I know generalizations are bad, and there is probably a cop or two out there who may be knowledgeable about Gun Laws, specially their state, butI have seen and read about too many cases where they simply think gun laws are what they think or wish they want them to be (And Gun people are not exempt from this blindness).
In this video from November 18, 2020, we see the arrest of a female who had a gun on her carry on at Orlando International Airport. When asked, she claimed she had a New Hampshire license to carry (Florida has reciprocity) but apparently she did not have one or was expired. However, it is what the officer said staring at 10:21 that is the illuminating point:
“I don’t know of any state that would allow you to carry a weapon concealed without a permit.”
I am not sure, but I believe by November last year, there were 17 states in the Union with active Constitutional Carry as law of the land.
Now, this is not cop bashing but pointing out a reality: Cops are pretty much uneducated in the way of legal firearms as they are trained and expect to deal with criminals packing guns illegally. When it comes to a Law Abiding citizen making a mistake or doing something dumb but without Mens Rea, they tend to default to the only thing they now which is treat them like regular criminals.
The young lady was arrested and charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon (third degree felony) but the DA dropped the felony charge and instead got her a misdemeanor for “carrying a firearm in a place prohibited by law” (Sterile area of the airport would be my guess) and her case was held in abeyance (Yes, I had to look it up, it means temporarily suspended) and referred to Pre-Trial Diversion. She got off cheap.
And now, allow me to take the opportunity to address fellow gunners and reminder to please check and double check the sources of your information and make sure you are getting them from the actual law or somebody who actually does gun cases rather than what you heard or read in the Nets in some forum or other source. How many times we have talked about the Media deliberately misleading people on what a pro-gun and/or pro-self defense law means and how it works? Florida’s Stand Your Ground rings a bell?
And never assume a law means only the way you think it should mean (in your favor) but rather what actually means.
NH has constitutional carry. So do Maine and Vermont. New York and MA, Canada do not and do not have reproposity with NH. Therefore a citizen can travel freely while armed in those three states.
They can also carry in those states that also have constitutional carry.
If you pay your $10 every 5 years you can get a NH CCW. This gives you reproposity with a number of other states.
It would not surprise me to learn that the lady in question knew she could carry in NH. Knew that NH and FL honored each other’s permits and assumed…
Don’t assume. Invest in an hour of lawyer time.
The same magic box that lets us read Gun Free Zone will let us read the law directly from whatever state we are interested in. Let your fingers do the walking.
After a somewhat expensive and very embarrassing settlement two towns over regarding a person stopped with a gun it was suggested we hire a lawyer associated with the states gun rights group to give our officers a pocket primer on guns laws. Specifically laws and situations that would likely happen or could happen during interaction with the public.
Welp gosh golly gee yaknow I just don’t think we have the budget for it. Now where is my voyager card I gotta take the hummer to Panama City for the police chiefs luau I mean conference.
When some of us got together and asked the lawyer if he would be alright with us paying him out of our own pocket and buying him lunch he offered to donate his time for free. Hot dog!
Weeellll now the problem was we didn’t have any time in the training schedule and the bean counter (small town, single bean) didn’t want to take on the risk of having some outsider coming in giving us the wrong ideas.
My state is a Constitutional Carry state, but we do also have concealed carry permits.
As part of the training, you must have a lesson/briefing from either a Police Officer or an attorney explaining the regulations.
Have taken this course several times, and I will opt for the attorney EVERY time from now on. The briefing on regulations from the officer was not a patch on the one from the attorney. The difference was the cop focused on what they would do if you were carrying somewhere you were not allowed to, or if you were drunk while carrying, and what to do at a traffic stop.
The attorney covered that, but also covered what the law was, when it is excusable to use deadly force, and when it is not. Which mean a stroll through the criminal law section of the State code, not just a mosey through the carry regs.