Which is the most gun friendly state?

[Kirk Freeman]

Texas with idaho a close second havent personally done alaska so only hearsay on that state

Texas? How so?

After all the grief I went through getting the Indiana-Texas reciprocity agreement approved, there's no way I could say Texas would even be in the top 20.

I think Texas' reputation is based on cartoons or 50s westerns. Heck, every time I teach an NRA class, I hear "well, in Texas you can just walk around with a gun on hip" (and then they always pat their hip).

It's some sort of wierd variant of Kirk's First Law: if there is a gun law I like or should be, then it must exist in Texas. None of them understand Texas politics or Texas's burdensome carry statute.

As a matter of law, I believe it is a tie between Idaho and Alaska.

However, look at it this way, overall, things are much improved over just 10 years ago and getting better and better for us.

 

[Accidental Discharge]

Alaska better be! When your neighbors are wolfs and bears moreso than humans, nobody is telling me i can't carry as much as my heart desires!

 

[Kirk Freeman]

They have wolves and bears in New Jersey too.

 

[melensdad]

Texas? How so?

After all the grief I went through getting the Indiana-Texas reciprocity agreement approved. . .

Can you help us out with Ohio, South Carolina and New Mexico?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I guess I could, but haven't been personally motivated to do so. I know, I know, selfish, but being brutually honest.

I have a Florida license for Ohio when I pass through to Knoxville, but do not train in South Carolina or New Mexico.

(I only worked on Texas as I was going to Thunder Ranch when it was in Mountain Home and wanted to carry legally. Florida solved my problem, but I stuck it out for 4 years on that thing).

I do have a very good friend in New Mexico who is also in my business. I should call him and look into it!

 

[cosermann]

Can you help us out with . . . South Carolina . . .

I think SC might not be a possibility because of this language in their code,

"Valid out of state permits to carry concealable weapons held by a resident of a reciprocal state must be honored by this State. SLED shall make a determination as to those states which have permit issuance standards equal to or greater than the standards contained in this article and shall maintain and publish a list of those states as the states with which South Carolina has reciprocity." [underlining for emphasis] - from section 23-31-215 Issuance of permits.

Another bummer is that SC doesn't recognize the Utah non-resident licence either.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

They have wolves and bears in New Jersey too.

Got to have something eating all the trash that giant landfill has.

 

[6birds]

That is why some states don't offer reciprocity with us.

IN does not have a training program associated with the LTCH program, reciprocity is limited because of this.

 

[edsinger]

Got to have something eating all the trash that giant landfill has.

 

[Astrocreep]

I looked at the scorecard a couple of years ago (2008). Threw it into Excel, did some sorting, totaling, averaging, etc. After all that, the states fell into 3 fairly clear tiers. I color coded them green/yellow/red.

Wow man. That is definitely the most thought and analysis I have ever seen put into anything that Handgun Control, Inc. has released.

Great analysis!
I'm surprised that Indiana isn't higher (lower) on their list.
Most of their garbage is either completely unreadable or just gets me all riled up, so I just skip it.



We should all take a moment and think about how good we've got it here in respect to our firearms laws.
It could be A LOT worse... considering our neighbors.

 

[Bill of Rights]

It may not be considered actually "gun friendly" to a purist, but Indiana is considered the easiest state to obtain a personal protection permit. That is why some states don't offer reciprocity with us.

Easiest? Really? Easier than PA? IIRC, both PA and NH will issue on payment of fees and have the thing back in your hand in a week or two at most, on a paper app. I'm not sure whether prints are required, though I would not bet against it. (Probably do require prints, IOW)

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Bill of Rights]

IN does not have a training program associated with the LTCH program, reciprocity is limited because of this.

To some extent, but as I've posted before, there are 24 states that do not recognize our LTCH. Of those, two recognize no one else's either AND do not issue one themselves.

