Based off of relevant things, like lack of necessity of licenses/permits, youngest age requirements (if any at all), capacity restrictions, open carry, etc. What are the top 3 most restrictive, and the top 3 least restrictive? I think I know that Arizona is one of the 3 least restrictive, but I might be wrong.
What are the 3 States with the Least Restrictive and the 3 States with the Most Restrictive Gun Law?
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earlthegoat2
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I am unfortunately ignorant of most of the details of different states restrictions but just for the sake of putting out there one facet of an impression I get of this topic, I want to say the most restrictive is Illinois.
Every time I hear or read about a FOID....among other things.
Every time I hear or read about a FOID....among other things.
illinoisburt
Member
Not really. Illinois requires getting a FOID from the state police. Complete form and send in with photo, wait 3 months. But after that they really don't have much restricted. Buy all the ammo you like, buy all the guns you like without registrations. About the only true limits are no silencers or machine guns, and CC license is expensive. There are significantly more hassles buying and carrying handguns, AWBs and other restrictions in most states on both coasts.
** FOID is supposed to be issued in 30 days, they tend to be backlogged. Cost is $10 and renew it after 10 years.
illinoisburt
Member
Easy summary is available from the gun control folks. If your state has a 'good' grade, firearm ownership is a pain. 'Bad' grades = nice place to live. Lol
Can't speak for nation-wide, but Kansas is pretty good. Permitless-carry for residents, concealed carry permits available after relatively short instruction course, open carry (can be restricted by property owner). No limitations on caliber or semi v revolver on your carry permit if you get one. Reciprocity with many states (which is why I believe the carry permit is worth having). We do allow property owners to post "no-carry" signs, but by my observation the number of those signs I see is diminishing. Not everything is rosy, there are efforts in our legislature to add restrictions.
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/best-states-for-gun-owners/369075
Best three
Arizona
Idaho
Alaska
Worst three
New York
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Best three
Arizona
Idaho
Alaska
Worst three
New York
Massachusetts
New Jersey
illinoisburt
Member
Alabama is good too
BSA1
member
Kansas is pretty good until it comes to getting a Conceal Carry License. With cost of attending a 8 hour class, application fee, Sheriff Office fee for fingerprinting, babysitting, transportation it easily can run up to $300.00.
Renewal is also expensive and a pain in rear.
Renewal is also expensive and a pain in rear.
Theohazard
Member
I’m surprised Pennsylvania is so far down on that list (32nd). Getting a carry permit requires no training and no fingerprints (as a new state resident it took me a total of 8 minutes to get my carry permit), there are very, very few places where you can’t legally carry, “no firearms” signs have no force of law, it’s an open carry state, there are no restrictions on firearm types and accessories beyond restrictions on the federal level, and we have a very strong firearms culture overall.
The only real issue is that there’s an extra state form to fill out when buying a handgun and that you need to go through a dealer when doing a private transfer of a handgun. But I just consider those to be minor annoyances. Sure, they’re still infringements, but I’d much rather have to go to a dealer to sell a handgun than to have a private business be able to require me to be unarmed on their premises. Currently, the only place I ever go where I can’t legally carry a firearm is my kid’s school.
WheelGunMan
Member
Michigan is pretty good. An open carry state. Conceal permits require completion of an 8 hour class. CPL fee is $135 and good for 4 years. CPL is accepted in many other states.. but stay away from Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and most of the West Coast.
Virginia Jim
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Yes, West Virginia has got to be up near the top. In fact, people over there don’t give a crap how you live your life, just leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone.
I thought MI had pistol registration? If so that would pit it a wee bit lower in my book (IMO)
Which are the best 3, and worst 3 can be subjective. I live in GA, but pretty close to both Alabama and Tennessee. In reality all 3 are pretty good, but living in GA I'm used to doing things the way we do it here and I prefer doing it that way. There are some differences in how things are done in Tennessee that I'm not crazy about. I'm sure many people who live in Tennessee feel the same way about Georgia.
And GA has really improved things in the last 10-12 years. Prior to that having a carry permit didn't help much and I'd have put GA near the bottom. There used to be a lot of restrictions on where you could carry and the way the laws were written it was vague. To me it wasn't worth carrying except out in the woods while hunting.
Even outdoors while not hunting required you to be careful about where you were. The law at the time specifically addressed having a hunting license and carrying while hunting. But it also specifically forbid carrying in many outdoor areas outside of hunting season. Anywhere else and it was a judgement call for any LE officer who saw you carrying, and the judge who oversaw the case. There was a clause that said that you couldn't carry at a public gathering, but public gathering was never defined. Is Walmart a public gathering? If I'm with a group of 3 or more friends is that a public gathering?
We had a 23 year young lady kidnapped and murdered 3 days later in January 2008. The guy kept her alive for 3 days trying to get the correct PIN for her ATM card. She kept giving him the wrong number and when he unsuccessfully, repeatedly tried to withdraw money it eventually led to his capture. Unfortunately 1 day too late.
But that case highlighted the absurdity of our carry laws at the time. She was hiking on a section of the Appalachian Trail. She could have legally carried a 22 caliber handgun on parts of the trail with a hunting license, but not a center fire of any type. Small game season was open at the time. She could have carried a center fire handgun only during big game seasons, with a hunting license. But on other sections the trail no guns were allowed at all since she walked through the back corner of a state park. No carry permit would have been needed where it was legal to hunt and having one wouldn't have made it legal to carry on a state park.
After this incident the state legislature re-wrote all of our gun and carry laws and things have improved a lot.
And GA has really improved things in the last 10-12 years. Prior to that having a carry permit didn't help much and I'd have put GA near the bottom. There used to be a lot of restrictions on where you could carry and the way the laws were written it was vague. To me it wasn't worth carrying except out in the woods while hunting.
