Carrying in Twenty-Eight States
Taking the Twin Cities Carry Course Can Let You Carry in Twenty-Eight States
(Yes, that used to be 27; now it's 28.) Bear with me; this is a little complicated.Right now, a Minnesota carry permit is recognized in only eleven states. (Well, twelve, if you count Minnesota.)
But most people who get carry permits, of course, want to be able to carry when they travel. The Minnesota carry permit allows you to carry in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont—and, of course, Minnesota. (Actually, you don't even need a permit to carry in Vermont or Alaska; we go into that in the class.)
A few instructors have expanded their courses and certification to be able to teach some other states' requirements, Utah being the current local favorite. That way, if you take their courses, you can carry in almost two dozen states.
Getting a Florida permit makes sense, actually. The Florida permit is accepted in more states than any others.
This is one of the few times that my old Boy Scout merit-badge-getting thing has actually done some good. In order to train would-be permit holders for the Minnesota Carry Permit, you have to have at least one of the following credentials:
Most instructors have one; many have two. (And, remember, any one of those will be just fine for getting a Minnesota carry permit.)
Me, I've got all three—as well as AACFI Certifier credentials, NRA certification as a Certified Range Officer, and as an Instructor for Home Firearms Safety, Basic Pistol, and First Steps, as well as Personal Protection.
No brag; just fact: far as I know, and I've made some effort to find out, I'm the only instructor in Minnesota with that full list of credentials.
Neither the AACFI certification nor the BCA validation are accepted in Florida; my NRA "Personal Protection" instructor certification is, as long as I include all the required information in my classes.
Florida non-resident permits are accepted in twenty-three states, so I've added the Florida application and requirements to the Twin Cities Carry Course.
Still, there's some annoyances about the Florida permit. You have to submit an application form, which requires a notarized signature; your training documentation; a check for $117; a fingerprint card; and a passport-sized photo.
It's probably worth it, though, if you travel; the Florida outstate permit is recognized in just over twenty states. And, more on the good side, you don't have to travel to Florida to get your Florida permit; you can do it by mail, although you will have to make a trip to your local PD to get fingerprinted, and to Kinkos to get a passport-sized photo taken.
Still, despite the hassle, I do recommend getting the Florida permit; it's recognized in more states than any other.
I'm not sure why Utah is such a local favorite, though. I've applied for Utah certification, although unless you're going to Virginia (yes, Virginia; that's not a typo), I don't particularly recommend bothering to get a Utah permit; there's a better alternative, which I'll get to in a moment.
There's some sillinesses with the Utah law; in order for an instructor to certify you for a Utah carry permit, they've got to spend quite a bit of time going over the fine points of Utah law. That's, obviously, quite reasonable if you're going to carry in Utah—but your Minnesota carry permit already works there, anyway, and having carefully looked over Utah's carry law, going through all that would mainly be redundant for what we teach in the Twin Cities Carry Course anyway. Beyond that, the Utah out-of-state permit requires you to go get three friends to write you letters of recommendation as a "person of good character." Not a big deal, but more hoops to jump through. And the Utah permit costs $50.
Not all that much hassle, but there's a better alternative.
I've got a better idea, I think.
Florida, first. Because I'm NRA-Certified as a Personal Protection Instructor—in addition to my certification as an AACFI Instructor and Certifier, all my other NRA certifications, and my validation by the BCA as a MN Carry Permit Instructor—my certificates will be accepted for a Florida non-resident permit. I've added the Florida application and a copy of my NRA certificate to my packets; once you've completed the Twin Cities Carry Course, you can apply for your Florida permit. As of mid-February, I've added the instructions on how to do that to the class.
But let's not stop there. In fact, let's not start there. Let's start with New Hampshire.
Onward to New Hampshire
I've added the New Hampshire permit application to the class. Once you get your Minnesota carry permit, you simply fill out a one-page form, and send it, along with $20, to the address on the form, along with a xerox of your Minnesota permit. You'll receive, in the mail, your New Hampshire permit, which is good for four years.Which Permits to Get
I dunno. It's up to you. The combination of Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Florida gives you twenty-six; adding Utah to that only adds on Virginia. On the other hand, if you don't want to go for the Florida permit, Utah does give you most of the states that Florida does.We'll go over this in class, but, as I say, it's complicated.
More Complications
As if all that wasn't tricky enough, consider this: carry law is different from state to state. Just to pick one example, not exactly at random, in Michigan, carrying in bars and such is prohibited—specifically, you're prohibited from carrying in an establishment that makes the majority of its income from the sale of alcohol to be consumed on-premises. Some states bar carrying within 1000 feet of any school; others ban carrying at "parades and demonstrations."Both the NRA and packing.org can provide you with good guidance on state-by-state rules, and part of what I now give carry permit students is a handout that summarizes the rules. Between 27 states, there's a lot of them. (If you've taken my class before I added all the other states, email me for a PDF of the pamphlet.)
The bottom line
It gets a bit complicated, because of overlap. The Florida permit, for example, is valid in twenty-odd states—but many of those are already covered by your Minnesota permit, and others are added on by the New Hampshire permit—which, at $20 for a four-year permit, with no fingerprinting and only a one-page application, is easily the best value in outstate permits.
So let's look at the whole thing.
Your Minnesota permit is good in these states:
Minnesota
Alaska
Arizona
Idaho
Indiana
Kentucky
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
(There are some folks who will tell you that Wyoming accepts the MN
permit. Packing.org, the gold standard for carry permit information,
disagrees; they've recently changed their page on the subject. I've yet to go wrong trusting packing.org on anything.)
New Hampshire give you these states, in addition:
New Hampshire
Alabama
Colorado
Georgia
North Carolina
North Dakota
Wyoming
(North Dakota is, obviously, the big deal here for Minnesotans up
around Moorhead.)
Finally, the Florida permit adds on these states:
Florida
Arkansas
Delaware
Louisiana
Mississippi
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Texas
Putting it all together
If you take my class, and follow my instructions to get all three permits—Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Florida—you'll be able to carry in the following states:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
New Hampshire
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Wyoming
Twenty-eight states; not too bad, eh?
I'm working on adding another couple of states; watch this page.