So you’ve decided to go get a CCW. Good for you. You’ve made a decision many of us who read or are involved in this blog have already done. We all support and applaud your decision. You’ve taken your class and done what your state requires you to do to obtain the permit. You’ve checked our Concealed Carry Reciprocity Maps and found out what states honor your permit. If you’re lucky, then you probably have your fair share of states covered. However, if you’re one of the unfortunate one’s like me whose permit is not accepted by some other states that you wish to travel in, then you have some decision making to do. If you travel frequently, especially by car, or some other personal vehicle state to state, then you want to be legal at all times while carrying your weapon. I travel quite frequently, and my situation was one of the worst case scenarios. I’m from Colorado. There are several states that I travel to/through that don’t recognize my CCW permit. Nevada is one of those states. So, I did a little homework and discovered that Nevada will issue a permit to those who are non-residents. Once you have a Nevada permit, then you are good in 24 states (that’s an excellent start!). Currently the Nevada CCW is honored in: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, North Dakota and Wisconsin(Michigan honors the permit only if held by NV residents). Now, here’s the great news. If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas, you can take the CCW class FREE! That’s right, folks. The Gun Store, located on Tropicana Avenue puts their money where their mouth is. They offer the class absolutely free. The only thing you have to pay for is the ammo used to qualify at their range. They don’t even charge for the range time! I took their class on June 11, 2014 and was pleasantly surprised. The entire course is a single day running from 9 AM to 6 PM. They provide 2 NRA certified instructors to get you through the training. The first instructor of the day was Tony Dee. He’s a retired cop who makes the dry subject matter entertaining and informative. He has a story about nearly every subject covered that gives you some insight into what the subject matter is all about. I truly appreciated not only his wit but his ability to convey information effectively. Next up was Gwen Eaton. She has a wholly different approach to the class, but in my opinion, is just as effective. She taught a few rookies in the class about the finer points of cleaning a handgun. In fact, she demonstrated on two different students’ personal guns, a revolver and semi-auto. If you don’t want to travel all the way to Las Vegas (if that is far from you) with your own gun, no problem, they’ll rent you a gun to qualify with. There’s more great news. The Gun Store also has applications to submit to Florida for a CCW. Their class is accepted by the folks there. They will answer all your questions about how to submit the application. Adding Florida to your wallet provides another 7 states not already covered by Nevada. Those states are Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. Combined you now have 31 of the 50 states covered by taking this free class. Obviously, this is only a good deal if you already intend to take a trip to Las Vegas from wherever you live. However, if you’re in vacation planning mode, make sure you schedule an extra day in your plans to attend the class. The next day take your documentation to the Las Vegas Police Department and submit your Nevada application. It took me about 3 hours to get through the process. Once finished, they’ll mail you your CCW to your home address. The Florida documentation has to be mailed separately, but a small fee paid to the LVMPD will get you a set of fingerprints you’ll need to submit that application as well. Here’s a few links for you to check out:
