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Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 10:20 pm
by rssecurity
Later this summer, I'll be on the road, and passing through several other states. I'd appreciate it if anyone is familiar with the states below and can share with me some quick pointers.
I've checked and all them seem to honor my TX LTC (and I'm over 21). I know I'll have to obey the state's laws that I'm in, and I'm trying to figure them all out. From what I've found so far, most of the restrictions won't affect me. For several, I'm just driving through. Might stop at gas stations and restaurants, maybe a grocery store (cheaper than gas stations general for many items, and the bathrooms are usually cleaner), and in a few, a hotel. So for most of them, the more common restrictions, such no carry in police stations, schools, courts, churches, bars (I don't drink), demonstrations, etc. won't apply. Hopefully hospitals won't be something I have to worry about.
What I am worried about is signs. The info I've found is confusing as to what form and are they legally binding. Texas, at least, is quite specific about them.
Here are the states:
Alabama (probable hotel stay)
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina (maybe hotel stay)
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia (see more details below)
Finally, in Virginia, I hope to have to time visit a few sites while I'm there, Lurray Caverns, Colonial Williamsburg, and maybe Ginter Gardens, as well as stay in hotels.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 10:23 pm
by The Annoyed Man
http://www.handgunlaw.us
Everything you need to know is there. Do your homework.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 10:57 pm
by rssecurity
Been there. Some of the confusion comes from that site (which is the best in general I've found so far). Take Louisiana for example:
Do “No Gun Signs” Have the Force of Law?
“YES”
What do those signs look like? Can they be gun buster signs or do they have to say "No Guns" or something else? Do they have any particular format and size (as Texas signs do)?
Alabama:
Do “No Gun Signs” Have the Force of Law? Unsure at This Time!
Same questions as above, but the "Unsure" really blurs things. I supposed I can CC (which I would do anyway) and hope that the [legally] correct answer is no and it doesn't become an issue, but hope is poor battle plan.
Ditto for most of the other states. Hence my asking here. Reading is one thing. Being there is another.
(Mini Rant: Why is "shall not be infringed" so complicated?!?!?!)
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 11:31 pm
by twomillenium
When traveling to Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas or Missouri, (I do this yearly) I treat all "no gun", gun buster as having force of law. Not really that many just pay attention at fast food places and gas stations. Mississippi have a specific sign for licensed carry and it includes all types of carry. Research it and print it. I have never had any problems, but I do carry concealed and try to remember to behave like the old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans".
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 3:59 am
by cbunt1
As TAM mentioned, handgunlaw is your friend. I've found it to be the best reference out there, and they present the information in a consistent format. I like to keep the PDF files on my phone to have as I prepare to pass through various states.
For the most part (in layman's terms) the states you've mentioned are pretty much like Texas. Main things you need to be aware of is duty to notify and unique off-limits places.
Virginia used to have some strange/ambiguous laws around carrying in restaurants that serve alcohol, Tennessee has a zero-tolerance carry-under-the-influence (in exchange for no statewide prohibition on carry in bars), and North Carolina lists banks as off-limits (off the top of my head) -- but I haven't checked into any of them besides Tennessee in a few years.
Without going into a long-winded soapbox session, what Handgunlaw is referring to as "force of law" for no guns signs is more-or-less a 'special statute' that puts carrying past a sign into criminal trespass rather than simple trespass. When they say it has no force of law, I *think* they're referring to the act of carrying a gun past a no-guns sign as having the same weight as carrying a cup of coffee past a "no food or drinks" sign...so no special aggravating charge. But I am not a lawyer.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 6:15 am
by tk1700
I travel out of TX often and use the previously mentioned Handgunlawus site. I also have a CCW app on my phone that pretty much mirrors the Handgunlawus info. I have had it about 4 years now. The app updates regularly and has links to each states laws and info. It is very user friendly and also has a companion app for prohibited places, similar to our 3006.com. You can search a city and see what businesses are posted with good accuracy. It is 1.99 and the only app I have ever paid for. Well worth it in my opinion. Here is the link for Android, not sure if iPhone has it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ryan.ccw
Good luck and safe travels!
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 10:12 pm
by rssecurity
When traveling to Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas or Missouri, (I do this yearly) I treat all "no gun", gun buster as having force of law. Not really that many just pay attention at fast food places and gas stations. Mississippi have a specific sign for licensed carry and it includes all types of carry. Research it and print it.
Thank you. This is the kind of info I'm looking for.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:22 am
by kw5kw
I have been there and left with more questions than before going.
I have also been to opencarry.org and several other sites, still not as many answers as questions.
