Long session out of Austin this year. If you're in Texas or carry there regularly, these changes are worth knowing before you assume something's legal that wasn't before — or vice versa. "Texas eliminating its state charge gives you zero protection from federal prosecution. The only thing SB 1596 actually did is remove the possibility of a state charge stacking on top of a federal charge." This is the part that's going to get people in trouble if they skim the headline and stop reading. SBRs and SBSs still require the full NFA process — Form 4, $200 stamp, the wait. What changed is that a Texas DA can't pile a state charge on top of what the feds are already doing to you. That's meaningful if you're a registered NFA owner, but it's not a free pass to chop barrels. "Texas already had some form of agreement with all but four states and several American territories before this bill passed. SB 706 adds to that framework." If you hold a Texas LTC and travel with your carry gun, the reciprocity picture just got slightly better. Worth pulling up the current DPS list before your next road trip — reciprocity agreements can shift independent of what any bill says, and the receiving state's laws still govern what you can and can't do once you cross the line. "HB 668 extends that deadline to the first anniversary of the expiration date — so if your license expired in March, you now have until the following March to renew without going through the full application process again." This one's quiet but practical. Life gets busy — people let renewals slip, especially if they're relying mostly on constitutional carry day to day. A full year grace period means one less situation where someone finds out their LTC lapsed right when it actually matters, like driving into a campus carry scenario or crossing into a reciprocity state. "College campuses are a special case — permitless carry does not apply there. Only LTC holders can carry concealed on public university and community college campuses." This catches people off guard more than almost anything else in Texas carry law. Constitutional carry covers a lot of ground, but the moment you step onto a university campus, the LTC requirement kicks back in — and open carry is off the table entirely regardless of what's in your wallet. Worth knowing before move-in weekend or a football game. For the Texas folks — have you run into any real-world friction at the LGS counter or range over the SBR/SBS change? Curious whether dealers are fielding a lot of questions from people who think SB 1596 means they can skip the Form 4. Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Oregon gun owners have been living with a law that passed in 2022 and still hasn't taken effect for a single day. That's not a typo — Measure 114 has been tied up in courts since before the votes were even certified, and the Legislature just pushed the implementation date to 2028. If you travel to Oregon or buy guns there, this is worth understanding. "Measure 114 was approved by Oregon voters on November 8, 2022, passing 50.65% to 49.35% — about as narrow a margin as you can get." Half a percent. That's the margin that would require Oregon residents to get a permit — including fingerprints, safety course completion, and up to $150 in fees — before buying any firearm. Worth noting that "the voters decided" carries a lot less weight when it's basically a coin flip. "HB 4145 B-Engrossed moves the implementation date of the Ballot Measure to January 1, 2028, the gun control is delayed, but intact." That's the NRA-ILA being unusually direct. The Legislature didn't water it down — they just bought more time. The permit fee actually went up from $65 to $150 under the new bill, and the processing window doubled to 60 days. So if this thing ever does go live, it costs more and takes longer than originally written. "Anyone who legally possesses a magazine holding more than 10 rounds before January 2027 — or before an affirmative Oregon Supreme Court ruling, whichever comes first — would not face legal consequences under HB 4145." That grandfathering language matters if you have Oregon family, hunt there regularly, or keep a truck gun set up for traveling through the state. The window is narrower than it sounds — the magazine ban has an earlier effective date than the permit requirement, and it's contingent on a court ruling that hasn't come down yet. "A permit can be revoked mid-term if you are arrested or cited for a crime that would have disqualified you from receiving one." Cited — not convicted. That's a meaningful distinction. An arrest or citation for a qualifying offense can pull your permit while the underlying charge is still working through the courts. That's the kind of detail that doesn't make the news coverage but absolutely matters on the back end. For Idaho shooters specifically: if you cross into Oregon with standard-capacity magazines, you're currently legal because the law is blocked. But the Oregon Supreme Court ruling is still pending, and the magazine ban timeline is separate from the permit-to-purchase timeline. This situation can change faster than a court docket update hits the news cycle. Has anyone here adjusted their travel or carry setup when running through Oregon over the past couple years — and how are you tracking the court status to know when that might need to change again? