conceal carry of a handgun generally a felony without a ccw permit?

[cajun47]

i live in louisiana and have no record. if that helps. yea i know i should look up the law. i had pages of louisiana laws and i'll be honest i hate reading all that cause its greek to me.

so if you can answer my question thanks and excuse my laziness. yes i know i should get a ccw. thats not my question though.

 

[Liberal Gun Nut]

In most states, it is a felony or a wobbler. Varies by state. Even in states where it's a misdemeanor, it's not fun. I don't know about in LA. As you yourself said, you should get your CCW.

 

[rantingredneck]

In NC I believe the first offense of carrying without a permit is a misdemeanor and any subsequent offense is a felony. I could be wrong on that though. Regardless you should get your permit. Yeah I know, I know, on principle we shouldn't have to, but the law is the law even if it isn't strictly constitutional.

 

[isp2605]

LA statutes:
Getting a permit:
http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=97451

What happens without a permit:
http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=78739

 

[Robert Hairless]

I did a quick read of the law just posted. It's no big deal if you're caught carrying a handgun without a permit in Louisiana as long as you're not committing another crime.

The first conviction gets you a fine of not more than $500, up to six months in prison, or both. The second conviction gets you up to five years in prison, with or without hard labor. Third and subsequent convictions get you no more than ten years, with or without hard labor, without possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

I don't know what the inside of a Louisiana prison is like, but if it's okay and the food isn't too bad, you could think of a six month sentence and a $500 fine as an inexpensive vacation. I don't know many places that would let you spend six months with food, housing, and recreation for only $500. That's about $84 a month. It's a steal.

Since there's no fine for a second conviction, the five years you would get seems like an even better deal.

Still better is the ten years for each conviction after that. There's no fine for them either, so you're way ahead of the game.

When you do some number crunching, it's not a bad idea to aim for the whole 15 and one-half year vacation package at a total cost of just $500 plus, of course, any money you spend on a lawyer each time. Try to get a public defender and ask him to plead you guilty. It's the most economical way to do it.

 

[EricTheBarbarian]

ohio is a felony for sure.

 

[General Geoff]

In PA, if you carry concealed without a permit, but are otherwise qualified to obtain a permit (i.e. clean background check and no felonies), then it's a first class misdemeanor, which is pretty much a fine.

If you carry concealed without a permit, and are not qualified to obtain a permit, then it's a third class felony.

 

[geekWithA.45]

General Geoff: I remember reading that several years ago, but have not been able to find the citation since. Have you got the citation on that?

 

[yhtomit]

Question for Liberal Gun Nut

You wrote:

"In most states, it is a felony or a wobbler. "

Felony, I know (even before coming to law school).

But "wobbler," I'm unfamiliar with -- can you clarify?

timothy

 

[wdlsguy]

IANAL, but in Texas, it can be a class A misdemeanor, a state jail felony, or a third degree felony, depending on where you were when you were caught.

 

[pacodelahoya]

Robert,

If I can get a single cell with a view of the recreation yard, I'm in!

 

[Soybomb]

My understanding has been that in most states it actually wasn't usually a felony until the 60's or 70's.

In Illinois UUW is all over the place depending on the circumstances you were carrying. I believe the most likely charge would be aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and would be a class 4 felony.

 

[VARifleman]

But "wobbler," I'm unfamiliar with -- can you clarify?

I think what he means there is a high class misdemeanor that would turn into a felony the 2nd time around? Mabye I'm wrong about the meaning, but that's how it is in VA and NC. Class 2 misdemeanors aren't a good thing, they won't get all of your guns taken away, but usually the one you were carrying.

 

[Daedalus7]

As another example of California's utter stupidity, concealed carry of a loaded handgun without a CCW is a misdemeanor for the first offense. Carrying an ASP baton around, on the other hand, is an instant felony...

 

[Liberal Gun Nut]

But "wobbler," I'm unfamiliar with -- can you clarify?

A wobbler is an offense which could be prosecuted as either a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on what the prosecutor wants to do. He'll look at the background of the individual, the circumstances, and the politics of his office, and decide based on that.

As for misdemeanors being no big deal, that is partly correct. In California, it is generally a misdemeanor. The good news is, no jail time. The bad news, it will mean thousands of dollars in legal fees, and probably a 10-year prohibition on firearms ownership, and a very low chance of ever getting a CCW. So even if it's "just" a misdemeanor, still it has consequences.

