States to avoid when traveling

[HHQ]

Hoping to do some RV traveling in the lower 48. Alaska resident. Have relatives in several states, Mt., Ar., Illinois, east coast.
With everything we see in the news, wouldn't even consider traveling the roads without a firearm.
Will definitely be avoiding CA. What other states would be wise to avoid or drive thru quickly. I do have an Ak. CCW.

[ligonierbill]

Check with your AG to find out which states do or do not have reciprocity with AK. The cross country roadblock is Illinois, but it's legal to transit with your firearm unloaded (may mean no mags loaded) and locked in the trunk. Avoid anything north or east of Pennsylvania. To the south, Maryland.

You are flying and renting an RV in the lower 48, right?

And turn off the news! We're mostly friendly down here.

[44 AMP]

My Father in Law did a lot of travel with his truck camper. He wasn't much of a gun guy, though he did have a shotgun and a .22 rifle. He didn't have a handgun, didn't want a handgun, carry (open or otherwise) wasn't his thing, but he did understand the value of having a gun available.

For Christmas one year, I gave him a Marlin 1894 carbine in .357 Magnum. He loved it. It was considerably shorter than his shotgun, powerful enough for serious matters, and avoided all the legal hassles with handguns in different states. He even went to Alaska and back with it in the camper.

This was nearly 40 years ago, and, as they say, the past is another country, they do things differently there...

However, something like a lever action carbine will still get you around all the handgun restrictions, and also won't be affected by states with semi auto limitations while providing you with an effective means of "home defense".

[RobRawl74]

You are ABSOLUTELY right times have changed and NOT for the better. I moved in with my parents to care for my dad about 3 years ago and the first thing I did was make sure their fire arms were in good working order as my parents were recluse so kind of blind to what’s going on in the world. We started target shooting to get them back to where they needed to be.

Dad passed about 4 months ago and mom sold a few of his rifles one being a Marlin .22 I wish she would have kept but now she has her Ruger .22 and I have my Makarov 9mm which I love. Wanting to get her something she can carry in her purse and I also don’t know much about the state laws when traveling so I subscribed to this topic to see different responses n what not. New to Tapatalk and appreciate this forum.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ballardw]

How are you planning on getting your RV from Alaska to the lower 48 without going through Canada? The laws in Canada may be your biggest problem.

[rc]

If you keep your guns and ammo separate, don't take anything California considers an assault weapon, don't try to buy ammo and don't cause any trouble, you should be OK traveling through California to visit. I just would make sure your guns are very securely stored if you leave your vehicle because the chance of robbery is high in tourist areas. I'm not sure about the rules of having a gun in a hotel room or camp site because we keep being further restricted. Don't expect constitutional or even open carry here. Those rights have been stripped away.

[HHQ]

So far the plan is to RENT a truck and camper in the lower 48. Don't particularly need one here and don't want to deal with storing something we are only using a month or 2.
Thanks for the info so far. Will be trying really hard to not even TOUCH a CA. border!

[LeverGunFan]

There are several resources that can aid you in planning your travels. One is the Handgunlaw.us website, it has many detailed pages on each state and is updated regularly. Requires internet access to view. One of the site owners, Gary Slider, posts here on the TFL.

Another is the booklet "Traveler’s Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States" which can be found at this link. It gives a one page summary of each state and has the advantage of not requiring internet access. New 2024 edition is now available for order.

Between these two resources you can plan a trip with a reasonable sense of confidence, providing you check for any changes as you go.

[jmr40]

I've traveled in most of the lower 48. New York and New Jersey are both impossible with a handgun. Technically as long as you drive straight through and don't stop in either state you can't be prosecuted. But I still wouldn't want to have to fight that in court with an overly aggressive cop who found a gun in my vehicle during a stop.

We visited NH, VT, and Maine last summer. It was impossible for us to get through NY without stopping and we wanted to see a few things there. In addition to Niagara Falls there are a few other places worth seeing. That is the only trip we've done where I left my gun at home.

Technically a shotgun and some rifles would have been legal, but I decided it just wasn't worth the risk. We weren't near any big city high crime areas anyway.

When we drive through Illinois I always stop before the state line to buy gas. And disassemble any guns, unload magazines and store them separately and inaccessible just to be sure. I may be overthinking it, but better safe than sorry.

Check mag limits. Depending on where you're going you may want to avoid anything holding more than 10 rounds. Colorado limits you to 15, so I don't bring 17 round Glock magazines there.

If you're in a National Park firearm carry is legal as long as it is otherwise legal in that state AND if the state you're in recognizes your carry permit. But you cannot carry INSIDE any government building. Outside is OK or in private buildings.

You won't be able to get a handgun into Canada. A rifle or shotgun is possible, but you'll have to jump through some hoops. Check with Canadian officials.

[Aguila Blanca]

I second the suggestion to check out www.handgunlaw.us.

