The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, or H.R. 218, allows all sworn all sworn law enforcement officers to carry a concealed firearm, anywhere in the country…or does it? Actually, no. It allows some law enforcement officers to carry in some places, some of the the time.
There is a lot of mistaken information out there about H.R. 218. I have located three court cases where law enforcement officers were prosecuted for weapons charges and H.R. 218 exonerated them: two in New York, one in Utah [Ed. note: the third case was in South Dakota, not Utah]. Knowing the specifics of what H.R. 218 really says is critical to staying in compliance and legally carrying a firearm out of state to protect yourself and your family.
Detailed information on the Act along with recent updates can be found here:
- Improvements to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act
- Q&A on LEOSA
- LEOSA Does Not Exempt on School Grounds
Stay safe!
Richard is a police officer with a medium sized, central Florida department, and previously worked for a Metro-Atlanta agency. He has served as a field training officer, court officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, watch commander, commander of a field training and evaluation program, and general pain in the butt to management-types looking to cut training hours.
Related posts:
New York, I understand. But where can I read about the Utah case? I am an Officer in Utah and was not aware of it. Utah is one of the most “gun friendly” states and I find that hard to believe that an Officer carrying under HR218 was the only reason he was prosecuted.
Oscar319,
Thanks for the catch…the third case was not Utah. It was South Dakota.
–Richard
The details of the South Dakota case are at http://www.lawofficer.com:80/news-and-articles/articles/lom/0501/hr_218_preempts_south_dakota_prosecution.html.
We posted an article outlining the major issues of HR 218 at http://www.spartancops.com/when-and-where-can-a-police-officer-carry-a-gun-while-traveling-hr-218-explained/.
Thanks for your useful blog.
Scott
Copy that. I was worried. Here is an example of HR218 saving the day in Utah. http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Off-Duty-Chicago-Officer-Stops-Attack/1$43252
What about provisions to allow average citizens to carry their firearms? Its been proven that in areas where gun control is lax, crime is less prevalent. I think any member of the public has just as much of a right to defend themselves and their family as do a police officer.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for stopping by and participating. I don’t know how long you have been reading, but I don’t think you could find a stronger supporter of -all- citizens carrying firearms. This specific post was about one aspect of concealed carry, which I hope one day will expand to a nationwide reciprocity law for all citizens.
In fact, here is one of my quotes on the subject:
“It is my belief that every U.S. citizen has the right to own, possess, and carry in an open or concealed manner a firearm.
No permitting or licensing is required, or even legal, for any other constitutional right, and likewise there should be no licensing or permitting associated with the purchase, possession, or carrying of firearms.
All of the laws we have on the books today do not prevent a convicted felon from obtaining a firearm, so clearly the licensing schemes don’t work. So why waste time and effort on continuing efforts that do not work?
Keep the laws making it illegal for a felon to be in possession of a firearm, but how about leaving the rest of society alone?“
–Richard