CA --no outside recognition
CT --no outside recognition
DE --
HI --no outside recognition
IL --no issue, no recognition
IA --no outside recognition
KS --
ME --
MD --no outside recognition
MA --no outside recognition
MN --
NE --
NV --
NJ --no outside recognition
NM --
NY --no outside recognition
OH --
OR --no outside recognition
RI --no outside recognition
SC --
VA --
WA --
WV --
WI --no issue, no recognition

So... half of the states recognize us. 1/4 recognize some, just not us, and the other 1/4 only recognize their own. I'm not of the belief that we should change what we do because of 1/4 of the population and none of it our citizens. Maybe we should work on them changing their laws to be more friendly to things like "freedom", "liberty", and "personal responsibility".

Blessings,
Bill

 

[mk2ja]

Easiest? Really? Easier than PA? IIRC, both PA and NH will issue on payment of fees and have the thing back in your hand in a week or two at most, on a paper app. I'm not sure whether prints are required, though I would not bet against it. (Probably do require prints, IOW)

Blessings,
Bill

You're right, it's pretty easy in PA. I know somebody who has to move to PA next month (new job), and I was helping him figure out the ins and outs of where he can carry with his IN LTCH and how to get the PA CWP.

It is very simple to obtain a Pennsylvania Concealed Carry Permit/License. Just take your Pennsylvania Drivers License or State ID. Names, Addresses and Phone numbers of two references and your check book and go to the Sheriff’s Office in the county you reside. Tell them you wish to apply for a Permit/License to Carry a Concealed Weapon. Fill out the application and pay the fee which will be $20 to $30 dollars and you will have your Permit/License. You many have to wait a few hours to a few weeks to pick it up depending on the Sheriff.

Source: Handgunlaw.us (PDF about PA)

 

[Bill of Rights]

You're right, it's pretty easy in PA. I know somebody who has to move to PA next month (new job), and I was helping him figure out the ins and outs of where he can carry with his IN LTCH and how to get the PA CWP.



Source: Handgunlaw.us (PDF about PA)

Yep. And if you're a non-resident, you can send your app to the Centre County Sheriff to get the permit back. Inexpensive, fast, and easy. I think someone told me that it was the one IL residents get if they need SOMEthing, for example, if they want to carry in IN. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing our LTCH opened up so that others out of state could get it, right up alongside OC without need for permit/license/whatever.

Why should FL and UT have all the fun... and income...?

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Kirk Freeman]

IN does not have a training program associated with the LTCH program, reciprocity is limited because of this.

I am not certain where this meme was developed. I have not found this to be the case at all.

In fact when I did the reciprocity agreement with Texas, the Texans said absolutely nothing about Indiana's lack of training requirement. It was not mentioned . . . at all.

Oddly, the TDPS objection was Indiana's universal recognition of carry licenses. The Texans thought that since we recognized all carry licenses from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe that somehow a carry license from another country would be legal in Texas.

For years, I used everything from the statute, to case law, to sock puppets but they could not get it through their sun-fried brains that universal recognition only applied to Indiana and there could be no boot-strapping (a little Tejas lingo) to Texas.

Thankfully the good people of Texas revised their reciprocity law and I could work with the TAG and not the TDPS. What a relief that was!

 

[DocBoCook]

Easiest? Really? Easier than PA? IIRC, both PA and NH will issue on payment of fees and have the thing back in your hand in a week or two at most, on a paper app. I'm not sure whether prints are required, though I would not bet against it. (Probably do require prints, IOW)

Blessings,
Bill

Virginia is easier for simple carry. If you can buy a gun handgun, You can carry it (Openly). And if you want to conceal. It cost thirteen dollars and was back in 9 working days.

 

[Shadownick]

As a bonus, you can see Russia from there, so I'm told.

^ Bahaha

 

[cosermann]

Wow man. That is definitely the most thought and analysis I have ever seen put into anything that Handgun Control, Inc. has released.

Great analysis! I'm surprised that Indiana isn't higher (lower) on their list.

Thanks, but remember, it's not a definitive scorecard - just based on the factors/political issues HCI was focusing on in '08. There are lots of other aspects of "gun friendlyness" not included as part of that scorecard.

My sense is that overall, Indiana ranks higher than the #20 suggested by that way of looking at it. Anthough there are some things that should be changed, I'm pretty happy here.

 

[csaws]

Vermont