What’s Going on With “Enhanced Carry” Law in Montana?

When it comes to your gun rights and concealed carry permits, "enhanced carry" In Montana's most recent legislative session made it across the finish line thanks to Rep. Kerri Crowe (R-Billings). What's the status of that new law? When will our permits be recognized in all these other states?

A couple listeners asked us that question on our app, and it reminded me that we brought that topic up while chatting with Montana's Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R-MT) at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas recently.

Rep. Crowe had just walked past our booth on radio row as we were chatting with AG Knudsen in late January.

Aaron Flint: What's the status of enhanced carry?

AG Knudsen: In Montana, we're Constitutional carry and most of our sister states have reciprocity with our concealed carry permit. You can still get a Montana concealed weapons permit. The enhanced concealed carry was for- there was a handful of states that did not recognize Montana's concealed weapon permit, and the idea with the expanded, the enhanced permit, is you can get recognized in those states.

 

AG Knudsen says he has a staffer inside of his office at the Montana Department of Justice that is focused on expanding the concealed carry reciprocity as some of the work is going through the AG's office.

AG Knudsen: We had to do some outreach to those states, check a few boxes. I think we're up to three states now that- we're moving that. It wasn't as simple as- we just pass the bill and those states recognize that. These are a little more difficult, bluer states I will say. But we're having some success. I got a guy in my office that this is one of the things he's working on solely and we're having some success.

Check out that audio and more on our SHOT Show coverage page by clicking here. https://montanatalks.com/tags/shot-show/