If you are traveling with firearms, my suggestion is to forget about New England. The first problem is that you can't get to any New England state without passing through New York (and possibly New Jersey). While in theory the FOPA (Firearms Owners Protective Act) should protect you while traveling through those states, New York State in particular is generally hostile toward it. Also keep in mind that, to a sane person, stopping for a night at a motel immediately adjacent to an Interstate highway would be considered to be in the normal course of travel, to a state that hates the idea of citizens having guns it's likely they will view each overnight stop as being the end of one journey and the start of another one-day journey. This means you must be legally allowed to at least possess firearms in the states where you stop for the night. You probably won't be able to do that in New York, Massachusetts, or New Jersey.

Also remember that the FOPA requires that the firearm(s) be UNloaded and either in a separate compartment not accessible to the occupants of the vehicle, or in a locked container. Which means they won't be of much help to you is you need them.

New Jersey has its own wrinkle. While they nominally pay lip service to the FOPA in the State Police web site, there's a gotcha: The FOPA says the firearm OR the ammunition must be locked up. The NJ State Police web site reproduces the FOPA language almost exactly -- except that NJ says the firearm AND the ammunition must be locked up.

I'm not as conversant with Maryland, but they are also notoriously anti-gun so do your homework if you plan to go to or through there. And stay out od Washington, DC.

[Hellcat1]

For the past 60+ years, I've been living in New England. Whenever I travel with guns, however, the two states I try to avoid both stopping in and driving through, at all costs, are NY and NJ. They notoriously DGAF about FOPA.

It might not be a bad idea to limit the magazines you take to just 10 rounders, because there are enough states now, that have that as their limit. Unless, of course, you know that the states you'll be driving through and stopping at, are all ok with standard capacity magazines, but as others have said, that eliminates most of the northeast.

One other word of caution, if you MUST drive through NJ, leave your hollow points at home. They're a big no-no there.

That said, enjoy your trip! It sounds like fun! I love Alaska, BTW...I've been a few times.


Frank

[Hellcat1]

One other suggestion I would have is to get the "CCW-Concealed Carry 50 State" app on your phone. It will give you a nice summary of the laws of all 50 states.


Frank

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by jmr40

If you're in a National Park firearm carry is legal as long as it is otherwise legal in that state AND if the state you're in recognizes your carry permit. But you cannot carry INSIDE any government building. Outside is OK or in private buildings.

Good point. Thanks for the reminder.

And, since Acadia National Park is (:duh a national park and is in Maine, it's worth noting that it is a potential "gotcha." Maine is now mostly a permitless carry state. HOWEVER -- to carry in any Maine state park you must have a carry permit issued by the state of Maine. Not a reciprocally-recognized permit -- it has to be a Maine permit. Because this law applies to Maine state parks, it also applies to Acadia National Park.

Which is why I have a Maine non-resident permit.

Originally Posted by Hellcat1

One other word of caution, if you MUST drive through NJ, leave your hollow points at home. They're a big no-no there.

Another good point that is often overlooked. Thank you.

[labnoti]

Why avoid California? It's easily one of the most beautiful states, has a tremendous coast on the best ocean, the incredible Sierra Nevada mountains and much more.

You wrote you wouldn't consider traveling without a firearm. If you're concerned about crime, there's no reason to be fearful of California. Lots of little old ladies get along there just fine. Having firearms in California isn't an impossible ordeal either. Don't try to bring a so-called assault-weapon styled gun. Don't carry any firearms concealed. Don't transport firearms loaded. Transport them in a "secure" container other than the glovebox or center console. A locked bag, box, or case suffices. Once you are "camped," you can have a loaded firearm in your camper or on your person.

This isn't intended as legal advice and I don't think you would expect to receive that from a stranger on the internet, but if you look up the laws yourself you will find that you can use firearms in California to protect yourself and your family from threats of deadly force.

Is California a free state? No. It's laws are onerous, but they're not worse than Hawaii. I simply would not allow myself to be so cowed by criminals that I would not visit California or Hawaii just because I couldn't carry a loaded gun everywhere I went.

I didn't get the sense that you were intimidated by the law in California or any other state. You're probably aware that if you're a lawful person, there's no reason to be scared of lawmen.

Personally, I would be sure to visit San Francisco. It's an absolutely wonderful city, easily one of the best in the world. It's very sad that it's been ruined as much as it has been by the prevailing politic and immorality and corrupt culture that permeates it nowadays, but none of that is a reason not to enjoy all the good it has to offer or to avoid the opportunity to marvel in its history. I love to visit it every year and other than Manhattan and London, it's really the only urban area that I can enjoy being in at all (though I haven't traveled much outside North America and Europe). I can't recommend driving the RV or truck into the city, though it's not impossible. One of the best times I had there, I rode in from across the Golden Gate bridge on a bicycle tour. San Francisco is one of the most walkable cities because it's geographically constrained to short distances, but a bicycle is an ideal way to get around it. Otherwise, it has good public transit like the street cars and of course the cable cars. You can meet a lot of neat people too. It's true a lot of them are in sad condition, but that doesn't make me feel contempt for them, but pity. Mostly, you meet other tourists. If you do take a vehicle, consider parking the RV for a couple days and renting a car. It will make parking easier, but not cheap. Riding BART into the city would free you from the vehicle.

