CCW & Guns in General Traveling to Georgia & Back

[CrufflerSteve]

Next week I have to drive to Savannah, Georgia for my wife's daughter's college graduation. Then we haul all her stuff back. We tried alternatives but the most economical way is to drive my truck and bring a U-haul trailer back.

Looking at the route if I head south on an interstate around Wichita into Oklahoma I avoid Kansas City & St Louis and most importantly Illinois. It only adds a few miles and I've sold it to the wife as missing the big cities. It also keeps me in CCW reciprocity states for the whole trip. I do want to carry since I have seen creepy people around interstates and I worry especially traveling with a trailer.

Any advice on any issues with packing all this way? I'll be in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama & Georgia. I am so looking forward to all those gas stops!

Steve

[CUatTheEnd]

www.handgunlaw.us (http://www.handgunlaw.us/) is a great state-by-state resource.

[TFOGGER]

Know the local laws before you go. I did most of that trip coming back from Atlanta last November, and if I remember right, Arkansas and Oklahoma had some kind of quirky regs. Handgunlaw.us is a good resource, as is usacarry.com.

[gcrookston]

Driven this route many times and lived in half a dozen places along the way (TX, LA, MS, AL)... It's also probably the faster route...

I-25 S to Raton,
87 E to Amarillo
I-40 E to 287 (just outside Amarillo)
287 to Decatur
380 to Denton
35E to 635 (east)
635 to 80
80 to I-20 (east)
I-20 /59/ I-20 to Atlanta


Clean Sailing all the way. Behave yourself in Louisiana. LHP can be pretty tough on out of staters (I lived in Shreveport for 6 years).

I-20 is a high traffic drug corridor, but is safe and heavily traveled by law enforcement. Most states along the way have troopers working in pairs, usually within 5 miles of each other.

Colorado is pretty snooty about reciprocity for CCW, so most of these states you can't carry legally in, but you can travel with a weapon in your car (use common sense and keep it out of sight).

[CrufflerSteve]

gcrookston,

I doubt if I'll go your way. It seems a bit further. Cutting south in Kansas adds about 50 miles to avoid going through St Louis. Your way adds another 50 and the trip planner still suggests going through Arkansas. I agree with that. I want to avoid Illinois where the 2nd amendment doesn't exist and I also want to avoid Louisiana. I used to work a job where I spent a lot of time in Dallas & Houston. The people there had horror stories about rural sheriffs in Louisiana. A few people had cars confiscated over BS and it cost a lot to get them back.

www.handgunlaw.us does show CCW reciprocity in all the states I travel through. I'll read more to look for any 'Yes, but' features. I really hope there is full reciprocity in Georgia. We'll be spending a day or two loading a trailer in Savannah which is a high crime city.

Steve

[Monky]

I've spent a lot of time in GA w/ a CO permit... never had any issues. [Beer]

[BlasterBob]

Steve, to avoid having to spend ANY down time on the shoulder of the roads, just make damn sure the rental trailer tires especially are in really good condition and that a spare is available in unlikely event of a flat or blowout. You are correct in that you sure want to say out of Illinois. That State is the shitz when it comes to transporting firearms. Enjoy the trip and those fuel prices.

[Irving]

Do you have any road side assistance?

[gcrookston]

gcrookston,

I doubt if I'll go your way. It seems a bit further. Cutting south in Kansas adds about 50 miles to avoid going through St Louis. Your way adds another 50 and the trip planner still suggests going through Arkansas. I agree with that. I want to avoid Illinois where the 2nd amendment doesn't exist and I also want to avoid Louisiana. I used to work a job where I spent a lot of time in Dallas & Houston. The people there had horror stories about rural sheriffs in Louisiana. A few people had cars confiscated over BS and it cost a lot to get them back.

www.handgunlaw.us (http://www.handgunlaw.us) does show CCW reciprocity in all the states I travel through. I'll read more to look for any 'Yes, but' features. I really hope there is full reciprocity in Georgia. We'll be spending a day or two loading a trailer in Savannah which is a high crime city.

Steve


Steve,

You can also take a Right at St. Louis, head south on 55 to Cape Giradeau, 57 to 24 to 75 into Atlanta. That's about 24 hrs driving time, about the same as going Ill across and down and faster than cutting down at Salina. Taking a right at Salina down to Oklahoma City will add an hour, but you'll loose it again going through Littlerock and and another 45min to an hour going through Memphis as there are current road projects in and around both towns. St.Lo and KC are terrible, even on good days (or nights), but that's the nature of their systems.

Although TX is further, you don't have as many towns to slow down through. I-20 in LA is a lot better than I-10. The horror stories you've heard about rural LA cops, when true, have taken place on I-10 and I-49. But by and large, most of that nonsense went away after 60 minutes did a piece on Louisiana a few years back (at one point arresting officers were allowed to keep the cars they stopped containing drugs as a kind of bonus, but no longer).

TN does not have reciprocity with CO unless they changed after the first of the year. I am a TN HCP holder and thought about getting my CO DL & permit when I got here last summer but decided against it as I'm not going to pay that much to become a permanent resident.

[CrufflerSteve]

Do you have any road side assistance?

I have a somewhat deluxe AAA. My truck tires and the spare are in great shape and its been serviced recently and I had them check for issues and they found none.

Steve

[Irving]

AAA doesn't cover any trailers unless you have Plus RV coverage. If you do have Plus RV, then they only cover trailers that have either running water or living quarters. Just so you know.

[CrufflerSteve]

AAA doesn't cover any trailers unless you have Plus RV coverage. If you do have Plus RV, then they only cover trailers that have either running water or living quarters. Just so you know.

The convoy back will include a car so we can work on problems and guard the trailer. I assume the trailer rental will have an ehorbitant service which I will pay for.

Steve