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Long article, so there's a lot to chew on here. The $200 NFA tax is gone as of January 1st — but if you think that means walking into your dealer and walking out with a can the same day, you're going to be disappointed at the counter. "The registration and duplicative background check requirements for the purchase of a firearm suppressor, SBS or SBR remain intact for now." The bureaucracy is still fully intact. You're still filling out the e-Form, still waiting on ATF approval, still doing the fingerprints and photos. The only thing that changed is you're not writing a $200 check. That's a real win, but it's not the same as buying a muzzle brake. "The ATF reported approximately 150,000 e-Form submissions on January 1, 2026 alone — a single day. For context, typical daily e-Form volume for suppressors, SBRs, and SBSs previously hovered around 2,500 submissions per day." A 60x spike on a single day. If your wait times were already measured in months, I wouldn't hold your breath for a quick turnaround on anything submitted in January. ATF was already slow on a normal Tuesday. "If you buy a suppressor after HPA passage, you walk in, fill out a 4473, pass a NICS check, and walk out. Same as buying a rifle." The Hearing Protection Act is the one that actually matters for the process — not just the tax. The reconciliation bill was the appetizer. HPA passage would be the actual meal. It's still sitting in committee, so don't rearrange your safe yet. "These state sovereignty bills are legally contested territory. The theory that states can exempt locally manufactured goods from federal regulation has not been definitively upheld by federal courts. If you're buying or manufacturing under one of these frameworks, talk to an attorney before proceeding." Missouri and Oklahoma are both swinging for the fences here, and I get the appeal — but this is exactly the kind of thing that sounds great at the gun shop counter and gets someone in real trouble before the courts sort it out. The "Made in Missouri" stamp isn't a magic shield. For those of you who've already submitted an e-Form since January 1st — what are you seeing for wait times, and did your dealer have any issues processing the $0 tax stamp on the NFA paperwork? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

The permitless carry map has been moving steadily for four decades, and 2026 is no exception. Twenty-nine states now — that's not a political talking point, that's a real shift in how most of the country treats the right to carry. Worth understanding what's actually changed and what's just noise. "Constitutional carry doesn't mean carry anywhere — it means carry without a permission slip from the state. Federal restrictions don't disappear because your state went permitless." This trips people up more than anything. I've heard guys at the range act like constitutional carry is some kind of blanket authorization. It isn't. You're still prohibited if you're prohibited, and the post office is still off-limits whether you live in Vermont or California. "Even in these states, many gun owners still get a permit. A state-issued concealed carry permit gives you reciprocity when crossing state lines — permitless carry status doesn't travel with you." If you drive anywhere outside Idaho with your carry gun and you don't have the enhanced permit, you're gambling. I've had this exact conversation at the counter at RSOP more than once — someone thinks their Idaho constitutional carry covers them through Nevada or Utah. It doesn't work that way. Get the permit anyway. "It's clear that there is a power to prohibit guns on school grounds, and the real question is just how broad that power is." — Joseph Blocher, Duke Law This is the honest answer, and I appreciate that a law professor said it plainly instead of pretending the doctrine is settled. Student housing, parking lots, research buildings on the edge of campus — none of that has been litigated clearly under Bruen. The campus carry fights happening right now in six states are going to generate the case law that actually answers this question. Could take a decade. "The Founders established a national right to keep and bear arms, not to ask for permission from hostile local officials or risk imprisonment for crossing the wrong state line." — Sen. Mike Lee The sentiment is right, but the article also says clearly — this is a bill, not a law, and it's the same federal push that went nowhere in 2024. Worth watching, not worth changing your carry setup over. Plan around what's on the books now. For those of you who are in permitless carry states and still got your permit anyway — what was the deciding factor? Reciprocity, the training requirement, something else? