Reciprocity with WA?

[G26ster]

If a license holder was always carrying under the authority of their LTC, then that phrase would not be needed in the statute. It would also make a criminal out of any cop who has an LTC and goes into a 30.07 posted location on a duty call.....

Good point. Any volunteers for the test case

[srothstein]

I think the question of the MPA covering you or the LTC covering you is actually easy to understand if you look at the way the law is written.

Section 46.02 said it is illegal to carry a gun. The MPA modified this so that the the law now says it is illegal to carry a gun unless it is in your car and concealed. This means that it is no against the law for anyone to carry a gun in their car as long as it is concealed (and the other requirements are met of course).

Section 46.15 then comes along and says that section 46.02 does not apply if you have an LTC. This means that an LTC can carry a gun outside of the car or not concealed. Common sense would tell you that there would not be a section of law saying that something that is legal for everyone is now illegal because the whole section does not apply to you.

So, when you are driving your car, and you keep your weapon concealed, you are not breaking any law. You do not need any special authority to do something that is legal. The 30.06 sign on the garage only applies when you are breaking some other law and using the LTC as the authority to do so.

The only time you have a choice of what authority you are carrying under is when you have multiple exceptions to the law. For example, as a retired peace officer, I can carry a pistol. If I am walking and see a building posted 30.06, I can ignore it because I am not carrying under the authority of an LTC. But when I get my LTC in the next few days (DPS says it has been mailed), I have a choice of which authority I am carrying under. As a general rule, I will always be carrying under the authority of my retired peace officer status because it gives me more places I can carry. One of the general rules of law construction is that they must be interpreted to make sense. It makes no sense to say I could carry into a 30.06 location today but not legally carry there next week when an LTC is meant to expand where you can carry.

One of the things I was taught a long time ago in the police academy was that there are a lot of places where the law can be interpreted multiple ways. Always interpret the law in the way that is to your best advantage until a court has ruled on the interpretation. Once that happens, go with the court's interpretation. Taking a law as being against my best interests when it could be taken to benefit me makes no sense.

[Soccerdad1995]

If a license holder was always carrying under the authority of their LTC, then that phrase would not be needed in the statute. It would also make a criminal out of any cop who has an LTC and goes into a 30.07 posted location on a duty call.....

Good point. Any volunteers for the test case

I volunteer!

I have actually done this exact thing on multiple occasions. I have not been cited with any crime, though. But if I ever am cited, I will demand a jury trial for my $200 max fine infraction and will argue the case all the way to the state supreme court, although I'm doubtful that the DA would be willing to go that far with it to try and get their $200.

Since I am only in a 30.06 location very rarely, and someone would have to discover my concealed gun in my car or hotel room, and discover the fact that I have my LTC, and call the police instead of just asking me to leave / take the gun out of my room and to my car, and the police officer would have to issue me a citation for something that is legal per the plain writing of the law, and I would have to not have another non-LTC adult with me, and the DA would need to agree to press charges after I pointed out that I am covered under the MPA, let's just say that it is a tad bit unlikely. I'd estimate that there is approximately a one in 5,000 chance that you will hear the results of my "test case" in my lifetime.