Concealed carry on Indian reservations

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Bob Thompson

New member
Here in Utah I always carry while traveling by automobile and frequently find myself on Indian reservations. I would think I would be fine while on state or county roads but what about reservation lands or if I chose to hike around a bit.I have posted this before but with only speculative results. Does anybody have first hand experience with tribal laws concerning this? I also realize that each tribe can set their own regulations. Lets hear from those of you who have experienced this. Thanks much, Bob
 
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In general, tribal LE, has reciprocity arrangements with state LE, which includes some state laws.
On the whole, be very discrete, because the quality of tribal LE can be all over the map. And so, often there is no predictable response when dealing with some tribal police. So doing anything which could bring notice of someone whose sole qualification is being the nephew of a tribal exec board member, could be troublesome. And in those rez's, where this has gotten out of hand, any dealings with the tribal cops could be trouble. And gods help the NA's in places like that....
That said, the better tribal cops have enough to do, staving off the chaos on the rez's, that you would be of nominal concern. If nothing is done to draw attention.
Also, due to the high property crime rate on some rez's, keeping any firearm in such a manner, so that no-one knows you have it, is very wise.
In general for outsiders, the rez's are friendly enough...sort of....the real need to protect oneself, lies with the locals, lots of weird dynamics on the rez.
Utah rez's, can't say with specifity, as I'm up in the North. And about rezzed out.
 
In Oregon, tribal law trumps a CHL: you must have written permission of the tribal judge. This also applies to certain casinos that are on Indian lands. I would assume that each reservation, being sovereign, sets its own policies and procedures and would check each out, perhaps anonymously, in advance. FOPA (Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986), on the other hand, applies.
 
On our reservation, as long as you have a CCW license, issued by the State of Washington, you are good to go.

But then, our reservation is almost completely urban, taking huge chunks out of Tacoma, all of a smaller city, chunks out of two more, and encompassing a lot of land from Puget Sound to the Puyallup city limits.

If you are pulled over by a Puyallup Tribal officer, feel confident in our training level and curriculum.

All LEO's are required to attend the 5 month BIA (FLETC) Academy in Artesia NM. Following that, we do the State equivalency, and are thus Federally and State certified.

All Reserve Officers are required to attend a 330 hour academy, and then test for State certification.

We are cross-commissioned with Pierce County, the City of Tacoma, and can also do Customs work, since our clam beds and salmon fishing grounds are out on Puget Sound. We enforce the Puyallup Tribal Criminal Code, the Revised Code of Washington, Pierce County Statutes and the Uniform Criminal Docket of Tacoma.

So, come on over to Western Washington. We'll meet up, and talk about guns, reloading, bullet casting and what have you over some salmon.

Yours,

E. C. Tovar Jr.
Patrol Officer (Senior Reserve Officer)
Puyallup Tribal Police
 
Powderman,

Thanks! That was a very helpful post. I moved to the Seattle area only recently and had no idea how tribal law enforcement interacts with the surrounding jurisdictions.
 
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