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Washington's 2026 hunting regulations aren't a minor calendar shuffle — there are structural changes in here that affect how you plan your eastern Washington deer season, what you can legally bring back across state lines, and how the big game raffle and auction programs actually function. "If you hunt deer, elk, or moose in any WDFW management region where CWD has been detected, you're now required to submit a sample of the animal for testing." Mandatory sampling is a different world than voluntary incentive tags — and the incentive tags are gone precisely because the voluntary program is over. If your eastern Washington deer plan relied on picking up a CWD incentive multi-season tag, that slot in your strategy is empty now. "You cannot bring whole carcasses into Washington. This applies to deer, elk, moose, or caribou harvested or salvaged outside of Washington as well." This one catches out-of-state hunters who cross into Idaho or Montana, pile a whole deer in the truck bed, and drive home thinking they're fine. You're not fine. Know what you can and can't bring back before you're standing at the tailgate in a WDFW Region 1 parking lot explaining yourself. "Possession of naturally shed antlers of deer, elk, or moose is not prohibited unless the shed antlers were retrieved, collected, or possessed while trespassing on closed public lands or department-controlled lands." The clarification here is straightforward — legal access makes the sheds legal. But "closed WDFW lands" is a broader category than some people realize. If you're doing any shed hunting near department-controlled parcels on the coast or in central Washington, pull the boundary maps before you hike in. "WDFW is removing most of the prescriptive, contract-specific language from both WACs and moving it into agency guidance documents instead. The rationale is that rigid WAC language was creating compliance problems for staff-limited non-governmental organizations that run these programs on the department's behalf." This is actually a reasonable fix — making the conservation organizations that run raffle and auction programs navigate a full WAC rulemaking cycle every time something needed updating was a problem waiting to happen. Guidance documents aren't perfect, but they're functional. If you've drawn a bighorn sheep tag or applied for one — or if you're watching the mountain goat or moose permit structure in a specific GMU — what's your read on how WDFW has been managing permit numbers relative to actual population data you're seeing in the field? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Oregon redrew the entire eastern mule deer map for 2026 — not a tweak, a full replacement. If you hunted eastern Oregon deer last year and plan to apply for the same tags this spring, read carefully before you assume anything carries over. "ODFW essentially deleted most previous mule deer hunts and replaced them with new ones. If you are planning to apply for the same area you hunted in 2025, you need to verify the new hunt that covers your preferred ground before the application deadline." This is the kind of change that catches people off guard in March when draw results come back wrong. The unit you've been building points for may now be split into two or three areas — or reclassified entirely for a different weapon type or species. Pull up that interactive map at myodfw.com before you put in your application. "Of the 22 identified herds, 14 are classified as 'extreme concern' and 5 at 'very high concern.'" That's 19 of 22 herds in serious trouble. The tag cuts make sense in that context — but it also means eastern Oregon mule deer hunting is genuinely in a rough stretch, not just bureaucratic caution. A 171,700 animal estimate with that many herds flagged is not a population that's quietly recovering. "It is unlawful to hunt, locate, or scout, for the purpose of hunting any wildlife with infrared, including thermal, or any other 'night vision' sight or equipment except trail cameras." The specific callout that a thermal device attached to a scope is illegal even when powered off is worth noting. If you run a thermal for coyotes or cats and then switch over to big game hunting the same day, that device needs to come off the gun — not just get switched off. OSP seized 14 thermal units in one bust in Clackamas County last December, so they're clearly paying attention to this. If you've hunted eastern Oregon mule deer in the last few years — what area were you in, and have you figured out yet which new Deer Hunt Area covers your ground? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Nevada's draw system has enough moving parts to trip up experienced hunters, and 2026 added a few new wrinkles worth knowing before you submit anything. "Moose and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep tags are available to residents only in 2026." Non-residents who've been stacking bonus points for either of those species just had their plans reshuffled. Worth a call to NDOW before you assume last year's strategy still applies. "If you skip applying for a species for two consecutive years when a season is available, you forfeit all accumulated points for that species." This is the kind of rule that quietly wrecks a decade of patience. If you're sitting on points for something you've been putting off, that clock is running whether you're paying attention or not. "Miss that deadline and you're locked out of all big game tags for one year — unless you pay a $50 fine and complete the questionnaire at www.ndowlicensing.com before the close of the 2026 main draw period." The harvest reporting deadline bites people every single year — not because they're dishonest, just because January 31 sneaks up after the holidays. Set a phone reminder now and save yourself a year of waiting. "Bonus points reset to zero when you draw or purchase a tag." The squaring formula makes those accumulated points genuinely powerful, so drawing on a unit you're lukewarm about can cost you more than just a tag fee. It's worth being selective about which five units you list and in what order. Anyone here hunting Nevada big game this year — what species are you in the draw for, and how many points are you sitting on going into 2026? