Best state gun laws?

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boxjeff

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What state would be classified as the free-est gun law state...the one with the least handgun and longgun laws, the one that allows you to carry and openly use your guns without restrictions?

I was thinking Texas or New Mexico?
 
TX is light years ahead of California or New York but we're still miles behind states like AZ. No open carry, no campus carry like in Utah, and more then our fair share of vague "gray areas" in the carry statutes.
 
Texas doesn't even make the Top 40 of gun-friendly states.

They have a "NO OPEN CARRY" policy, along with the following states, which places them all at or near the bottom of the list.

Arkansas
California (allowed only in "rural" areas)
Florida
Hawaii (Yes, I know they allow licensed open carry, but when was the last time they issued a license?)
Illinois
New York
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Texas
Washington D.C. (not a state, but close enough)

The top of the list states would be those that require no permit for open or concealed carry.

Alaska
Arizona
Vermont
Wyoming

All the other states vary from RKBA-friendly to anti-RKBA.
 
jgcoastie, several of your "bottom of the list" states are shall-issue states, with high levels of interstate reciprocity.

Methinks your prism is narrow... especially if your rationale puts Illinois ahead of Texas.

OP, there was a thread you could search for that came out a while back. It listed the Brady Campaign's rankings of Brady-friendliest states. For your purposes, you might look at that one. (Ranking in reverse order, of course.)
 
Don't forget, though, that in those states that don't issue a CCW permit, knowingly carrying within 1,000 feet of a school is a federal felony, although very, very few people get charged with this crime.
 
MLeake said:
jgcoastie, several of your "bottom of the list" states are shall-issue states, with high levels of interstate reciprocity.

Methinks your prism is narrow... especially if your rationale puts Illinois ahead of Texas.

OP, there was a thread you could search for that came out a while back. It listed the Brady Campaign's rankings of Brady-friendliest states. For your purposes, you might look at that one. (Ranking in reverse order, of course.)
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The only thing that puts IL above TX is the alphabetic order in which I typed the lists.

There is nothing wrong with my "prism", nor is it narrow. A high reciprocity rate is great. But that's only one thing amongst many. Let's take Florida for example.

FLORIDA
Permit required to CC? Yes
OC allowed? No
College campus carry? No, prohibited by statute.
Private Transfers? Yes
Vehicle Carry Allowed? Yes/No Must be in glovebox.
Buy & Walk? No, mandatory waiting period for handgun purchases.

So, in summary, of six the major issues RKBA-minded folks think about, Florida only has the "right" answer on 2.5 of them. That's a 41.6% grade in my book.


It seems as though the pot called the kettle black in terms of a "narrow prism".
 
Not at all. Get the shall-issue permit in Florida, which you will get if you aren't a prohibited person, and...

Vehicle carry is now a non-issue;

You can buy and walk.

With regard to campus carry, few states allow that.

With regard to OC, I think it should be legal, but generally don't practice it. Also, to be more accurate, OC is allowed in Florida in limited instances, such as hunting, or fishing/hiking in areas that are snake hazards.

Coincidentally, those are the instances where most of the people I know who do OC, would OC.

So you can say I'm the pot calling the kettle black, if you wish. But I see it as, given shall-issue rules, many of the problems you cite go out the window.

So putting Texas or Florida in the bottom ten... that's weird.
 
don't forget us good ol boys in Kentucky yall' !!
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We have some room for improvement. Colleges can still declare themselves to be target-rich environments, and CCW still requires a permit.

Don't get me wrong, I would much rather be here than CA, NY or IL, but there are still a couple of states that do a little better.
 
I'm really, really going to miss Wyoming when I leave to help support the girlfriend's microbiology Ph.D...

At Johns Hopkins...

In...*sniffle*... MARYLAND!

:( :( :(
 
In spite of it's reputation, which stems largely from the fact that most of America thinks that New York State is synonomous with New York City, the "gun rights" in most of New York is not all that bad. It could be better, yes, but to put NY in the same category as Illinois or DC is silly.

A large portion of New York, all most everywhere except Buffalo and New York City, is effectively "Shall Issue" for basic permits to own handguns. Concealed carry is also virtually "Shall Issue" in all but a couple of other counties.

Once a carry permit is issued, there are virtually no restrictions on carry, unlike supposed "Gun Friendly" states like Texas with it infamous "30.06" law. Only Federal restrictions and school bans are in place in NY. All other places are full carry rights, "No Guns" signs do not carry force of law.

There is no waiting period in NY, no limit on models except that a fired shell casing is required from the manufacturer, no maximum or limit on how many can be carried at one time or owned by an individual, no requirement for disassembly inside the home and no "guns per time frame" limit. FTF handgun sales are allowed without an FFL as long as the ownership is properly transferred on the permit.

On the long gun front, NY has FTF sales, no permitting or limits, no waiting period... no limts at all really, outside federal law.


Like I said, it's not perfect, lots of things could be better, but New York doesn't belong in the same sentence as Illinois and DC.
 
Peetza, you are correct about NY, except...you MUST be a resident, and you MUST have a permit (official approved cCompitition excepted) to even handle a handgun in NY.

Yes, once you have a permit, things are not too bad...

but you can not license a rght...

you have no Right to have a handgun in NYS or NYC. You are disenfranchised unless you beg the government to Permit you...Nanny

You all missed OR, WA and ID...all allow unlicensed OC, WA has Unlicensed OC, Shall issue CC, resident/non-resident no training required...and the local gvernments CANNOT mess with you.
 
MLeake said:
So you can say I'm the pot calling the kettle black, if you wish. But I see it as, given shall-issue rules, many of the problems you cite go out the window.

So putting Texas or Florida in the bottom ten... that's weird.
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I don't want this to turn into a whizzing contest, so I'll try to keep this short and to the point.

The 2nd Amendment said:
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
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*From memory, not some web search, so forgive me if I didn't put commas in the original spots*

I don't see anything in there about needing a permit to carry a firearm in whatever (safe & responsible) manner I choose. That is the single biggest point that resonates with me in regards to the RKBA. I don't agree with needing permits to exercise my God-given, and Constitutionally-protected right. You don't license rights, you acknowledge and protect them.

Yes, I have my permit, had it for about 4 years now.

EDIT: So in my opinion, those states with laws which (1) do not allow open carry and/or (2) require permits to carry in any manner, are in violation of the 2ndA. Those laws, IMO, are unconstitutional on their face.
 
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You don't license rights, you acknowledge and protect them.
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Many rights have some kind of licensing requirement from running a newspaper to holding a "protest" march. Go ahead and carry that copy of the 2A around in your wallet and present it instead of a CHL, you will see how fast you lose that right....
 
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