Arizona lets you carry without a permit. Here is what most gun owners learn too late.
If you are 21 or older in Arizona, you can carry a concealed handgun with no permit and no class. That has been the law since 2010. Most Arizona gun owners know this part. Fewer know what happens the moment they drive across a state line.
Your carry rights stop at the border
Arizona's permitless carry is an Arizona law. It has no effect anywhere else. Drive to Utah for a weekend, through Oklahoma to see family, or up to Missouri, and your legal right to carry does not come with you.
Those states do let you carry. They just want to see a permit they recognize. Without one, you are carrying illegally the second you cross the line, and nobody stops you at the border to explain that.
This is the part people get wrong. They assume carry rights work like a driver license, honored everywhere. They do not. Every state decides for itself which permits it accepts, and Arizona's no-permit rule is not a permit at all.
What the law actually says if you get caught
Penalties vary by state. In most states, carrying concealed without a permit that state recognizes is charged as a misdemeanor, which can still mean up to a year in jail and a fine. In some states, or when other factors are involved, it is charged as a felony.
The part that hurts longest is not the fine. A felony conviction means you lose the right to own a firearm at all, permanently. One wrong state line can end your ability to be a gun owner.
You have two honest options
If you want to carry legally outside Arizona, you need a permit that other states recognize. There are two realistic paths, and they suit different people.
Arizona's own permit (CWP)
- Requires an approved firearms safety course
- In person training with a certified instructor
- Fingerprints and a state application
- Recognized in more states than a non-resident permit
Best if you want the widest coverage and do not mind the class.
A non-resident permit
- Recognized in 20 states
- No class required, training is optional
- Submitted by mail, done from home
- No range day, no instructor to schedule
Best if you want travel coverage without sitting in a classroom.
Being straight with you: Arizona's own permit is honored in more states than the non-resident permit. If maximum coverage is what you care about, that is the better product. The non-resident permit wins on one thing only, and it is a real thing. You do not have to take a class, book a range day, or schedule anything. You fill out an application and mail it.
Want to see which states you would be covered in? Checking is free and takes about a minute.
Check your coverage free →Sponsored partner. You see the exact cost before you pay anything.
Can I just do this myself?
Yes. Nothing about this is a secret. The permit exists, the application is public, and if you want to work out which non-resident permit fits your travel, gather what it asks for, and mail it in yourself, that is a real option and nobody is stopping you.
Most people do not. Not because they cannot, but because "figure it out myself" has to compete with work, family, and the trip you are already trying to plan. The paperwork goes on the kitchen counter. Six months later it is still there and you are still carrying illegally every time you cross a line.
It is the same reason people pay someone to do their taxes when the forms are free. What you are paying for is that it actually gets done, without you holding the whole process in your head. If you would rather handle it yourself, handle it yourself. Just actually handle it.
How to tell a real permit from a certificate scam
There is real fraud in this corner of the market. You should know how to spot it before you spend a dollar anywhere, including here.
Some companies sell an online course and hand you a certificate of completion. A certificate is not a permit. It only proves you sat through a class. The Second Amendment Foundation and national press have written up operations that let buyers believe otherwise, and people have ended up carrying illegally because they thought a certificate was a license.
Four things to check on any offer, ours included
- 1. Is it a permit or a certificate? A permit is issued by a government. A certificate is printed by a company. Only one of them is what a trooper is looking for.
- 2. Do they tell you plainly what you receive? A straight offer says you are applying for a state issued permit and tells you what actually arrives. A scam stays vague, leans on words like "certification," and blurs the line between a class you passed and a license you hold.
- 3. Do they show you the states that do NOT honor it? Anyone claiming coverage in all 50 states is lying. No permit is honored everywhere, and some states only accept a permit from your own home state. Our map below shows both sides on purpose.
- 4. Are they selling you a loophole or a brand new law? "A new bill just passed" and "legal loophole" are marketing stories. Permit law does not work that way, and urgency built on a fake deadline is the clearest scam signal there is.
What this is: an application for a non-resident concealed carry permit issued by a state and honored in 20 states. It is not a course certificate. We do not claim it covers everywhere, and the map on this page shows exactly where it does and does not work.
Who the non-resident permit is not for
It does not help you carry at home. You already carry free in Arizona, so this adds nothing there. It also is not honored everywhere. California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado do not recognize it, so if your only trips are to Vegas or San Diego, this permit does not solve your problem and you should not buy it.
Worth knowing, and we would rather tell you than sell you: several states honor only a permit issued by your own home state. For some of those, Arizona's own permit works where this one does not. If your trips are to states this permit does not cover, check that state's official page and consider the Arizona permit instead. California honors no outside permit at all, so nothing solves that one.
The map below shows exactly which states accept it and which do not. We show both on purpose.
Where this permit covers you
Recognized in 20 states, plus 5 more where no permit is needed. Tap a state to check it.
Source: the partner's state-acceptance list. Some states set their own permitless carry rules that may differ. Reciprocity changes, so verify a state's current law before you travel.
Some states only honor a permit issued by your own home state. That is one reason a non-resident permit does not cover everywhere, and why we show you the states it does not cover.
Why timing matters more than people think
Three real reasons not to sit on this. First, the application is submitted by mail and processing takes time. If you have a trip in a few weeks, starting today matters and starting the week before does not work.
Second, reciprocity is not fixed. States add and drop recognition of other permits, and the list you check today is not guaranteed to be the list next year. Always verify a state before you travel.
Third, permitless carry exists because a legislature passed it, and a legislature can change it. A permit already in your hand does not disappear with the next session.
What happens if you apply
- 1. You answer a few questions on our partner's application page.
- 2. No class and no range day. Training is optional.
- 3. Your application is submitted by mail.
- 4. You see the exact cost before you pay anything.
Check your options free
RushMyConceal handles the application for a non-resident concealed carry permit recognized in 20 states. By mail, no class required. It costs nothing to see where you stand.
Get covered when you travel →RushMyConceal is a paid partner and we may earn a commission if you use their service. That never changes what we tell you about the law.
General information, not legal advice. Compiled from state statutes and official state law enforcement and attorney general reciprocity pages. Last reviewed Q3 2026. Reciprocity changes, so confirm any state with its official source before you travel. GoConcealedCarry is a private educational and referral service, not a government agency. We do not issue permits.