Earlier this Summer we posted Summer Fun and Traveling With Firearms covering the ins and outs of traveling with firearms. We wanted to revisit that topic and provide more detailed information. There are many rules to remember whether you’re traveling by car, plane, bus or train. We would like to remind everyone to check out the TSA website and your regional airport’s policy for checking in your firearms before your flight.
Here is a comprehensive list of information sources that includes reciprocity (firearms license rules from one state to another), traveling (flying) with guns, and links to gun laws:
Travelling with Firearms: Reciprocity and State Gun Laws
Part of being a responsible and safe gun owner is to know your state’s gun laws, as well as the federal gun laws, regarding owning, possessing, and carrying a firearm. Each state has different gun laws. Therefore, if you plan to travel to another state with your firearms, you MUST do your homework by researching the gun laws of those states through which you are traveling, as well as the gun laws of the state, which is your final destination.
If you have a state concealed carry weapons (CCW) license, you may be able to conceal carry your firearm in another state if the state in which you have a CCW license has reciprocity with the state through which and to which you are traveling. Reciprocity is basically an agreement between two states to mutually recognize or honor the concealed carry license or permit of the other state. However, even if your state has reciprocity with the other state through or to which you are traveling, you are ONLY allowed to conceal carry in that particular state, if you comply with that state’s concealed carry laws.
Know Before You Go
So before you travel, you need to do your research on whether you can carry your firearm to the state to which you are going, including all of those states which you may be driving through to get to your final destination. You also need to determine, even if your state has reciprocity with the state(s) through/to which you are traveling, what laws are different from your state (i.e. where you can and cannot conceal carry, whether there are restrictions on the capacity of magazines you can have in that state, whether there is a duty, if you are stopped, to inform a police officer that you are carrying a firearm, etc.)
Website for Concealed Carry Reciprocity Maps
Click here to view a reciprocity map. Select your state, and the map will display the other states that your state has reciprocity with as well as their respective gun laws.
Websites for Researching State Gun Laws
Listed below are three excellent websites, which are updated frequently, that list the gun laws of all states.
- Guns to Carry – gunstocarry.com
- Handgun Law – handgunlaw.us
- Gun Laws by State – wikipedia.org
Websites for Researching Federal Gun Laws
Guns to Carry – gunstocarry.com/federal-gun-laws
Federal Gun Laws – wikipedia.org
Concealed Carry Reciprocity and State Gun Law Apps
There also are some good concealed carry reciprocity and state gun law apps that you can download to your mobile device from Apple App or Google Play stores:
- CCW
- USCCA
- Concealed Carry
Flying with Your Firearm
If you plan to fly with your firearm, you may only transport your firearm unloaded in a locked hard-sided container and it must be in your checked baggage. You cannot transport a firearm in any bags that you carry on to the airplane. Thus, to ensure that you comply with all federal laws regarding flying with your firearm:
- ALWAYS review the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) website, for the latest information on its policy on transporting firearms and ammo.
- Check your airline’s website to determine its policy for transporting your firearm and ammo as checked luggage on your flight; and
- Check the reciprocity maps, and research the state gun laws before you go. The same reciprocity rules mentioned above apply when flying to another state.
Best Practices
Create a checklist of steps required to properly transport your firearm on an airplane as set forth on the TSA website.
Thoroughly inspect all of your carry-on luggage before leaving home to make sure you are not carrying any prohibited items, particularly weapons such as firearms, knives, pepper spray, etc. and ammo in your carry-on luggage. Failing to do so might result in your arrest or civil penalties.
Firearms Owners’ Protection Act
You also should be aware of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA), which is set forth in Title 18 of the United States Code, section 926A. FOPA is a federal gun law which allows a gun owner to travel through states in which his/her firearm possession is illegal as long as:
(a) it is legal in the states of origination and destination;
(b) the owner is in transit and does not remain in the state in which firearm possession is illegal;
(c) the firearm is transported unloaded; and
(d) neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or directly accessible from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. In the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment, the firearm or ammunition must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
FOPA does not mean you will not get arrested if you are traveling through a state where firearm possession is illegal, but it may be a defense to the charge of illegal possession of a firearm if you have to go to court.
In summary, know before you go! Thoroughly research the gun laws of each state you are traveling to or through to determine any restrictions on whether you can carry your firearm in that state.