Traveling With Guns Across State Lines: Gun Travel Checker
Pick where you start, where you're going and what you're bringing. Every state on the route is checked, with what to do before the state line.
Quick answer
- Not as packed. Colorado stops something you're bringing.
- Better route: Oklahoma, with 1 stop and 0 cautions.
- Carry in Colorado: Permit required: Shall Issue.
Source: GunPartPicker state law data, reviewed 2026-09-16. Permit reciprocity and in-car rules aren't checked yet.
Can I bring my guns from Texas to Colorado?
Your trip
What you're bringing
More options ⌄
Drives through that state's capital instead.
Used when magazines over 10 rounds is on.
Stop1 of 3 states stop something you're bringing, 1 need a change. About 915 miles.
State by state: Texas to Colorado with a gun
Other ways to drive it
- StopTX › OK › CO1 stop, 0 cautions · bestUse this route
- StopTX › OK › KS › CO1 stop, 0 cautions, about 1,063 miUse this route
- StopTX › AR › OK › CO1 stop, 0 cautionsUse this route
- StopTX › NM › CO1 stop, 1 caution, about 915 miShowing
Routes run between state capitals, so your own start and end can change the states you cross.
Carry pistol (EDC): Permitless carry (21+)
AR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: No assault weapon ban
Magazines over 10 rounds: No magazine limit
Carry pistol (EDC): Permit required: Shall IssueNew Mexico requires a permit to carry. Whether it honors yours depends on reciprocity, which this checker does not evaluate yet. Verify with the New Mexico attorney general or state police before you go.Do this: Confirm reciprocity for your permit. If it is not honored, transport unloaded and locked.
AR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: No assault weapon ban
Magazines over 10 rounds: No magazine limit
Carry pistol (EDC): Permit required: Shall IssueColorado requires a permit to carry. Whether it honors yours depends on reciprocity, which this checker does not evaluate yet. Verify with the Colorado attorney general or state police before you go.Do this: Confirm reciprocity for your permit. If it is not honored, transport unloaded and locked.
AR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: Partial restrictions: Partial (purchase permit since Aug 2026, local bans)Colorado restricts some configurations or lets localities do so. A standard AR-15 is usually fine outside the named localities or definitions; read the state page before you go.Do this: Read the state's definition and the city rules on your route.
Magazines over 10 rounds: Magazine limit 15 rounds30-round magazines are over Colorado's 15-round limit and possession is what the statute prohibits.Do this: Bring 15-round magazines and leave the 30s at home.
What to change before you leave
- Confirm reciprocity for your permit. If it is not honored, transport unloaded and locked. (New Mexico, Colorado)
- Read the state's definition and the city rules on your route. (Colorado)
- Bring 15-round magazines and leave the 30s at home. (Colorado)
Parts that make a rifle compliant for the trip: featureless grips, fixed stocks, 10 round Glock magazines.
Transporting firearms across state lines: the federal laws for the whole drive
Safe passage. 18 USC 926A lets you drive a firearm through a state where you could not otherwise have it, if it's legal where the trip starts and ends, unloaded, and locked away from the passenger compartment (a locked case or the trunk, not the glove box or console). Fuel and food stops are fine; a night in a hotel with the gun in the room is where the protection has been argued away in New Jersey and New York.
NFA items and carrying in the car ⌄
NFA items. A suppressor needs no ATF permission to travel; if you have an approved Form 4, keep a copy with it. ATF announced on October 9, 2026 that it would stop enforcing the National Firearms Act's approval, registration and tax stamp requirements for suppressors, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns and any other weapons (AOWs). This is an enforcement policy, not a change to the National Firearms Act; the law is still on the books and the policy can be reversed or challenged. An SBR, SBS or machine gun needs an approved ATF Form 5320.20 for interstate transport, and the destination state has to allow the item. Some states only allow suppressors and SBRs that are federally registered or possessed in compliance with federal law. Check your state's statute before you buy. Safe passage doesn't cover a device the transit state bans as a device (a forced reset trigger in a locked case is still a forced reset trigger).
Carry in the car. Safe passage covers transport. Carry is a separate question. A loaded pistol in the console is carry, and the transit state's carry law decides whether that's legal. In permitless states it usually is. In permit states your reciprocity decides, and in the ten states that honor no other permit it isn't.
What this checker does not cover yet
- Carry permit reciprocity. The ten states that honor no permit are flagged; every other permit state is marked verify.
- In-car rules on where a loaded gun or ammunition may ride. Only federal safe passage is applied.
- City ordinances such as Chicago, Denver, Boulder and Columbus.
- Washington, DC, and hunting, range or competition exemptions.
Not legal advice. Based on state law data reviewed 2026-09-16; laws change and courts revive them. Confirm with the state attorney general or state police, and a lawyer where it matters, before you travel. Every state links to its full gun law page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I drive through a state where my gun is illegal?
Usually yes, under federal safe passage (18 USC 926A): if you may legally possess the gun where the trip starts and ends, it's unloaded, and neither it nor the ammunition is reachable from the passenger compartment (locked case or trunk, not the glove box), you may transport it through. It has to stay a trip. Overnight stays with the gun in the room are where New Jersey and New York have prosecuted anyway, and a device the state bans as a device, such as a forced reset trigger, gets no protection.
Do I need ATF permission to take a suppressor across state lines?
No. A suppressor needs no ATF approval to cross state lines; if you have an approved Form 4, carry a copy. An SBR, SBS or machine gun needs an approved ATF Form 5320.20 before the trip, permanent or temporary, and the destination state has to allow the item. Some states only allow suppressors and SBRs that are federally registered or possessed in compliance with federal law. Check your state's statute before you buy.
Can I fly with a gun?
In checked baggage only: unloaded, in a locked hard sided case that only you can open, declared at check in. Ammunition also goes checked, in its original box or a container made for it; most airlines cap it at 11 pounds. The destination's law applies when you land, which is how travelers get arrested at New York and New Jersey airports with legally checked guns and non compliant magazines.
Does my carry permit work in another state?
It depends on reciprocity, which changes often and which this checker doesn't evaluate yet. Permitless states let anyone who may legally possess a handgun carry, subject to their age rule. Ten states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island) honor no out of state permit. Everywhere else, verify with the state before you go.
What happens to my 30 round magazines in a 10 round state?
It depends on whether the statute bans possession or only sale. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York ban possession, so bringing them in is the offense; safe passage covers a locked, continuous drive through and nothing more. Washington bans manufacture, sale and transfer only, so bringing your own is legal and buying replacements isn't. The checker reads the statute type from the state data and says which.
Is a braced AR pistol legal to travel with?
Federally it's a pistol again after the 2023 brace rule was vacated in 2024. States with assault weapon bans define AR pistols with a pistol grip and a detachable magazine as assault weapons, brace or not, so the same states that stop a rifle stop the braced pistol.
Which states ban hollow points?
New Jersey is the one that matters: hollow point possession is restricted outside the home and direct transport to a range, a purchase or a hunt, so a defensive load in a carried or vehicle gun is a separate charge. Swap to non hollow point loads for New Jersey or keep them boxed and locked with the gun.
Is this legal advice?
No. It's a planning summary of state law data reviewed in 2026. Statutes change, courts stay and revive them, and enforcement differs from the text. Confirm with the destination state and a lawyer where the answer matters.
Cite this tool: GunPartPicker, “Traveling With Guns Across State Lines: Gun Travel Checker”, https://gunpartpicker.net/tools/gun-travel-checker. State law data reviewed 2026-09-16. Free to cite with attribution.
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