Wyoming has Constitutional carry for residents. Like many such states, it also offers a concealed carry permit for residents seeking reciprocity in states that recognize its permit (e.g., Idaho, Montana, Utah and Colorado. where I visit family regularly). The comparison between Wyoming’s permitting process and that of my former home state of California’s drawn-out, expensive and unconstitutional process is night and day. It’s not surprising. But it is shocking.
Like California, a Wyoming concealed carry permit requires proof of firearms training. The Golden State doesn’t accept any training certificate from anyone other than an approved, in-state instructor. My certificate from the Colorado Gunfighter class, for example, didn’t apply. Wyoming accepts training certificates from any state. So I don’t have to retake the many “official” classes I was forced to spend time and money taking in California.
I’ve filled Wyoming application and had it notarized. Now all I have to do is bring my Wyoming driver’s license, a $64 cashier’s check and the certificate of completion for the Colorado course (or any of the four California required classes) to the Lincoln Sheriff’s office. I’ll be fingerprinted and photographed and a permit will be mailed to me. That’s it.
Sometime in the next few weeks, I’ll have a Wyoming CCW permit. I’m still angry that I have to buy back my right to bear arms from the government. And wonder why Constitutional Carry isn’t the law of the land throughout the United States. But at least Wyoming makes the permitting process a lot less painful than California. What’s it like in your neck of the woods?