ccw question, please hep me out!

coyotebuster

New member
Ok, heres the scoop, Im a senior in high school as most of you know, I have decided I want to go into law enforcment so I can pick a lot of colleges in a lot of different states. I want to be able to carry a concealed weaopon after I get the permits and all. My question is this, what states have ccw and what states dont. I know wisconsin dont have it or I would already be sighned up for the course. I want to leave wisconsin anyway, either to Idaho, Michigan,Montana, South Dakota, and maybe Wyoming.
 
Unless things have changed since I moved from MI to WI, I think you can forget MI. Sorry. Good Luck on your education and carrier.
 
Nevada has CCW permits but you cant obtain one until your 21. I think thats going to the age limit just about anywhere that issues CCW's.
 
MI now has concealed carry on a "shall issue" basis. It's called CPL or CCW here. It became available in 2001. No more political BS to get a license. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif MI VHNTR
 
I'm not aware of any state that will issue a CCW until you're 21. There may be some, but if so it won't be many. Under federal law you can't legally buy a handgun from a retail dealer until 21, though some states set the legal limit at 18 most are also 21.
 
coyotebuster,

A couple of things: I applaude you for your decision to go into Criminal Justice. It's often a thankless, dangerous, miserable way to go. And you sure as heck won't make any money doing it. But, for those who go into it as a career and do it well, you're motivations are a little different than most of the other guys out there trying to make a living.

Also, in the way of advice, were I you, I'd worry more about getting your Academy or P.O.S.T. certification taken care of before you get an AS, AA, BS, BA or any college degree. Maybe things are different in the midwest, but out here, most departments and agencies won't hire you w/o POST certification, and few have college degree requirements. You really ought to look at getting your POST done first(most every state recognizes POST certification from other states, with some additional requirements sometimes), then going onto college. That way you can work while your going to school, actually doing what you're receiving training in, pay your tuition and bills, and have a boat load of experience in hand, when you get your "sheepskin" and be in a great position for promotion in the agency your in, or a very good candidate for the DEA, US Customs, US Marshalls, or some other federal or state agency, if that's where you want to end up.

It occurrs to me that you may be too young to get into an academy anytime soon. In which case, I'd get going on some college, and get into POST as soon as you become eligible.

If you are looking to go to school out west, at a school with a strong CJ Department, let me highly suggest my alma mater - Weber State Univ. It's a smaller University in Ogden, Utah, (I forget the number of students, but WSU plays football as an NCAA Division I AA, in the Big Sky Conference, if that means anything to you.) and home to one of the best CJ Departments in the West, if not the country. They have an on-site crime lab, used by a lot of the local agencies, a CJ faculty made up almost entirely of former Fed agents, corrections agents and wardens, local LEOs, and DA's or AG attorneys. They have a "branch" of the Utah POST Academy on campus, that you can attend, that meets in the evenings and on Saturday. To say nothing of all the hunting, fishing, skiing and other recreation oppurtunities that are in easy reach. You can go to their website at http://www.weber.edu . You might also want to look at Southern Utah University. They've got a good CJ program down there, and also have a POST branch, with a part-time program. Awesome scenery, and a ton of hunting and outdoor's possibilities. Near a lot of National Parks, Monuments and other such places. It's in Cedar City, Utah which is a smaller city, with a lot of mountainous, desert and rural area surrounding it. It's smaller than Weber, but not by a whole lot. Again, as I most easily think in terms of football, they're NCAA Division I AA, and I think play as an independent or in the Mid-Continent Conf. Here's there website: http://www.suu.edu

Now, to the subject of a CCW, if you want to be an LEO, you'll have to gain investigation skills. Digging through the lies, half-truths, and hear-say to get to the fact of the matter is essential. To that end, check out http://www.packing.org and to a lesser extent http://www.nra.org to get the facts on the states you have questions about. I know in Utah you must be 21 years old and it wouldn't surprise me if it's the same across the board.

Good luck with your endeavours!
 
21 for the CCW permit. Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Utah have them. Gun Free School Zones (Federal law) act prohibit guns from being on any campus. Western New Mexico University Police Training Academy at Silver City New Mexico is my Alma Mater. They have a 9 month academy program, another year (2 years) gets you your Associate degree, and 2 more get you a Bachelors degree. Hunting, fishing and trapping are great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I can honestly say, the lessons I learned carried me through me some rough times and made some difficult situations into just "another routine arrest"
 
Also CB, I should add that my past and present experience at Weber State (yes, I'm presently going back, part-time.) with regards to the rampant, aggressive, liberal brainwashing that seems to be going on at many of the nation's universities (Univ. Wiscosin at Madison, would be a prime example of this.); There isn't as much of that going on. I have had some professors that were way out on the left, but most of those presented both sides of issues, and encouraged altering view-points being shared in discussion or as a paper topic. In short, some are liberal as Ted Kennedy, but most are intellectually honest. I have had a few that were real pricks about their liberal slant, and didn't tolerate much in the way of conservative view-points. But I think I've run into only two or three of these types of leftist, fascist-pigs, and I'm working on my second degree there. I don't know about you, but this is an important consideration for me. An education should expose you to a wide variety of ideas, but you shouldn't have to have them shoved down your throat, as the unquestionable truth.