I already mentioned all the coast that would be missed without visiting California. I'd especially highlight Point Reyes National Seashore and the Point Lobos (Monterey and Carmel) area and Big Sur. These are great places to RV.

Yosemite National Park is a treasure that you'd miss if you skipped California. It's also a good place to take an RV or camper.

Lake Tahoe is the best large lake in America. You can visit the Nevada side without missing out on the lake itself. The California side has Emerald Bay which is worth visiting. It's all a tourist area. There are pristine wilderness lakes in the high Sierra Nevada, but Tahoe is a major resort area. It's not the place to go if you hate Americans, but it's a great place to take an RV.

I don't live in California, but I know how much I'd be missing if I didn't ever visit or bring my kids there. If there is anything wrong with California or what's happening there, knowing what's being lost makes it all the sadder. I'm not going to abandon a great state of the union just because of how some people there think or vote or allow lawlessness to abound. Seems to me Americans should stand their ground.

[rc]

S.F. was a beautiful city to visit and still has "culture" if you want to go to museums or live shows but it's now a crime infested poop hole where you can't park for free and everywhere you turn you'll see homeless people/drug addicts. I would skip the "Bay Area" of California if you don't like snobs, crowds, crime and traffic all together. If you do go through the S.F. Bay area please don't hit rush hour traffic between maybe 5:30 and 10 a.m. or 3 to 7 p.m.! The Oregon Coast is worth a drive down to around Fort Brag in California then cut through the Napa Wine country then over to I 5. Figure out if you are going to Yosemite or not through Merced which will require you to jump onto 99 around Manteca. There will be snow up in the Sierras so you'll feel right at home. Giant Redwoods might be on your list of things to see. Then I would head back over to the coast and plan to spend a night or two around Monterey, Pacific Grove or Carmel then go down the coast below Salinas to Southern California to hit the 10 and take that to Arizona or Death Valley and Vegas as potential waypoints to visit. 395 down Nevada will be a lot more desolate route with much less beautiful scenery. Prescott is a forested mountain area in the northern part of Arizona where Ruger has a plant that might be a good place to refuel and rest on your way to Sedona Arizona or the Grand Canyon. The Northern and middle U.S. may be treacherous driving until April or May.

[Gary Slider]

Maine is a permitless carry state. Maine does not honor all other states permits but only honors those states permits from states that honor theirs. To carry in Maine State Parks and Acadia National Park you have to have a permit Maine Issues or Honors and you must be a resident of the state you have that Permit Maine honors. If it is a Non-resident permit from a state they honor it is not valid in Maine for carrying in their state parks and Acadia Nat. Park.
From Maine State Police Website at https://www.maine.gov/dps/msp/licens...ed-carry-maine

There will be some circumstances in which an optional handgun permit will authorize the permittee to carry in certain locations or during an activity when an unpermitted person could not:

• Acadia National Park (Maine Permit required; 12 M.R.S. §756) NOTE: Pursuant to 25 M.R.S. 2001-A (2)(F), Maine will recognize a concealed handgun permit issued by another state to its resident if that state recognizes Maine’s resident concealed handgun permits. A resident permit from that state is valid for concealed carry of a handgun within Acadia National Park

As for transporting through states under FOPA https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/926A here is an article from an Attorney that is very familiar with the gun laws of NY. It is a short read but very insightful.
https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/apr...orney-question

[Aguila Blanca]

Thanks for the correction on Acadia National Park, Gary. Reciprocal recognition of other states' resident permits is news to me. Originally it had to be a permit issued by the State of Maine. I don't know if this is a change or a clarification.

[Gary Slider]

I believe it is a clarification. I believe they were getting to many phone calls asking that question. Those phone calls mean a lot. They don't like to get them and if ask enough they will do something to mitigate the phone calls. I remember years back the Georgia AG would not list 2 or 3 states that honored them. At that time GA only honored states that honor them. I called and email them and nothing. Then I made a post on some boards asking people to call the number and ask that question and in 3 days they added them! So it never hurts to call.

[Aguila Blanca]

Your link to the Maine State Police web site provided a link to the actual law. And the law hasn't changed since I obtained a Maine non-resident permit many years ago. The law says nothing about allowing reciprocal permits for carry in Acadia National Park, so even if my home state permit was recognized by Maine (it's not) I would still keep my Maine permit to be safe.

If you get busted in Acadia National Park it won't be by the Maine State Police, it will be by National Park Service rangers. And they go by federal law, not the Maine State Police web site.

That's just me. I'm inherently risk-averse, and I'm too old and too poor to knowingly put myself in a situation where I might become a test case.