This is not legal advice.Concealed-carry reciprocity changes frequently and carries serious legal consequences. Verify current law with the destination state's official source before you carry.

Constitutional Carry States (Permitless Carry)

"Constitutional carry" — also called permitless carry — means an eligible adult may carry a concealed handgun in public without first obtaining a government-issued permit. Since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, every U.S. state has been legally required to operate a shall-issue (or better) permitting system, and a growing number of states have gone further, eliminating the permit requirement entirely for residents (and often non-residents) who can lawfully possess a firearm.

A permit is still worth holding — even in a constitutional-carry state

Permitless carry is only valid withinthat state's own borders. Reciprocity — whether another state honors you when you travel — is a separate legal question, and most states that grant reciprocity do so only for a permit, not for another state's permitless-carry law. That means a resident of a constitutional-carry state who wants to carry concealed while traveling typically still needs to obtain that state's permit and check the destination state's reciprocity list. Each state page below covers the permit that remains available, its minimum age, and why it matters for reciprocity.

Constitutional-carry states covered here

Of the states currently profiled on this site, the following are constitutional-carry states. (This is a subset of all constitutional-carry states nationwide — see each state's page for its own permit details.)