WASHINGTON -- Mark Squid is licensed in Virginia to carry a concealed gun. Dan Zelenka has a similar license from Louisiana.
Both men are law-abiding. Both enjoy firearms sports and support the right to carry a weapon safely for hunting, target practice or personal and family protection. By carrying a gun out of public view, they present no apparent threat to others, gun-rights activists say.
But whether they truly have a good reason to carry a concealed weapon is a matter of debate in some states -- and some states are pickier about this than others.
That means gun owners with concealed weapons permits from states such as Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan and Ohio must leave their firearms at home when traveling to places like New York, California, New Jersey and Maryland.
In those states, so-called concealed carry permits are issued relatively sparingly -- sometimes only if someone can prove a justifiable need such as threat to his or her safety -- and permits from other states aren't recognized. Otherwise, these out-of-staters risk being charged criminally if stopped by police and searched.
A similar problem occurs when Squid or Zelenka want to go to the nation's capital, because even though a federal appeals court last year struck down the District of Columbia's "good reason" requirement for obtaining a permit, the city still won't recognize permits issued elsewhere.
The ability to carry a concealed weapon into another state is governed by a web of complex state laws and interstate reciprocity agreements. An Ohioan with a concealed carry license can go into Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia without problem, for example, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office[1]. But if this gun owner was caught carrying his concealed weapon
