Newbie pistol owner questions

[Scoot]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a pistol (first pistol I've ever owned) and I need to know what I need to own/carry it legally. I've been around hunting my entire life, but I've never had a pistol and I've never carried a gun for personal protection in any way, shape, or form. 95% of my hunting has been with a bow and I don't have a C&C permit. I'd like to carry the pistol with me in my vehicle in some instances and I'd like to bring it along when I hunt (some of the time). I'm not sure if this is relevant or not (I think it is), but I'm a ND resident and I'll be moving to MN in the next couple months.

What do I need to do these things legally?

[fishnowworknever]

Here is some good info:

http://handgunlaw.us/states/minnesota.pdf

[LMITOUT]

If you're going to wait until after you move it'd be best to have all of your identification up to date before applying for a permit to carry to save yourself the headache of trying to prove your new address, etc. You'll get a MN drivers license if you pass your drivers test.

The other thing that you need to be aware of is that you'll need either a permit to purchase card or a permit to carry license if you wish to buy another handgun or "black rifle" after moving to MN.

[NETim]

Whatever you do, seek more training. NRA Basic Pistol is a good start. A good defensive handgun class with a good trainer is a must IMHO. Knowing how to shoot is great but knowing WHEN is even more important.

It's a massive responsibility. Treat it that way.

And my advice goes,for EVERYONE who carries.

[LMITOUT]

You are required to take a class by a certified instructor before applying for a permit to carry in MN.

Good advice, nonetheless.

[NETim]

You are required to take a class by a certified instructor before applying for a permit to carry in MN.

Good advice, nonetheless.

Same here but frankly I don't believe it's enough. Fortunately good training isn't hard to come by.

[LMITOUT]

Gotcha. I wasn't sure if NE had a similar requirement.

[Scoot]

Thanks guys- I appreciate it.

[lawdog]

Scoot you might be suprised to learn later that your MN carry permit is no good in ND. So if you plan to keep going back and forth you will need to look at a ND permit too. I know this as I frequent the inlaws in ND and checked to see if I could carry there or in my vehicle on the way up. SD yes, ND no.

[NETim]

Or you could get a non-resident Florida permit, which ND honors. The FL permit is good in many, many states. (Only thing that would be better is if you were a vehemently anti-gun mayor of SF, like say, Diane Feinstein. Of course, commoners are too inept and stupid to defend themselves with a handgun but DiFi is good to go.)

http://www.handgunlaw.us/

[Whoaru99]

Several of the classes I've looked at also offer Utah as that opens up several more states.

Picking Florida or Utah probably depends on whether or not the difference in a couple states makes a difference where you're traveling.

http://www.usacarry.com/concealed_carry_permit_reciprocity_maps.html

That link is pretty cool. You select your home residency state, then you can click other states to see what having a non-resident permit in one or more other states will allow you to do.

[Dave S]

That map is a nice tool. I do a fair amount of hunting in ND so I checked between the FL and ND CCW permit only to find that ND allows you to carry with a FL permit but there's no reciprocity in FL with a ND permit. Interesting!!!

[LMITOUT]

Maybe I'm not reading that map correctly, but a non-resident Florida permit isn't recognized in MN so that wouldn't do a MN resident much good. I've always heard of folks in MN getting the Utah permit which would allow you to carry in more states along with MN.

[Dave S]

I saw that as well. Utah or Texas is definitely the way to go for me.

[Old Dewjabber]

you may want to double check but I thought a MN resident had to have a MN permit to carry in in MN. I may be wrong, A non resident permit for a a Minnesota resident is not valid. It's the way the state keep money here if I understood it right. Also You must have a resident permit in some other states like Michigan.

Like I said, I may be wrong!!

[rockman]

Old Dewjabber, you are correct. MN resident needs a MN resident permit to carry, in order to carry a handgun in MN. My advice to the OP is if you are within decent driving distance of the MN/ND border after you move here, sign up for the non resident ND permit class, which has to be done in ND, along with taking the test, to qualify to get a ND non resident permit. The ND non resident permit covers more states than Utah, and Florida. The ND permit is way cheaper than Florida,too. If I wasn't so far from Fargo or Grand Forks, I would've went that route and gotten a ND permit, but went with a non resident Utah permit instead.