I think Texas has the right idea in 30.06/7 but in other states a simple "gunbusters" does the same thing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:01 am
by OneGun
kw5kw wrote:
I have been there and left with more questions than before going.
I have also been to opencarry.org and several other sites, still not as many answers as questions.
I think Texas has the right idea in 30.06/7 but in other states a simple "gunbusters" does the same thing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
If your only question regards the enforceability of gun-buster sign, the answer is it depends on the state. For example in Illinois, the symbol of the semi-auto inside of red circle with a red slash is all that is needed. The identifier for the state law may be listed or not.
The real question for me is that if you are concealed carrying outside of Texas, why would you risk arrest and/or fines in another state over the enforceability of a sign on a technicality of is the sign in absolute compliance? Just don't patronize that business. No guns, no money!
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:03 pm
by kw5kw
OneGun wrote:kw5kw wrote:
I have been there and left with more questions than before going.
I have also been to opencarry.org and several other sites, still not as many answers as questions.
I think Texas has the right idea in 30.06/7 but in other states a simple "gunbusters" does the same thing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
If your only question regards the enforceability of gun-buster sign, the answer is it depends on the state. For example in Illinois, the symbol of the semi-auto inside of red circle with a red slash is all that is needed. The identifier for the state law may be listed or not.
True we
HAVE to obey any gunbuster sign (out of state) but being able to walk past such sign in TX that sign might slip by [me] habitually since we can simply disregard such sign and still patronize that business. If we're bound by that gunbuster sign I NEED TO KNOW!
Thing is, does any state have the same type of sign law like Texas does. If they do, who are they and what is it(the law/sign)?
OneGun wrote:
The real question for me is that if you are concealed carrying outside of Texas, why would you risk arrest and/or fines in another state over the enforceability of a sign on a technicality of is the sign in absolute compliance?
That, to me, is the same as saying: "Don't go there, stay in TX."
OneGun wrote:Just don't patronize that business. No guns, no money!
I might want to go there, whatever there is. Not having been to some places such as confederate battlegrounds, Revolutionary War sites, Little Big Horn, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and a multitude of places that I've never heard of yet. If they are no guns and I'm of a no guns, no money attitude then I'll never see/experience places. I want to go to NASA, see military museums, historical places. See the biggest ball of( ______(blank)), Yankee Stadium, etc.
Some places that I have been I'd like to revisit, Rock City, Ruby Falls, Cave of the Winds, Red Rocks, Hoover Dam, Alcatraz, the Queen Mary,
I don't like disarming, I have to all the time, even here in TX. In places such as doctor's offices/clinics/ (very often with cancer, heart issues, and back/spine/hip surgeries in the family) disarming is a daily (or even multiple times/day) experience. Getting old is not fun. So, disarming at such visitor's places will not be the issue for me, just knowing what the rules are specifically are is important so I don't take the ride!
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 3:23 pm
by Keith B
kw5kw wrote::
Thing is, does any state have the same type of sign law like Texas does. If they do, who are they and what is it(the law/sign)?
Missouri has a sign requirement that is must be 11x14 with 1" letters and say specifically address no concealed carry in the wording.
Bottom line, every state has different rules. In Missouri hospitals and churches are statutorily off-limits for concealed carry without permission of the administrator or pastor. In Arkansas, you must inform a private homeowner before carrying into their residence. Movie theaters used to be off limits in North Carolina as the law prohibited a permittee to carry a concealed handgun in any assembly where admission was charged. Etc, etc
Just read the laws, and if you want to travel, make sure you know them. If you don't want to take the time to learn the restrictions, then you probably shouldn't be carrying.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:47 pm
by kw5kw
Keith B wrote:... f you want to travel, make sure you know them. If you don't want to take the time to learn the restrictions, then you probably shouldn't be carrying.
Oh, I do agree, but I was attempting to help out the OP in this thread.
Now that my daughter has moved back to Texas from Komiefornia, I really have no reason, right now, to leave Texas, although I'd really like to go to Ruidoso or Durango next summer.
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:26 pm
by Pawpaw
Many (most?) of the states that do address signs in their laws do NOT give those signs the force of law.
If you carry past a sign in one of those states and get caught it's just, "My bad. I'll leave now."
Re: Traveling to/thru other states
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:40 pm
by Oldgringo
We've traveled in all of the states you mention and have even lived in some. Don't ask, don't tell, don't show and follow TAM's advice above. In fact, we expect to be RV'ing in most all of them again come April.
FWIW, we find the Civil War places much more interesting than the touristy places in these states. YMMV?