Best state gun laws?

This leads me to ask for clarification, as I have a FL non-resident permit. I usually carry in an OWB, open top (no thumb strap) belt scabbard. Are you saying that I can't wear that holster while driving -- unless I unholster the weapon and stash it in the glovebox or other container?
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No not at all and please let me clarify, my statement is about having a handgun in the vehicle if it is not in a holster being concealed. If I choose to keep my handgun out of the holster while driving and I have a CCW permit if I should get stopped, before LE gets to my door that gun better be in the glove box, console or back in the holster. Leaving it in the open is a violation of FLA law.

The man I spoke of did not have a CCW permit
 
The problem with that is, who decides how much training is enough?
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I've thought about that and how its a slippery slope, didn't see it as an infringement, but good point.

If 10 hours is good, isn't 100 better and on and on.

Suppose I'm just so happy to be out of IL that the TX training doesn't bother me. That being said, the class was much more about the legalities involved and not about pistol proficiency.
 
checkmyswag said:
Suppose I'm just so happy to be out of IL that the TX training doesn't bother me. That being said, the class was much more about the legalities involved and not about pistol proficiency.
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Handgun classes prerequisite to carry permits are NOT marksmanship or tactics classes, they are -- first and foremost -- SAFETY classes. The powers that be don't really care if you shoot 5-inch groups or 5-foot groups, and they don't care if you know the difference between "cover" and "concealment." Their concern is, "If we let this guy carry a gun in public, is he likely to shoot an innocent party?"

My state accepts the NRA Basic Handgun class for carry permit training. It's mandated by the NRA to be an 8-hour (minimum) class. The classroom portion usually takes up 6 to 7 of those 8 hours. The range time is ONLY to watch each shooter load one magazine and one cylinder, and fire the gun to empty. If they don't make any gross errors (like sweeping the entire class), they're good to go. If they can't keep a group on paper at 25 feet, I'll spend extra time with them, but even keeping all shots on paper isn't a requirement, as long as they don't shoot out the lights. The class is abut safety, not shooting.
 
I'll add again, due to the additional comments .....

you can carry "anywhere " in Kansas , except the Governor's mansion unless they post an approved AG sign. Anywhere.... schools, bars, church, or anywhere else. It sure makes it a lot easier..... than States that have places where you can carry here but not there, you carry here except when ... but... if.

And, no one (including cities, etc) can "post" any outside areas, parking garages, etc. ..... only a 'building'.

You can carry on any campus without any legal ramification, except if the building is posted. Some are, some aren't, depends upon the school. Some still threaten to expel any student who carries on campus, but legislature is trying to fix that to so that they can't do that to students. The idiotic Chairman of the Dept of Educ... got up and stated he didn't want to see "drunk 18 yr olds carrying guns".... illegal for 18 yr olds to be drinking, and can't get a permit until you are 21.... so he got lamblasted on that one.

If you did carry in a posted building and were caught at it, it's a $50 fine misdemeanor. We would like to have Missouri's method on that, no fine or charge, they can only ask you to leave.
 
Kentucky is a great state for firearm owners.

Open carry is legal, although I've read a lot of stories of people being harassed in cities of Covington, Lexington and Louisville.

CCW permits are shall issue and the process is very easy.

Any person, resident or not, can carry a loaded firearm in their glove box.

It is also illegal for most business owners to prohibt an employee from keeping a firearm in their car.
 
Don P and frigate88 covered it pretty well, but I just wanted to clarify a little more on the Florida law. If you do not have a permit, a handgun must be securely encased OR not readily accessible. If you can't get to it, you're legal, OR if it is securely encased it is legal. The only thing is is cannot be on your person.

If you have a permit, you also have the option of having the firearm on or about your person and it does not have to be securely encased or not readily accessible but it must be concealed. You could have it on the seat next to you under a newspaper and it would not fit the definition of securely encased, but it would still be concealed about your person.

If you were fishing, hunting, target shooting, camping, or on your way to or from such an event, you could open carry, with or without a permit. If you are on your business or home, or on the curtilage of your dwelling, you can open carry with or without a permit.

^^^ Of course, be careful, because just as not every gun owner knows the law, not every cop knows the law.

