TexasCHLforum.com

In addition to a Texas CHL, I presently have non-resident licenses for Utah, Connecticut, and Arizona. This makes me legal in 41 states or 82% of the United States. The Utah license gets me access to Washington and Minnesota, the Connecticut license only adds that state, and the Arizona license gets me into Nevada – although I believe Nevada now recognizes a Texas CHL if over 21 years of age so the AZ license may be unnecessary. I once also has non-resident licenses for Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Florida. I let the PA, MN, NH and FL licenses expire because as reciprocity agreements progressed and laws changed they became redundant to others that I already had.

Once upon a time a long time ago, I needed to travel to another state that did not recognized my Texas CHL, so I started looking at non-resident licenses that would be honored there. After some research and obtaining the one I needed, it became kind of a game or challenge to see just how many states I could become legal in with other non-resident licenses. Some states were similar in cost and training as Texas and others were almost unbelievable easy to get and very cost effective. As an example, Pennsylvania, If I remember right, only required me to send a picture, a copy of my Texas license, and pay $25 for three years. Many states do offer non-resident licenses. As far as honoring a license, the states vary; some will recognize another states license even if it is a non-resident license and some will only recognize a resident license.
There are still a few states where I could get a non-resident license but it would only get me into that particular state and/or it is outrageously expensive and for a short period of time, or requires you to apply in person, own property in the state, etc. – in other words, not worth it. As an example Massachusetts is $100 for 1 year, New Hampshire only useful in NH, Rhode Island you must apply in person, and Illinois is $300 and the places you can carry are insanely restrictive.

I have noticed over the years that many states have gone from having a list of states they recognize to simply stating they honor all other states licenses. Then there are the states that will probably never honor any other license unless required to do so by a federal laws that forces them to do so – such as California, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii and DC. Then again, I never thought Illinois would get concealed carry, so you never know. Those in favor of such a federal law should keep in mind that any federal law do so could also be jerked away by an anti-gun legislature (dummyocrats).

Even if you have no intention of visiting a state that would require you to have a license for somewhere other than Texas, I think it is probably a good idea to have one, and I would recommend either a Utah or Florida non-resident license. In the event that your Texas license was suspended or temporarily invalid, the out of state non-resident license should still be valid – up to the point it might also be suspended or revoked because you really did screw up. If asked why you don’t have a Texas license, my reply would be that the Utah license is legal in states where a Texas CHL is not recognized, so why pay for both. The key to all of this of course is to behave yourself and don’t put yourself in situations where a police office would even need to ask you for an ID. That being said, tread lightly and know that few police offices know exactly which other state licenses their home state honors – just ask around if you don’t believe me.

Lastly, there are still a few states that allow open carry or don’t require a lice to carry concealed. Be aware that in most of these open carry states, such my still be prohibited in city limits because the state does not have a preemption clause prevent city or counties from pass laws more restrictive than state laws. I believe Oregon and Maryland still have limited open carry.

It’s been said before, but always keep in mind that lethal force laws and prohibited places in other states can be very different than here and it is your responsibility to know the state laws concerning this when visiting. That being said, the primary descriptive word in concealed carry is “concealed”. By the way I am not a big advocate of open carry except under certain circumstances.

I believe the below is still correct, but it is probably time to go back, research and reaffirm

FREE STATES (7) (AK, AZ, ME, MS, VT, WY, WV, & PR) (no permit required for concealed carry) (PR = Puerto Rico)
TEXAS (30) (AL, AR, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MO, MT, NE, NC, ND, NV, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI)
UTAH (2) (WA, MN)
ARIZONA (1) (NV)
CONNECTICUT (1) (CT) Adds Connecticut only
GOLDEN OPEN CARRY (0) (none not already covered by CHLs)
LIMITED OPEN CARRY (2) OR, MD (not covered by CHLs)