Nevada CCW, Reciprocity and Firearm Purchase Questions

[Evergreen]

It looks like I will be moving to the Las Vegas area around the end of June and I am planning on taking a trip down to Las Vegas in a week or two. I have to say Nevada does have some strange firearm laws , especially in regards to reciprocity. Overall, Nevada's gun laws look very permissive and better in many ways than most places, which is why I am leaving my native Pacific Northwest for good. I'm pretty certain that semi-auto guns will be banned and made illegal in Oregon and Washington by next year or so and I don't want to stick around.

Anyhow, I am a law-abiding citizen, but it appears with Nevada's strange firearm laws, that if you make even a simple mistake you can be convicted of a felony. Considering this is the situation, I need to really make 100% sure I am not violating anything, as not many states will convict you of a felony for not having a valid conceal carry license, yet at the same time, allow you to conceal a gun in your car, open carry and recognize many state permits, but won't recognize a subset of others. It makes it very confusing and somewhat nerve-wracking! Nevada is also the only state I have seen where it is illegal to conceal carry a gun in your own home without a permit. That is a weird one! I am actually planning on taking the 8-hour conceal carry course while I am visiting and looking for a place to live. Hopefully, I can apply for my permit immediately when I relocate so I can be rid of all these headaches.

For the time being, I will be travelling to unfamiliar territory and may have to go potentially undesirable places (since I don't know my way around) even at night, although I will try to avoid trouble as much as possible. Needless to say, if I can conceal carry my firearm in my car, I will certainly choose to do so, since I will be travelling such a long way to Nevada from Washington state. I have decided I will take my car, because I want to leave my car there and take a plane back, so I don't have to bring my car with a Penske/U-Haul truck with me when I move, as I am doing this solo.

I tried contacting several Nevada law enforcement agencies and reviewing several government and conceal carry legal websites (like OpenCarry.org, NevadaCarry.org), etc, but they have been the hardest and least informative I have ever had to deal with and the conceal carry reciprocity and legal website give me so much conflicting information. I tried several times calling the Nevada State government, Clark and Nye County Sheriff and Police Departments. The guy at the Las Vegas Metro Police had almost no knowledge at all of the laws and kept me on hold for like 20 minutes as he searched around and until I ended up having to hang up.

I've reviewed one link from a Nevada website that says Nevada recognizes an Oregon CHL. However, my Oregon CHL is a non-resident permit, as I am a Washington resident. Currently I possess a resident Washington CHL, non-resident Oregon CHL and a standard (non-enhanced) non-resident Idaho CHL . It is confusing, but as of now, it appears Nevada does recognize Oregon CHLs, but I am not sure if it requires you to be a resident of that state or if it recognized all Oregon CHL holders, even non-residents. If anyone can answer this question with any authority, it would be helpful. I will keep trying the Nevada state and law enforcement agencies, but it is either impossible to reach them or they just have no knowledge of their own laws. So, if I end up getting stopped by the police (for whatever reason) and I have a firearm and I show them my Oregon CHL, will I be arrested and have the potential to become a felon or not? That is my greatest worry. From my research, it appears they do not recognize Idaho CHL if they are non-enhanced.

If nobody knows the answers themselves about Nevada's CCW laws, could they at least direct me to websites or government organizations or law enforcement agencies in Nevada who may actually understand their own firearm laws and conceal carry reciprocity laws.

I have found this one document from the Nevada Department of Public Safety website, but it is very vague. Also, several websites like OpenCarry.org have different information than the Nevada government website. What makes it more ocnfusing, is Nevada has so many different government departments that discuss firearm laws and I hardly know who is the official source. According to this document though it says Oregon CHLs are recognized, but it makes no mention if you must be a resident of that state.

http://rccd.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/gs...ms/Brady/2018 Final state list (7 May 18).pdf

I've been told Nevada allows open carry, but I fear if I open carry and some police officer sees the firearm and is uneducated about the laws or just nervous for whatever reason, I may end up getting a gun pulled on me. I'm not a big fan of open carrying, unless I am in the wilderness, so, even though, this is legally allowed, I am pretty certain I would be afraid to do so. However, since Nevada does allow to carry a loaded firearm concealed in your car (but not your person), I would probably opt for this type of carrying while in Nevada. However, if I would like to carry my gun with me at all times, so that is why I need to get some type of official confirmation that I am allowed to do so.

There is one other question I have about Nevada firearm laws that I have. This one hopefully will be simple. I am wondering if Nevada is like Idaho in regards to federal backgrounds with firearm purchases for conceal handgun license holders. In Idaho, if you have a CHL, then you do not have to go through a background check to purchase a firearm. I was wondering if Nevada had the same laws? I was reading on NevadaCarry.org some vague information that it may be the case, but I am not 100% sure there.

Thanks for people's help on these issues.

 

[Frank Ettin]

....Hopefully, I can apply for my permit immediately when I relocate so I can be rid of all these headaches. ....

Why not apply for a permit as a non-resident before you relocate? I've had a Nevada permit for some 15 years, and my experiences obtaining and renewing it have been excellent.