And coastie, here are a few reasons I think Florida ranks higher than the bottom. We have reciprocity with more than 30 states on CCW. We have a pre-emption law- NV is a great state for gun rights unless you go to Clark County where they have a dangerous weapon law, and handguns have to be registered. We have no one-gun-a-month law like VA. We don't have to get a permit to purchase anything. If I buy a handgun from a private seller, it's cash and carry, unlike NC where is has to be documented. I can sit down in a restaurant that serves alcohol in FL. I can even have a glass of wine with dinner if I wish. Florida issues permits to non-residents. Any other weapon besides a firearm can be carried openly.

I wish we had unrestricted open and concealed carry and I wish we had campus carry. wish a whole lot of other things, but all in all, there are plenty of states worse than Florida. I don't see how anyone would put it in the bottom ten.
 
I wish we had unrestricted open and concealed carry and I wish we had campus carry. wish a whole lot of other things, but all in all, there are plenty of states worse than Florida. I don't see how anyone would put it in the bottom ten.
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Quite frankly, because they do not allow open carry in any form. There are 40ish other states that do, so they take precedence IMO. Which is all any of this is, either side, opinion.
 
Quite frankly, because they do not allow open carry in any form. There are 40ish other states that do, so they take precedence IMO. Which is all any of this is, either side, opinion.
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Okay. If open carry is your only criteria, enjoy New Jersey. :)
 
Okay. If open carry is your only criteria, enjoy New Jersey.
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I would, but it's licensed OC only there, and I doubt I'd be eligible for a permit given my non-residency status IRT New Jersey. Not to mention the non-permissive environment in Jersey, regardless of legality. Nice try though. ;) OC is not the only criteria I have, but it is one of the top ones. An availability and protection of my God-given and Constitution-recognized right to carry a firearm in any manner I choose tops my list. Those states which deny either are, quite frankly, at the bottom of my list.

My stance on what states have the best gun laws has been summed up quite extensively on this and other threads.
 
I'm not sure NY is as handgun-friendly as Peetzakilla wrote:

When you apply for a handgun permit, you get 3 sets of fingerprints taken by local police- one for the feds, one for the state police and one for local law enforcement and all are checked to see if you have any record with them.

You need 3 "character witnesses" to vouch for you and a local LEO will interview them. The LEO also will visit you at home and interview those who live there as well, and ask them if they're okay with you having a handgun. If they say "no", no permit. The entire process took 6 months when I applied 35 years ago; I don't think it would be any faster these days.

NY has no reciprocity with any other state and recognizes no other state's permit which gets people from other states going through NY in trouble, especially when they try to enter Canada and get turned away at the Canadian border because they have a gun aboard. When they get back to US customs they get arrested by NY cops for unlicensed possession of a handgun.

Every permit has the make, model and serial number of handguns the licensee is allowed to handle. No one is allowed to even handle a handgun if it isn't on their license.

Open carry is illegal in NY, and in my county there is no other type of permit than one that allows CC.

Any legal difficulties that have to do with violence or threat thereof, or drug possession and/or use will cost you your permit which means you'll have to give up possession of your handguns, so it's a good idea to have someone you trust handy who also has a permit to transfer them to.
 
Uncle Billy said:
I'm not sure NY is as handgun-friendly as Peetzakilla wrote:

When you apply for a handgun permit, you get 3 sets of fingerprints taken by local police- one for the feds, one for the state police and one for local law enforcement and all are checked to see if you have any record with them.

You need 3 "character witnesses" to vouch for you and a local LEO will interview them. The LEO also will visit you at home and interview those who live there as well, and ask them if they're okay with you having a handgun. If they say "no", no permit. The entire process took 6 months when I applied 35 years ago; I don't think it would be any faster these days.

NY has no reciprocity with any other state and recognizes no other state's permit which gets people from other states going through NY in trouble, especially when they try to enter Canada and get turned away at the Canadian border because they have a gun aboard. When they get back to US customs they get arrested by NY cops for unlicensed possession of a handgun.

Every permit has the make, model and serial number of handguns the licensee is allowed to handle. No one is allowed to even handle a handgun if it isn't on their license.

Open carry is illegal in NY, and in my county there is no other type of permit than one that allows CC.