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Utah made some real changes for 2026, and a couple of them will catch people flat-footed if they don't pay attention before the season opens. "The most important factors that drive population size are the survival rates of adult does, fawn production and fawn survival. The way we hunt buck deer in Utah doesn't drive deer populations, but what happens with deer populations drives how we hunt buck deer." — DWR Big Game Coordinator Mike Wardle Worth letting that sink in for anyone who grumbles about antlerless permits or herd management decisions. The buck harvest is downstream of everything else — doe survival, fawn recruitment, winter severity. Biologists catching heat from hunters about permit numbers are usually pointing at the right data. A hunting or fishing license or free digital access permit registration will be required to enter Utah Wildlife Management Areas, with the requirement expanding statewide by July 2028. This one affects more than just hunters. If you've been using Utah WMAs for a dog walk or shed hunting and never thought twice about a license, that's changing — though the free digital permit option keeps it from being a hard barrier. The phased rollout gives people time, but 2028 will be here fast. Late report (submitted after 30 days from hunt end): $50 fee. No report at all: Ineligible to apply for big game and antlerless hunts for one year. The first year of mandatory reporting had no financial teeth — this year it does. If you hunted Utah in 2025 and let your harvest survey slide, you can still fix it with the $50 fee before it costs you your 2026 application eligibility. That's not a complicated fix, but you have to know it exists. The e-tagging option through the Utah Hunting and Fishing app auto-completes the survey on harvest — for anyone who's hunted with paper tags their whole life, that alone is worth the five minutes to set up before you leave the trailhead. Anyone run into issues with the new utahdraws.com vendor yet, or successfully used the e-tag system in the field? Curious whether the app holds up in spotty canyon service. Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Montana hunting regs don't usually change this dramatically in a single cycle. Between the legislature, the commission's December meeting, and a complete overhaul of how you buy a license, 2026 is genuinely different — not "read the fine print" different, but "your whole plan might be wrong" different. "It's true, some of these changes will reduce revenue coming to FWP from license sales, but when it comes down to it, this is about protecting the resource, not revenue." — FWP Director Christy Clark That's a direct statement from a fish and wildlife director, and it's not one you hear often. Dropping the resident deer license cap from eight to three is a real conservation commitment — the kind of thing that gets hunters mad at the counter and vindicated ten years later when the herds come back. "Something has to be done. We have a lot of overcrowding." — Commission Chair Lesley Robinson If you've glassed eastern Montana mule deer country in the last few years, you already know what she's talking about. More tags, more trucks, more pressure — and the deer numbers show it. The private-land-only restriction on most Mule Deer B licenses is going to redirect a lot of hunters, which means some pressure just moves rather than disappears. Worth thinking about when you're scouting new ground. The 2025 Montana Legislature passed a law that implements a Nonresident Shed Hunting License for Montana's Wildlife Management Areas (WMA). Additionally, this new law prohibits nonresidents from picking up antlers on WMAs for the first seven days they are open to the public in the spring. A helicopter. Someone landed a National Guard helicopter on private land to collect antlers. That's apparently what it takes to get shed hunting legislation passed — which tells you something about how seriously people are taking that pursuit now. The archery let-off change is the one that'll sneak up on competitive archers who also hunt. No cap on let-off percentage means bows that were previously tournament-only are now legal in the field. If you've been shooting a high-let-off setup at 3D matches and keeping a separate hunting rig, that distinction just went away in Montana. For those of you who cross the border to hunt elk or deer up there — has the nonresident fee increase changed how you're planning your seasons, or are Montana tags still worth it compared to drawing odds in other western states? