An Arizona concealed carry permit is honored in roughly 37 states, which gives Arizona CCW reciprocity one of the wider footprints in the country. Three of those states accept only the resident version of the permit, and every honoring state applies its own carry rules once you cross the line. Because Arizona itself allows permitless concealed carry for anyone 21 or older who can legally possess a firearm, the permit’s practical value is almost entirely about travel.
States That Honor an Arizona Permit
The following states recognize a valid Arizona concealed carry permit, based on the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s reciprocity records.1Arizona Department of Public Safety. Concealed Weapons and Permits Some of these states allow permitless carry for their own residents, but your Arizona permit is what makes your carrying legal as a visitor.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Colorado (resident permit only)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan (resident permit only)
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania (resident permit only)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Resident vs. Non-Resident Permits
Colorado, Michigan, and Pennsylvania only honor the Arizona resident permit. If you hold an Arizona non-resident permit and travel to any of the three, your permit is not valid there. Every other state on the list above accepts both versions.
States That Don’t Honor It
Carrying concealed in any of the following states on an Arizona permit alone would be illegal, and penalties range from misdemeanor charges to felony prosecution depending on the jurisdiction:
- California
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Washington
The District of Columbia also does not recognize Arizona permits.1Arizona Department of Public Safety. Concealed Weapons and Permits If you need to carry in one of these places, your only option is to apply for that state’s own permit where it’s available.
Why the Permit Still Matters
Many of the states on the honoring list already allow permitless carry for anyone legally able to possess a firearm, so it’s fair to ask what an Arizona CCW actually buys you. Three things.
Several permitless-carry states extend that treatment only to their own residents and still require visitors from out of state to hold a valid permit. Your Arizona CCW fills that gap. A permit also tends to speed up any law enforcement interaction, because an officer can verify your status quickly rather than working through a full background inquiry. And several states that honor the Arizona permit, including New Mexico, Virginia, and Wisconsin, have not adopted permitless carry themselves, so the permit is what makes concealed carry legal there at all.
Rules That Change at Every State Line
Reciprocity means a state recognizes your permit. It does not mean that state’s carry laws look like Arizona’s. This is where permit holders get into trouble.
Duty to Inform Law Enforcement
Some states require you to tell an officer you are carrying at the very start of any encounter, without being asked. Others only require disclosure if the officer asks. States with a mandatory, unprompted duty to inform include Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas, among others. Arizona itself only requires you to answer truthfully if asked, so the obligation is stricter in many reciprocity states than it is at home.
Magazine Capacity Limits
Arizona has no magazine capacity restrictions, but plenty of states do, and crossing into one with standard-capacity magazines can produce criminal charges even with a valid permit. Colorado caps magazines at 15 rounds. California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York set the limit at 10. Illinois draws the line at 15 rounds for handguns and 10 for long guns. Washington bans the sale of magazines holding more than 10 rounds. Check both your destination and your route before you leave.
Bars and Restaurants
Arizona lets you carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol as long as you are not drinking and the establishment has not posted a compliant no-carry sign. Roughly 15 other states prohibit concealed carry in any portion of an establishment that primarily serves alcohol for on-premises consumption. Others distinguish the dining area from the bar section. An assumption based on Arizona’s permissive rules can produce a misdemeanor or worse.
No-Firearms Signs
In Arizona, a no-guns sign on a private business generally does not carry criminal penalties by itself. Refusing to leave when asked can lead to a trespassing charge, but walking past the sign is not itself a crime in most circumstances. Other states treat posted signs very differently. In Texas, properly formatted signs citing specific statutes carry the force of law, so entering while armed is itself a criminal offense. Ohio, South Carolina, and several others also give legal weight to posted signage.
Federal Property and National Parks
No state permit overrides federal law. Firearms are prohibited in federal buildings where federal employees regularly work, with penalties of up to one year in prison for general federal facilities and up to two years for federal courthouses.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities That covers post offices, Social Security offices, VA buildings, federal courthouses, and any other federally owned or leased building. The only exemptions are for authorized law enforcement and military personnel acting in their official capacity.
National parks work differently. Federal law lets you carry in a National Park System unit as long as you comply with the laws of the state the park sits in and you are not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm.3National Park Service. Firearms in National Parks If the park is in a state that honors your Arizona permit, you can carry there. Buildings inside the park that are staffed by federal employees, such as visitor centers, still fall under the federal building prohibition.
Driving Through a State That Doesn’t Honor Your Permit
The Firearm Owners Protection Act includes a federal safe-passage protection for transporting firearms through states where you have no carry rights, as long as you can legally possess the firearm at both your origin and your destination. During transport, the firearm must be unloaded and kept where it is not readily accessible from the passenger compartment. If your vehicle has no trunk or separate cargo area, the firearm must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or center console.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
On paper the protection looks solid. In practice, courts have treated FOPA’s safe-passage provision as an affirmative defense rather than immunity from arrest, meaning you can still be detained, arrested, and forced to argue the federal protection in front of a judge later. Gun owners traveling in full compliance with the federal law have been arrested at airports in New York and New Jersey and had their firearms confiscated. If your route runs through a non-reciprocal state, plan the trip so you are genuinely passing through rather than stopping overnight, and understand that FOPA may not prevent an arrest even if it eventually gets the charges dismissed.
Keeping the List Current
Reciprocity agreements are not permanent. States add and drop agreements, change their requirements for honoring out-of-state permits, or move to permitless carry systems that shift how visiting permits get treated. The Arizona Department of Public Safety maintains a reciprocity table on its concealed weapons permit page, and that is the authoritative starting point.1Arizona Department of Public Safety. Concealed Weapons and Permits Before any trip, verify reciprocity at your destination and every state along your route, check local rules on magazine capacity and carry locations, and confirm whether you have a duty to inform.