Any legal difficulties that have to do with violence or threat thereof, or drug possession and/or use will cost you your permit which means you'll have to give up possession of your handguns, so it's a good idea to have someone you trust handy who also has a permit to transfer them to.
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The exact procedures for the permit vary by county. I know of NO county in my area that interviews your character references.

I also know of no county in my area where the LEO visits the home or interviews people in it.

These are "big city" issues. Most of NY is not like that. Counties with Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, along with the obviously rotten Big Apple and it's surrounding areas are the problem. The rest of the state is pretty easy.

Open carry is illegal in most states.

No permit except CC? Isn't that the best permit you can get? It's all-inclusive.

My permit took 5 months at the height of the Obama scare. Most counties issue them in a month or two.

The issue of various counties having various rules is a problem. Senator Seward has a bill going through now that would make all restrictions "state only", which will effectively make all permits unrestricted, CC.

The issue at the border is overblown, to say the least, and you shouldn't be trying to enter Canada with guns that aren't allowed there anyway.

If you're a drug addict or a violent person, you SHOULD lose your guns and this is not a NY issue. You lose your guns, rifles and handguns, in most places if you're convicted of violence.
 
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Once a week on the average, someone gets turned away from entry into Canada for possession of a gun (any gun), and when they return to US customs 10 minutes later, if it's a handgun the local cops get called and the traveler is charged with 2nd degree criminal possession of a firearm unless they have a NY handgun permit (and only NY since NY doesn't recognize any other state's licenses) and the gun or guns in their possession are indicated on their permit by serial number. In the winter it's usually interstate truck drivers that get trapped in this; in the summer it's increased by out-of-state motor home and trailer-towing tourists. Most people from other states aren't aware of NY's intolerance to out-of-state guns. If no criminal intent is evident and it's just ignorance of NY's laws the charges are usually dismissed, but getting your guns back involves FFLs and you'll be without them for a while.

The application for a pistol permit in NY is rigorous and inquiry-driven more than in a lot of other states. Right, some counties are more lax than others, but the bulk of NY's population lives in the counties that aren't lax, and in the counties (boroughs) in NYC, NO civilian has a handgun permit unless they are very well hooked up with the police or other influence. Your license doesn't allow you to even handle my guns unless they show up on your permit as well- so reads the law, which you can ignore at your own risk.

The new plastic licenses that NY issues don't say "carried concealed" as the old paper ones did, it now says "full carry". I'm going to call the local pistol permit office and see if that means OC is now legal in NY.

Anyway, my experience with applying for a pistol permit is as I've described, my sons have had the same experience. The list of when and where CC is illegal in my county includes bars, when consuming alcohol anywhere, in or near schools, if there's an order of protection against you; a muzzle-loading pistol doesn't need to be on your license unless you have the powder, ball and caps (unless its flint-ignited) with you, then it needs to be listed on a pistol permit. New purchases must be on your permit before you take possession, which means after you buy the handgun, you leave the gun shop, go to the county seat with the paperwork, get it registered on your permit, then go back to the gun shop and take possession.

Maybe all of that doesn't seem "restrictive" to you, but it does to me, maybe because I follow all the rules very carefully which encumbers me more than others who don't or aren't required to.
 
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NYS travelng through with shotguns

Traveling from Ohio to Maine with 15 old collectible shotguns, if I travel non-stop through NYS, am I allowed to drive through?
 
I called the NY State police and asked them about transporting shotguns through NY; I was told it's okay, it's not illegal. I wasn't told it had to be a non-stop trip, I think that applies only to handguns locked in a different location than the ammo which is also locked, and no stops.

If you have any other questions, call 1 585 344 6200, that's the NYSP information line.
 
Uncle Billy, I believe Peetsakilla's original post basically said NYS was better than some other state's (and DC), not that it was without restriction.

In Dutchess county getting a permit is fairly straightforward though it does take a few months. I've never heard of anyone going to someones house. They do send a questionnaire to your references which must be returned. One nice thing in Dutchess County is no renewal.

As far as a waiting period while there is none per se, you can't take possession of a handgun until it's on your permit which here usually takes two weeks.

One thing you are forgetting Peetzakilla is the assault weapons bans and bans on mags over 10 rounds.

On the bright side I've read that Cumo is suggesting CoBIS be scrapped and from all I've heard micro stamping is DOA (but don't let your guard down).
 
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