Gun Tools/Legal/Updated September 15, 2026
Traveling With Guns Across State Lines: Gun Travel Checker
Can I bring my gun to another state? Pick where you start, where you are going and what is coming along: carry pistol, AR-15, magazines, suppressor, SBR, brace, forced reset or binary trigger, hollow points. Every state on the route is checked for transporting firearms across state lines: magazine limits, assault weapon bans, NFA rules, carry permit type and trigger bans, with what to do before the state line.
Quick answer
- Driving from Texas to Colorado by road, about 915 miles capital to capital, passes through New Mexico. With carry pistol (edc), ar-15 or other semi-auto rifle, magazines over 10 rounds: 1 of 3 states on the route is a hard stop, 1 is a caution.
- Colorado: magazine limit 15 rounds.
- Carry in Colorado: Permit required: Shall Issue.
- Rules reviewed 2026-09-15 from the GunPartPicker state law data. Carry permit reciprocity and vehicle transport details are not checked yet; verify those with the state.
Source: GunPartPicker catalog and build data, prices checked September 15, 2026
Can I bring my guns from Texas to Colorado?
Pick the trip and what is coming along. Every state on the route is checked against its magazine limit, assault weapon ban, NFA rules, carry permit type, trigger bans and ammunition rules, with what to do before the state line.
Trip
The route follows real roads between the two state capitals. Add a state to drive through its capital instead.
What you are bringing
Only used when magazines over 10 rounds is on.
Verdict
Stop
at least one state says no
States on the route, 915 mi
3
Texas, New Mexico, Colorado
Hard stops
1
states where something you bring is prohibited
Cautions
1
states with a rule to verify or a change to make
State by state: Texas to Colorado with a gun
In driving order along the road route between the state capitals, about 915 miles. Transit states get the federal safe passage note; the destination is where you stay, so its rules apply in full.
Alternate driving routes between Texas and Colorado
Road routes are real drives between the two state capitals; corridor routes are the other border chains a drive can take. Each is scored for what you are bringing. Pick the one that matches your highway and the map and state list follow it.
- StopTX › NM › COroad route, about 915 miles, 3 states, 1 stop, 1 cautionShowing
- StopTX › OK › KS › COroad route, about 1,063 miles, 4 states, 1 stop, 0 cautionsUse this road route →
- StopTX › OK › COcorridor, 3 states, 1 stop, 0 cautionsUse this corridor →
- StopTX › AR › OK › COcorridor, 4 states, 1 stop, 0 cautionsUse this corridor →
- StopTX › NM › AZ › COcorridor, 4 states, 1 stop, 1 cautionUse this corridor →
Road routes were computed once between the state capitals and follow real highways; your own start and end points can put you in a different state near a border, so check the map against your plan. Corridor routes come from which states share a border.
ClearCarry pistol (EDC): Permitless carry: Permitless (21+)
Texas lets anyone who may legally possess a handgun carry it without a permit, subject to the age in the rule. Prohibited places and duty to inform still apply.
ClearAR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: No assault weapon ban
Texas does not regulate semi-auto rifles by feature.
ClearMagazines over 10 rounds: No magazine limit
30-round magazines are legal in Texas.
CautionCarry pistol (EDC): Permit required: Shall Issue
New 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.
ClearAR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: No assault weapon ban
New Mexico does not regulate semi-auto rifles by feature.
ClearMagazines over 10 rounds: No magazine limit
30-round magazines are legal in New Mexico.
CautionCarry pistol (EDC): Permit required: Shall Issue
Colorado 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.
CautionAR-15 or other semi-auto rifle: Partial restrictions: Partial (local)
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.
StopMagazines over 10 rounds: Magazine limit 15 rounds
30-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
Every action the route asked for, once, with the states that asked for it.
- 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
Transporting firearms across state lines: the federal laws for the whole drive
Safe passage. 18 USC 926A lets you transport a firearm through a state where you could not otherwise possess it, if you may legally have it where the trip starts and ends, it is unloaded, and neither the gun nor the ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment (locked container, not the glove box or console, or the trunk). The trip has to be a trip. Fuel and food 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. A suppressor needs no ATF permission to travel; carry a copy of the approved Form 4. An SBR, SBS or machine gun needs an approved ATF Form 5320.20 for interstate transport, permanent or temporary, and the destination state has to allow the item. Safe passage does not 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 is transport, not carry. A loaded pistol in the console is carry, and the transit state's carry law decides whether that is legal. In permitless states it usually is; in permit states your reciprocity decides; in the ten states that honor no other permit it is not.
What this checker does not cover yet
- Carry permit reciprocity. Which states honor your permit changes often. The checker flags the ten states that honor none and treats every other permit state as verify.
- Vehicle transport details. Whether a loaded gun may ride in the console, and where ammunition has to be, differs by state. Only the federal safe passage rule is applied.
- City ordinances. Chicago, Denver, Boulder, Columbus and others have their own rules inside states that otherwise allow a part.
- Washington, DC, which is not in the state data and has some of the strictest rules in the country.
- Hunting, range and competition exemptions that some states write into their bans.
Not legal advice
This checker summarizes state law data reviewed on 2026-09-15 for planning. Laws change, courts stay and revive them, and how a statute is enforced can differ from how it reads. It is not legal advice. Confirm with the destination state's attorney general or state police, and a lawyer where the answer matters, before you travel with a firearm. Each state row links to the full state 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 is 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 travels on its 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.
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 does not 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 is not. The checker reads the statute type from the state data and says which.
Is a braced AR pistol legal to travel with?
Federally it is 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 is 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. Data from the GunPartPicker catalog and real community builds, prices checked September 15, 2026. Free to cite with attribution.
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