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Firearm Safety Rules

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Click on the State That Issued Your Concealed Firearm/Weapon Permit/License

Federal law expressly provides that persons may carry a firearm in their vehicles while traveling through another state provided that the possession of the weapon is legal in both the states of origin and destination and the weapon is unloaded and carried in the trunk of the vehicle or a locked container other than the glove box. See 18 U.S.C.926a
 

Terms & Definitions

• Deadly or Lethal Force - Any use of force that is likely to cause death or significant bodily harm.
   

• Castle Doctrine - The term originates from English common law that dictates a person's home is their castle, their place of refuge and expectancy of personal safety.  It implies that the home occupants maintains the right to exclude anyone from the home (with exclusions of authority with warrants) and to use whatever force necessary to protect themselves and those in their home.
  
  In the United States, the castle doctrine has been adopted by several states, as immunity for gun owners who have been subject to or who will be subject to justifiable homicide, while protecting themselves from an attacker.  Each state has enacted their own version of the Castle Doctrine, regarding concealed carry and firearm possession in their home.  It is the homeowner's best interest to understand this and the regulations governing the such, in their respective state.  The following are "general" guidelines and are not all inclusive or exclusive:

  You must believe an unwelcome intruder intends to inflict death or serious harm on you or your family. You must believe an unwelcome intruder intends to commit a felony in your home. Your intent must be to protect yourself or anyone else in your residence. You need to announce your presence and intention to retaliate before using deadly force.

• Stand Your Ground - A popular annotation that compliments the Castle Doctrine, is the "Stand Your Ground" clause.  This primarily extends the Castle Doctrine, to your personal space when outside your home when defending yourself.  When you "perceive" an attack, this gives you the right to protect yourself without an obligation to escape before using deadly force.  The following guidelines are what is generally included in this "Stand Your Ground" law:

  A law-abiding resident or visitor of a home can legally presume a threat of bodily harm or death from an intruder in a residence or vehicle and may choose to use defensive force, including deadly force, for self-protection. In another location where a person has a right to be, they are not required to retreat if they are attacked and may use deadly force if they believe that it will prevent death or bodily harm to themselves or another person. A person using deadly force under the law is immune from prosecution and can’t be arrested, unless there is proof that the use of deadly force was unlawful. If charges are pressed, and the court finds the person to be immune based on the stand-your-ground law, they will be awarded the court costs of defense.

• Duty to Retreat - Indicates that deadly force should only be used as a last resort in the event of an attack. Within reason, the person should try to escape an attacker before retaliating for protection.

  Duty to retreat may be cited in court in the case of self-defense if a person’s conduct in an attack was proven to be unjustified or provoked by the person claiming to defend them self. In order for charges not to be pressed against a person who used deadly force against an attacker in their home, the defense must prove that they acted reasonably. In most cases, a person must have first tried to avoid conflict and attempted to retreat before eventually using deadly force against an attacker.
   

• Background Check - The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act), Public Law 103-159, requires Federal Firearms Licensees to request background checks on prospective firearm transferees. The background checks are conducted through the following:

  State Crime Information System National Crime Information Center (NCIC) National Instant Background Check System (NICS) Interstate Identification Index (III) Automatic Fingerprint Information System (AFIS) Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

• Jurisdiction Classification - Describes the state requirements concerning concealed carry of firearms.
  

  Unrestricted: A permit is not required to carry a concealed handgun. This is sometimes called Constitutional carry. Within the unrestricted category, there exists states that are fully unrestricted, where no permit is required for lawful open or concealed carry, and partially unrestricted, where certain forms of concealed carry may be legal without a permit, while other forms of carry may require a permit.  The following states are Unrestricted:   Alaska Arizona Kansas Maine Mississippi Vermont West Virginia Shall Issue: Requires a license or permit to carry a concealed handgun, but where the granting of such licenses is subject only to meeting determinate criteria laid out in the law; the granting authority has no discretion in the awarding of the licenses, and there is no requirement of the applicant to demonstrate "good cause". The laws in a Shall-Issue jurisdiction typically state that a granting authority shall issue a license if the criteria are met, as opposed to laws in which the authority may issue a license at their discretion, the following states are Shall Issue:  legal without a permit, while other forms of carry may require a permit.  The following states are Unrestricted:   Arkansas* Colorado* Florida Georgia* Idaho Indiana Iowa Kentucky* Louisiana* Michigan* Minnesota Mississippi* Missouri* Montana* Nebraska* New Hampshire New Mexico* North Carolina* North Dakota Nevada Ohio* Oklahoma* Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota* Tennessee* Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wisconsin* Wyoming*     *Issues permit/license only to state residents May Issue: Requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and where the granting of such permits is partially at the discretion of local authorities (frequently the sheriff's department or police), with a few states consolidating this discretionary power under state-level law enforcement. Moreover, issuing authorities in most may-issue jurisdictions are not required to provide a substantive reason for the denial of a concealed carry permit. Some may-issue jurisdictions may provide administrative and legal avenues for an applicant to appeal a permit denial, while others do not.  The following states are May Issue: Alabama* California* Connecticut Delaware* Hawaii* Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New York* Washington, D.C.*       *Issues permit/license only to state residents