NCJ Number
174176
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 46 Issue: 9 Dated: September 1998 Pages: 35-43
Date Published
1998
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article reviews regulations concerning police officers carrying handguns through and to other States while on vacation.
Abstract
A 1998 survey of all 50 States' laws regarding how non-resident, off-duty officers can legally carry a weapon found that, if an officer has police identification and is not causing a problem, a fellow officer from another State probably would not question carrying a weapon. However, strict local ordinances may forbid it. An officer who wishes to carry a weapon should check on specific local regulations beforehand. In general, the safest procedure is for the vacationing officer to keep the weapon unloaded and stowed in the trunk of his or her motor vehicle or, if an officer is traveling by plane, in checked luggage. Seven states did not respond to the request for information and the information in the article is from a similar survey done in 1991. Data in this article were verified by the States' Attorneys General, but are simply guides, not legal opinions.