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Wyoming's 2026 regulation changes are worth paying attention to if you hunt across the border — or if you're one of those guys who's been stacking points for years waiting on a moose or goat tag. "For the 2026 season the license split for moose, bighorn sheep, bison, and mountain goat is set at 90% resident / 10% nonresident." The bighorn split was already at 90/10 — that wasn't new. What changed is they draped that same framework over moose, bison, and mountain goat all at once. If you're a nonresident who's been banking points on a Wyoming moose tag, your math just got harder. "SF0051 amends W.S. 23-1-302(h) to allow resident landowners to qualify for up to two hunting licenses per eligible species each calendar year." One tag to two tags per species is a real shift for landowners — and the article flags a transferability component that isn't fully spelled out in the available sources yet. That detail matters a lot depending on whether you lease ground or know someone who owns it. Read the enrolled bill text before you assume anything about how those tags can move. "One bill potentially caps how many landowner licenses flow into limited quota areas. The other lets landowners claim more licenses per species. How the Commission applies both in practice will be worth watching when season proposals are finalized." SF0025 and SF0051 are pulling in opposite directions, and the Commission is going to have to reconcile them on the ground. If you guide on private ground in a limited quota unit, you're not going to know what you're actually working with until the Commission publishes those limits — and that's not a comfortable place to be when clients are asking what they can book. Anyone here been building Wyoming points on moose or goat? Curious where nonresidents stand at this point and whether the 90/10 change actually moves the needle on expected draw odds or if those tags were already effectively out of reach. Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Alaska's regulatory situation right now is genuinely complicated, and if you've got a trip up there planned for fall 2026, you need to understand both tracks — federal preserve rules and state residency requirements — because either one could affect your hunt. "In early 2026, the DOI proposed a new rule that would rescind the regulations imposed in 2015, 2017, and 2024, and restore the regulatory framework that governed these lands before those changes took effect." A decade of federal layering on top of state authority, potentially unwound in one rulemaking. If you've been passing on certain harvest methods on preserve land because federal rules preempted what Alaska's Board of Game allowed — that picture could look different by fall. But it's still a proposal, so don't plan your trip around it yet. "Applying that same framework to hunting licenses would mean that people who currently qualify for a resident hunting license might not qualify under the new standard." The PFD standard is one of the stricter residency tests in the country — you have to have been there the full prior calendar year with intent to stay. If you're the guy who moved to Anchorage in March and figured you'd grab a resident license by August, HB 93 closes that window. Long-term Alaska residents probably don't feel this at all. It's the edge cases — part-year people, recent arrivals — who need to pay attention. "For hunting on federal preserve lands specifically, you need to layer in the current federal rules on top of state regulations, since federal land can carry additional restrictions or requirements." This is the part that trips people up. State regs are the floor, not the ceiling, on federal land. Until that DOI rule is finalized and published, the 2024 federal framework is still what governs on preserve acreage — regardless of what Alaska's Board of Game says is legal. Anyone here hunt Alaska national preserve land regularly — Wrangell-St. Elias, Denali, Gates of the Arctic? Curious how much the federal overlay has actually changed what you could legally do out there over the past ten years, and whether this rollback would matter in practice for how you run those hunts. Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Arizona's 2026 reg changes aren't dramatic on the surface, but a couple of them have real long-term implications if you hunt the state or know people who do. "If you pulled your regs booklet before February, you're working from an outdated document." This catches people every single year in every state — you grab the PDF in December, save it to your phone, and then hunt off stale information. The Article 4 stuff on live wildlife possession and transport isn't the section most deer hunters care about, but if you do any falconry or rehab-adjacent work, this is exactly the kind of amendment that creates a legal problem you didn't know you had. "States that codify hunting rights at the statutory (or constitutional) amendment level make it harder for future legislatures or ballot initiatives to chip away at those rights." HB2497 is worth watching even if you're not an Arizona resident. The ballot initiative route has been used to gut hunting seasons in other states, and once that language is embedded in voter-approved measures it's extremely hard