Updated for 2021: Traveler's Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States

by
posted on March 28, 2021
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
2021travelerguide-1.jpg
Every year, people drive to all corners of the United States and beyond, sometimes with their firearms in tow with them. Unfortunately for many responsible armed citizens, this can expose them to a complex and ever-changing environment of state gun laws, many of which vary from year to year.

Fortunately, the updated 24th edition of J. Scott Kappas’ "Traveler’s Guide to the Firearms Laws of the Fifty States" has America’s gun-carrying travelers covered for 2021. Within its 68 pages are more than 100 updates since 2020, including 50 subheads in each state’s checklist detailing ammo-carry rules and new online updates for conditional reciprocity states. This includes among other aspects:
  • Carry of firearms in a motor vehicle.
  • Concealed carry reciprocity.
  • Firearm law preemption. 
  • Concealed carry in state and national parks.
  • Concealed carry in restaurants serving alcohol.
  • Open carry without a permit.
  • Traveling with firearms on airlines, cruise ships, buses, RVs and motorcycles.
  • Firearm possession in hotels, on college campuses and school grounds.
  • State laws regulating long guns, handguns, NFA items and parts restrictions.
  • How to handle a traffic stop.
For those who also visit the nation’s northern and southern hemispheres, the "Traveler’s Guide" includes detailed information for trips to Canada and Mexico. The guide retails for $14.95 (including shipping), and can be purchased at gunlawguide.com.

Examples of individual state pages:

Latest

Concealedcarry 1
Concealedcarry 1

Surprising Concealed Carry Statistics

A survey conducted by the Crime Prevention Research Center studied how many likely voters regularly carry concealed handguns, and the results defy expectations.

I Have This Old Gun: Universal Model 1000 Carbine

To meet the domestic demand for M1 carbines while the original guns were still in government service, several manufacturers emerged, and one of them was Universal Firearms of Florida.

FN Browning Group to Acquire Accuracy International

Accuracy International will join a roster of companies that includes FN America, FN Herstal, Browning firearms and Winchester firearms—among others—in FN Browning Group’s Defense & Security and Hunting & Sports Shooting divisions.

The CZ 75 Legend: Rebirth of an Icon

If you make a short list of the most influential handgun designs of the 20th century, the CZ 75 would make the cut. A half century since its introduction, CZ is honoring that legendary status with the CZ 75 Legend.

39 New Rifles for 2026

Today's new rifles run the gamut from the latest and greatest packed with the most up-to-date features money can buy to retro-inspired models that give us a glimpse of the way things used to be if you wanted to send a bullet "over there somewhere."

The Armed Citizen® June 1, 2026

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.