or won't carry HP's because the NJSP said you can't. Even though Federal law says otherwise! I also have legal coverage, but I don't want to go through all the BS & hassle I'll go through, just to carry them!

It's just not worth the hassle when there are other effective rounds I can carry in my gun.

 

[blues7]

That's the point. Yes they can hassle you and most likely in the end you will probably be exonerated as long as you are doing everything above board. It's just the BS they can put you through. I'm a retired LE from NJ and don't or won't carry HP's because the NJSP said you can't. Even though Federal law says otherwise! I also have legal coverage, but I don't want to go through all the BS & hassle I'll go through, just to carry them!

It's just not worth the hassle when there are other effective rounds I can carry in my gun.

Completely agree. Last year when I visited my mother and sister in NJ, I carried Hornady Critical Defense rounds in my Glock 26.

(I had the 26 with me because I was visiting family and friends in NYC prior to that and they have 10 round magazine limits which include retired LEOs unless you retired in NY, which I didn't.)

 

[Dutchboy901]

Jersey has the same round limit of 10 for those few, & I mean few lucky civvies who can carry. However, Retired LEO's are exempt and may carry up to 15.

 

[blues7]

Jersey has the same round limit of 10 for those few, & I mean few lucky civvies who can carry. However, Retired LEO's are exempt and may carry up to 15.

I actually did my research before going up and discovered that prior to leaving, but only wanted to bring the one gun, and one form of ammo, rather than having to switch mid trip.

My sister called yesterday and said she, and my mother as well, are planning a move to MD.

 

[ladder13]

......
My sister called yesterday and said she, and my mother as well, are planning a move to MD.

Tell em' to keep going until they clear the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

 

[Dutchboy901]

I have found in my travels, that most LEO's and that includes myself, don't give a rats *** about the laws & rules on the books so long as you have the proper ID and have no malicious intent. They will extend "professional courtesy" to you so long as you are not a jerk! But there's always that one cop who goes by every letter on the books, and will even arrest his own mother, if need be, regardless of who you are and hassle you.

And that's not to mention the prosecutor who's out to score one for his record!

These are the folks who scare me!

 

[blues7]

Tell em' to keep going until they clear the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

They can come visit me in NC if they're so inclined.

 

[Muley Gil]

I actually did my research before going up and discovered that prior to leaving, but only wanted to bring the one gun, and one form of ammo, rather than having to switch mid trip.

My sister called yesterday and said she, and my mother as well, are planning a move to MD.

Sounds like going from a big frying pan to a smaller frying pan. I used to live in Maryland & still have a few family and friends there. One reason I keep my LEOSA current, since MD doesn't honor CCWs from other states. Of course, I haven't been back since I returned from the sandbox in '07.

 

[Cal44]

Sounds like going from a big frying pan to a smaller frying pan. I used to live in Maryland & still have a few family and friends there. One reason I keep my LEOSA current, since MD doesn't honor CCWs from other states. Of course, I haven't been back since I returned from the sandbox in '07.

I live in California, and often think of moving to another "free" state. But we have many relatives here, plus rental houses, and lots of friends.

So if we moved to Idaho or Arizona, I'd still have to come back to California frequently.

But if I moved to any other state, I'd have to surrender my Cali CCW license, and could never carry here again.

Living here, I can carry in all the states I like to visit -- plus here at home.

In Cali, you need to live in one of the counties that will issue carry licenses, though -- and most of the big coastal counties won't.

 

[les.b]

Just shot my annual LEOSA qualification course this afternoon! Shot through it with my old issue Glock 23, and then shot it again with my 640-1 Pro. I like to have a revolver and a semi on record. For once, it was absolutely perfect weather. Not hot, not cold, no wind, a great time, and a chance to see some of the old crew, plus a chance to spend some time with the active duty guys who run the shooting programs (one of my old jobs).

So I'm good to go for another year. Most of the states that I travel to recognize the WV CC permit, EXCEPT neighboring Maryland. I frequently travel through Md. To get to Pennsylvania. And also to get to my oldest sons home just outside of DC, he lives in Virginia. And then of course, there is DC..... So I still like to keep up the LEOSA.

Best Regards, Les

 

[blues7]

So I'm good to go for another year. Most of the states that I travel to recognize the WV CC permit, EXCEPT neighboring Maryland. I frequently travel through Md. To get to Pennsylvania. And also to get to my oldest sons home just outside of DC, he lives in Virginia. And then of course, there is DC..... So I still like to keep up the LEOSA.

Best Regards, Les

Congrats, Les. My sister and brother in law...and my mother, are each moving to MD (Silver Springs area) soon.

So LEOSA will be required when I need to travel there in the future as they do not honor NC.

 

[les.b]

Just a sort of sign of the times, I guess, but the guys at my old department have switched from the .40 S&W model 23 Glocks that we were carrying when I retired to the Glock gen 5 9mm model 17s. I guess that when the FBI went from the .40 to the 9, that lots of departments all over the country followed suit. I'll bet Glock loves it, they get to sell everyone antoher gun..... I guess that the new Speer 147 gr "G2" Gold Dot with the hollow point filled in with polymer or whatever it is is the new "magic bullet"!!!

I'm not making fun of anyone, so please don't take offense, Ive read a lot of the literature, and looked at the rational, but I'm just a little but conservative when it comes to jumping on the latest bandwagon. I guess we'll see how things work out once we get a significant number of shootings with the new caliber/bullet.

Best Regards, Les

 

[blues7]

I normally carry the 9mm Federal 147 gr HST round, (in standard pressure), the last year or two (in each of my Glocks).

 

[oink]

Yeah my old Dept went 9mm also. I agree the FBI move started a lot of departments changing. I think part of it is also due to all of the vets that have been entering law enforcement for a number of years now are all used to the 9mm and are the ones now running training, etc and helping to direct firearm acquisition decisions. The 45 ACP guys are all retiring.

 

[Steve K]

I have heard horror stories about Maryland and the LEOs not respecting LEOSA. A few of my retired friends place their carry pieces in the trunk while travelling through Maryland for fear of being charged with unlawful carry by the State Police. I don't know of any LEOs being arrested or hassled in Maryland, but I know several have been given motor vehicles citation. You may say the law is the law and if you are in violation you will get a traffic summons. With that in mind, the law is the law, LEOSA is the law and if you are in compliance with the law there is no violation. Does anyone have first hand knowledge of the MD LEOs not honoring LEOSA?