A non-resident must apply in person at the sheriff's office in the county in which he took the required class. I've always handled things in Reno (Washoe County), and it's worked out well. Initially I took the class over the weekend. Monday morning I'd drop into the Washoe County Sheriff Deparment, submit the [very simple] application, get fingerprinted, have my photo taken, pay my fee. The whole process usually took about an hour, including waiting my turn. I'd receive my permit by mail in a couple of weeks.

Las Vegas is Clark County, and I've heard that they might be more difficult to deal with; but I have no personal experience there. Nye County is nearby (Front Sight is in Nye County), and I don't know how they are there.

 

[Evergreen]

Why not apply for a permit as a non-resident before you relocate? I've had a Nevada permit for some 15 years, and my experiences obtaining and renewing it have been excellent.

A non-resident must apply in person at the sheriff's office in the county in which he took the required class. I've always handled things in Reno (Washoe County), and it's worked out well. Initially I took the class over the weekend. Monday morning I'd drop into the Washoe County Sheriff Deparment, submit the [very simple] application, get fingerprinted, have my photo taken, pay my fee. The whole process usually took about an hour, including waiting my turn. I'd receive my permit by mail in a couple of weeks.

Las Vegas is Clark County, and I've heard that they might be more difficult to deal with; but I have no personal experience there. Nye County is nearby (Front Sight is in Nye County), and I don't know how they are there.

Hi Frank, I do plan on trying to apply for an out of state Nevada permit while I am there. However, I will be in the Las Vegas area for 2 weeks and I am travelling down there in the next couple weeks possibly. So, the reciprocity questions have more to do with the legality of me travelling to Nevada with a concealed handgun as a visitor, rather than living there as a resident.

Of course, if I cannot get a definitive answer to my legal status, I will probably just keep my loaded firearm in my glove compartment and leave my firearm in my car (hoping it won't get stolen). According to Nevada law, you can legally carry a loaded firearm concealed in your vehicle as long as it is not directly on your person.

I do have a non-resident Oregon CHL , but after reading through dozens of pages of more legal documents from Nevada government website, I found where it said you have to live in the county your permit was issued. The wording was a bit vague and I am still not 100% sure on this, so I wish I could find the information out. It is unfortunate that the reciprocity laws are so vague on Nevada government websites. So, I am thinking that I will not be legal to conceal carry in Nevada, not even in my hotel room. Although, open carry is legal, so I guess if carry my gun openly to my hotel room, put it in a locked case unloaded and leave my gun loaded on my nightstand, I should probably still be within Nevada laws. Considering, it is a felony if you make any mistakes, I do have to be sure I am doing things the right way though.

 

[Frank Ettin]

When are you heading to Nevada? You might have time to get an Arizona CHL, and Nevada honors Arizona (according to Handgunlaw.us).

See also the Nevada Department of Public Safety website.

 

[Evergreen]

When are you heading to Nevada? You might have time to get an Arizona CHL, and Nevada honors Arizona (according to Handgunlaw.us).

See also the Nevada Department of Public Safety website.

If I do end up going to Nevada, I'd probably be travelling down there around June 1st to 5th. If I can get an Arizona CHL within that time I would be amazed.

However, according to the Nevada DOPS website, my Oregon permit is already recognized by the state. So, the more pressing question I think I have is does the state actually recognize non-resident CHLs from any state? Sadly, it appears Nevada doesn't recognize my resident Washington CHL. If they recognized non-resident permits, according to the latest documentation I read, my Oregon CHL should work. But, if they don't, I don't think even an Arizona CHL would help me.

 

[Kendahl]

According to Handgun Law's web site (http://handgunlaw.us), Nevada honors Oregon non-resident permits. It does not honor Washington permits. Frank's recommendation that you obtain a Nevada non-resident permit is a good idea. The training class will teach you Nevada's laws which you need to know regardless what state issued your permit.

 

[mdrisc85]

I wish you luck and overall, second the several recommendations to find a quality local CCW instructor who will have more info on exactly what your Nevada CCW entails. I would emphasize QUALITY as there are several operations locally that are more of a rubber stamp, bare minimum to meet state regs operation, where some others are extremely qualified and helpful with relevant local law enforcement experience. I have lived in Southern Nevada (Clark County) for almost six years, love pretty much everything about it and despite Clark County being historically a little different when it comes to firearms laws than the rest of the state its still one of the most gun friendly places out there. I would caution you on some of the provisos about having/storing firearms in a hotel room, especially in one of the Strip resort/casinos. While technically concealed carry is legal both on resort property, starting a few years ago on many of these properties security, if they had an inkling you were carrying regardless of whether you had a permit or not would ask you to leave (also within their rights). Post 1 October I've also noticed more signs on the Strip prohibiting firearms inside the resort. Daily room checks for safety reasons also seem to be the coming thing in many hotel properties and i'd hesitate to leave anything in the room and visible. Open carry is legal but rare in the urban areas of Clark County- i only open carry in the more rural parts of the county and elsewhere in the state and its rare for anyone to even give you a second glance. I'm sorry local PD (Las Vegas Metro) has not been more helpful, most of them are good guys and pro-2A and CCW. Use your common sense and keep asking good questions. You are welcome to PM me if i can answer any questions about my own experience.