Most of my professors were fairly conservative, some very much so. I'd say most were centrists, when it came to ideology, or didn't seem to be trying to push anything, one way or another. I don't remember any CJ professors I'd consider liberal. One guy, an ex-prison warden in Virginia and New York, was probably the most so, but that's even a bit of a stretch. He wasn't overboard or anything, he was always big about discussing prison reform and prisoner re-hab. I think the fact that Weber has so many ex-professionals as professors, rather than accademics who've never actually worked in their so-called field of expertise, is a big part of the reason why. I hear good things about the SUU faculty as well, but no personal experience.

Oh, and unlike their "big brother" (pun intended) institution, the University of Utah, they are not fighting the finding of AG Mark Shurtleff, that all state institutions, with the exception of "secured areas," are not to prevent CCW holders from exercising their legal right to defend themselves. Tells you something about the direction that the school is trying to go in, I think.
 
The Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 DOES NOT prohibit posession of firearms on school grounds if you have a valid CCW permit.
FEDERAL GUN FREE SCHOOL ZONE LAW

If you have a CCW you may lawfully possess a firearm on school grounds. It must be unloaded and in a locked container or rack in a vechicle. However (and this is a BIG however)you may not discharge it under any circumstances.

So if you are on a school campus and a madman shows up then starts blowing away kids with his weapon of choice, you can LEGALLY draw your permitted weapon, point it at the bad guy, tell him to stop, and THAT'S ALL!. If you shoot, you go to jail.

I attended a CCW class last weekend and the instructor was VERY clear on this.
 
The CCW does not allow you to have the gun in the school zone. (State law can not over ride Federal law) Anyone may have it, as stated above, locked up, unloaded, etc. You are also correct that the law makes no exception for lawfully using the weapon. It's happened at least once already that I'm aware of. The law was not tested because the prosecutor rightfully chose not to try and prosecute.
 
Here in the lonestar state, we call in a CHL (concealed handgun license) You have to take a class of at least eight hours and pass a shooting qualification. And you must be at least 21 years of age. In my class, our instructor went into great detail about where you could carry it, and mainly the ideal of confrontation avoidance. He explained exactly what is going to occur if you do shoot someone and several instances that could occur, such as wounding other innocent bystnders and such. Basically he said unless you or someone is in eminent grave danger, you had better mind your own business.
Anyhow, there were two school teachers in our class. They asked this question about carrying it into school. He had evidently been prepared, and copied the pages to show us. You can carry your weapon onto school property, locked, loaded, and ready to go. But you cannot cross the inside edge of the sidewalk towards the building. you can carry it in the parking lot, leave it locked up in your truck. But it is against the law to carry it beyond the sidewalk next to the building.
Every state has different laws, but you are right Bluedeacon, Federal law always over-rides state law.
 
Arkansas has a CCW law and I went through the process two years ago. State law requires 8 hour course and shooting qualification (along with being 21). However, my class was a little different. I work with a guy who is an NRA instructor, so we had the complete NRA self defense course (~12-16 hours). What was even better was the local sheriff did all of our fingerprints for free and gave a short presentation. Also, one of the deputy prosecuting attourneys for my county was taking the course and gave a four hour talk with illustrations.
 
Well, now hang on here, just a minute... With all due respect to my PM compadres, I don't believe that you can say that federal law always trumps state law. I don't remember the legal term for it, (My Const. Law Class seems oh-so long ago...)but it's something similar to "Full Faith and Credit" and that. But what this elusive legal concept says is, basically, states cannot restrict freedoms and rights beyond what federal law allows. But, if a state grants a greater degree of freedom, than what a federal statute allows, regarding the same matter, the state law may stand as the law in that particular state. Now the fed's have come up with "creative" ways of getting states with more leinient regulations to fall back into step. Such as witholding certain funds from non-compliant states, until they comply, if they want states to adopt their standard.

I don't see how the federal school gun-ban is automatically the law of the land, just for the simple fact that right now in Utah, we're having a big bruhaha over the University of Utah's policy that no guns, including those carried by CCW holders, are allowed on campus. The conflict comes about due to the fact that our State AG, Mark Shurtleff, came out about a year ago saying that offices of state government, including all state run schools, could not legally prohibit their employees, clientiel, and students from lawfully carrying a concealed weapon, without being in violation of the Utah Constitution and accompanying laws. (That of course means those with a CCW permit.) The U of U has firmly stated that they are not willing to comply, so they're going to court. From what I understand, this whole federal school gun-ban law, hasn't even been utilized as an arguement, in the schools defense. Their standing more on issues of degrees of autonomy, that the AG is out of line and shouldn't be trying to change their policies. You'd think, if they didn't want guns on campus, this federal law you guys are citing would be a quick and easy way to do that. I mean, if what you guys are saying is accurate, then the AG's arguement would be without basis, and a slam-dunk for the University's lawyers. I wonder why that is? There must be something here that we're not getting at this point. I'll have to find some time and do a little research. this is interesting...
 
The feds thought of the preemption thing too.

"(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preempting or preventing a State or local government from enacting a statute establishing gun-free school zones as provided in this subsection.".
 
Back
Top