A felony is a whole nother thing. Lifetime prohibition on ownership of any firearms. No voting in many states. A lifetime blemish on the record which will affect many aspects of professional and financial life. It would even prevent you from being able to visit Canada and a whole bunch of things like that.

Daedealus, no California's law on that makes perfect sense. Blacks and Latinos are more likely to carry cheap weapons like blackjacks or brass knuckles, so those are felonies. White people are more likely to carry a gun, so it's a misdemeanor. Read the history of the law.

 

[Soybomb]

Cajun, he was simply pointing out that a lot of gun control does indeed stem from racism and many of those laws were made to be unfair to minorities. The legislation itself is meant to impact one race differently. Many would say its the same reason "saturday night specials" are banned today.

 

[Liberal Gun Nut]

Thank you Soybomb and TR. California's gun law was indeed designed to have higher penalties for cheaper weapons more likely to be carried by non-whites. Today, industrial production is so efficient that handguns are affordable by everyone, but back in the 20s when California's law was written, handguns were not affordable. Latinos and Chinese had other weapons, cheap weapons like clubs, knives, etc. Those were made felonies. Carrying a gun without a permit was made a misdemeanor. Still is today.

There's a line from the Jimmy Hoffa movie where the Danny DeVito character chastizes for carrying a knife "like a .....", instead of a gun. There's a historical basis for that, and that's the same basis as California's racist gun law.

in louisiana we can have all the guns we want in our car/truck. i wonder if that applies when i ride my bicycle. can i carry a handgun in my pocket without a ccw in this case? as long as im on the bike?

Maybe you can! Do you want to be someone's test case? Do you want to spend legal dollars, and part of your life, dealing with the potential consequences? Or would you rather just wait until you get your permit? You're in a shall-issue state! Think about it. You have no excuse for carrying without a permit.

 

[atek3]

cajun might want to read:
http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html

 

[TexasRifleman]

California's gun law was indeed designed to have higher penalties for cheaper weapons more likely to be carried by non-whites.

It's not just California.

I've always thought that of places like Chicago for example.

Here you have a dense metro area with a higher population of lower income minorities, yet a low cost easy access means of self defense it not available AT ALL.

How racist is that?

That's basically the Illinois and Chicago city governments flat out saying that low income minorites lives have less value than higher income suburbanites.

What I've never understood is why the NAACP and similar groups have not addressed it that way.

The Second Amendment is THE Civil Rights issue of the day, and no one is talking about it. Even (twisted though I suspect his motives are) Marion Barry is finally caving on the subject as far as DC goes.

 

[rantingredneck]

Racism and Gun laws.

NC's county run handgun purchase permitting system stemmed from efforts to prohibit blacks from owning handguns. I forget when the law was passed but it was early 1900's or so. It gave county sheriff's wide lattitude as far as who they could choose to deny permits to. Now it's more standardized, but is still a relic of a system with racism at its roots.

 

[ChestyP]

In Washington,

it's only a misdemeanor no matter how many times you do it. $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail (note: here in WA they collect room & board if the jailee is able to pay).

And theoretically it doesn't even affect your gun rights, so you can legally possess as soon as you get out. Unless the judge gets upset and starts adding conditions.

 

[Igloodude]

Parker notwithstanding, If the NRA was waiting on getting the right defendant with which to challenge the DC gun ban...

 

[Nanook]

In Illinois UUW is all over the place depending on the circumstances you were carrying. I believe the most likely charge would be aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and would be a class 4 felony.

Soybomb, if I'm not mistaken, the soon to be Federal prisoner, George Ryan, made it a felony offense to be caught carrying a gun even if committing no crime. It wasn't previously a felony.

This is one of the many reasons Illinois gun owners would love to see him and the emperor of Chicago as cellmates. And soon.

 

[Soybomb]

Soybomb, if I'm not mistaken, the soon to be Federal prisoner, George Ryan, made it a felony offense to be caught carrying a gun even if committing no crime.

Interesting, I did not know it was that recently.

 

[Charshooter]

Well I don’t know, a presume that carrying concealed without a permit is one matter, but around here keeping a shotgun in your truck gun rack is still legal.