Even outdoors while not hunting required you to be careful about where you were. The law at the time specifically addressed having a hunting license and carrying while hunting. But it also specifically forbid carrying in many outdoor areas outside of hunting season. Anywhere else and it was a judgement call for any LE officer who saw you carrying, and the judge who oversaw the case. There was a clause that said that you couldn't carry at a public gathering, but public gathering was never defined. Is Walmart a public gathering? If I'm with a group of 3 or more friends is that a public gathering?
We had a 23 year young lady kidnapped and murdered 3 days later in January 2008. The guy kept her alive for 3 days trying to get the correct PIN for her ATM card. She kept giving him the wrong number and when he unsuccessfully, repeatedly tried to withdraw money it eventually led to his capture. Unfortunately 1 day too late.
But that case highlighted the absurdity of our carry laws at the time. She was hiking on a section of the Appalachian Trail. She could have legally carried a 22 caliber handgun on parts of the trail with a hunting license, but not a center fire of any type. Small game season was open at the time. She could have carried a center fire handgun only during big game seasons, with a hunting license. But on other sections the trail no guns were allowed at all since she walked through the back corner of a state park. No carry permit would have been needed where it was legal to hunt and having one wouldn't have made it legal to carry on a state park.
After this incident the state legislature re-wrote all of our gun and carry laws and things have improved a lot.
Arkansas came in #19 on this list.
No registration;
CHCL = Shall issue, something like $155 + class & range quals, with a few weeks turnaround and renewal at $50 (no class required unless you let it lapse 6 months or more, but you still have to be able to hit a target);
No FOID;
No FFL req'd for private transfers;
NFA items legal to the extent that federal law allows;
Permitless carry allowed.
I'm not sure we'd be in the top 3, but:
No registration;
CHCL = Shall issue, something like $155 + class & range quals, with a few weeks turnaround and renewal at $50 (no class required unless you let it lapse 6 months or more, but you still have to be able to hit a target);
No FOID;
No FFL req'd for private transfers;
NFA items legal to the extent that federal law allows;
Permitless carry allowed.
40-82
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I tend to refer to much of the northeast as the Communist States of America, starting with Maryland on up. They're making inroads to annex Virginia. It wasn't so long ago that we lost the name Virginia and were referred to as Military District No. 1. We're rapidly returning to that status.
Having to get a carry permit at all pushes PA down the list and then throw in handgun permit to purchase and it drops like a rock.
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Dudedog
Contributing Member
Oh dear, California will have to try harder, since it didn't make it into the worst 3,
(has to be close, lots of stupid laws here)
It's really gonna be pretty hard to objectively pick a top three. There are 17 states now that have Constitutional carry, which is a good starting point, IMO. Knock Vermont off that list due to magazine restrictions. So there's 16 to pick from and most of those have similar laws as far as things like castle doctrine, duty to retreat, NFA items, etc. Really I think it'd come down to the attitudes of the general populace and the law enforcement agencies of a given state, which is going to be hard to objectively measure.
The bottom three is quite a bit easier to pick, IMO. Good starting point is magazine restrictions. 9 states restrict magazine capacity. Bump Colorado and Vermont off the bottom because the other 7 restrict all mags to 10 rds. Colorado limit is 15, Vermont is 10 for long guns, 15 for handguns. So down to 7. Two states totally ban any possession of magazines over 10 rd capacity and California is about to. The other 4 have a grandfather clause of some sort, although that doesn't do any good for those who didn't already own those mags and I'd say that's tentative, at best for those who do. So you could say that CA, NY and HI are the bottom 3, but really those 7 states are very close. Obviously there are other factors like whether or not it's possible to legally carry in that state. It probably comes down to the attitude of the people and law enforcement in a given area. I know there are places in CA and NY where the people and police are much more freedom minded than those state's laws and election record would lead you to believe.
The bottom three is quite a bit easier to pick, IMO. Good starting point is magazine restrictions. 9 states restrict magazine capacity. Bump Colorado and Vermont off the bottom because the other 7 restrict all mags to 10 rds. Colorado limit is 15, Vermont is 10 for long guns, 15 for handguns. So down to 7. Two states totally ban any possession of magazines over 10 rd capacity and California is about to. The other 4 have a grandfather clause of some sort, although that doesn't do any good for those who didn't already own those mags and I'd say that's tentative, at best for those who do. So you could say that CA, NY and HI are the bottom 3, but really those 7 states are very close. Obviously there are other factors like whether or not it's possible to legally carry in that state. It probably comes down to the attitude of the people and law enforcement in a given area. I know there are places in CA and NY where the people and police are much more freedom minded than those state's laws and election record would lead you to believe.
WheelGunMan
Member
Are you speaking of the federal registration? All guns are registered per a federal mandate.
Michigan does have handgun registration, which would automatically disqualify it for the top three. Look up MCL Section 28.422.
There's no "federal mandate" for registration. There are those who believe the Feds are keeping more records than they're legally permitted to but that's a different subject.
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NH where I live no longer requires any permits, you can CC, OC, drive around with a loaded firearm on the dash of your car if you so choose. Maine is similar, as is VT … there are of course nuances, but the laws over the past few years have been getting less restrictive. I think NH still offers a CC permit, but the only use for it is if you want to travel and have some type of reciprocity in another state. It provides nothing if you are from NH and live and carry in NH, other than a hassle and a fee …
You're lumping these states in with NY and MA … NH's sate motto is Live Free or Die
40-82
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No, I really didn't mean New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. I should have been clearer. You're correct to point that out. The problem is I can't get to them without passing through the others.
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