to unwind. Locking hunting rights into statute doesn't make them bulletproof, but it raises the cost of attacking them. Idaho hunters should be familiar with how this fight works — it doesn't stay in one state. "A private-land landowner permit system would give qualifying private landowners a mechanism to permit deer harvest on their own ground outside of or in addition to the standard draw." This one has teeth. Draw systems are already brutal in Arizona — anyone who's put in for an Arizona elk tag knows you can go a decade without drawing. A landowner permit carve-out changes the access calculus in a meaningful way, and depending on how AZGFD structures the rulemaking, it could either open doors for access agreements or lock more ground behind outfitter-only arrangements. The devil is entirely in the details they haven't written yet. "Shed hunting regulations can vary by area and time of year, particularly in units with sensitive winter range." If you're heading into Arizona for shed season, call the regional AZGFD office before you go. This is one of those regs that doesn't get much ink but has caught people off guard — especially in units with late-season winter range closures meant to protect elk and deer that are already stressed. Not the kind of citation you want to explain back home. For anyone who hunts Arizona or has tried to draw tags there — how has the draw system treated you over the years, and does a landowner permit option sound like an improvement or just a new way to price out the average hunter? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

Colorado's 2026 regulation changes are a mixed bag — some additions, some closures, and at least one that has nothing to do with seasons but will absolutely affect your gun purchases later this year. "Starting August 1, 2026, Colorado requires completion of a firearms safety course before purchasing or transferring a Specified Semiautomatic Firearm (SSF)." This is the kind of thing that'll blindside someone mid-transaction at an FFL. You show up expecting a same-day transfer, your dealer runs the paperwork, and then the conversation gets awkward. If you're in Colorado and eyeing a semi-auto purchase in the back half of 2026, call your dealer before you drive across town and ask whether your specific firearm triggers this requirement. Don't assume it doesn't. "The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a regulation change that eliminates OTC bull elk hunting licenses in the Gunnison Basin. You now have to apply for a license to hunt bulls there." Anyone who's built a multi-year hunting plan around Gunnison Basin access just had their math scrambled. OTC availability was a fallback option — now it's a draw like everything else. If that basin was your Plan B, you're currently without one. "For elk: CPW is requiring mandatory submission of CWD test samples — specifically the heads — from all elk harvested during rifle seasons in specific hunt codes. Missing that requirement isn't a paperwork inconvenience — it's a regulatory violation." The asymmetry here — no mandatory testing for deer, mandatory head submission for certain elk rifle codes — is exactly the kind of split rule that gets hunters in trouble. Pull your specific hunt code and verify before your season opens, not after you've already packed out. For anyone who's hunted Colorado elk recently — have you run into much variance in how CPW field personnel are handling CWD submission compliance at check stations, or is enforcement pretty consistent unit to unit? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

The nonresident deer and elk draw change is the kind of thing that sneaks up on out-of-state buddies who've been running the midnight tag-grab for years. If you know anyone who hunts Idaho from out of state, they needed to hear about this six months ago. "You're paying for the chance to apply, not a guaranteed tag." That's a brutal sentence if you're used to OTC tags. A non-refundable license fee just to enter a lottery is going to sting some people — especially the ones who drove up from Nevada or Utah expecting to grab a tag the same way they always did. "The thermal and night vision bans aren't just about pulling the trigger after dark. They cover scouting and retrieval as well. If you're using a thermal to locate a downed animal during the restricted window, that's covered under the rule as written." This is the one that'll catch people off guard. Using a thermal to recover a downed elk at last light isn't some high-tech advantage-seeking move — it's a meat recovery tool. The rule doesn't care. Worth knowing before August 1. "Idaho would be in alignment with other western states like Alaska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and others that already have similar, even more restrictive, regulations on these technologies. Idaho is not breaking new ground here. We are honestly doing a little bit of catch up." Fair point. Montana's been here for a while, and the sky hasn't fallen on their hunting culture. The HAT Working Group pulling 750 applicants and selecting 23 people across different backgrounds is at least a more serious process than most states bother with. "Sportsmen and hunting organizations need a reasonable amount of time to absorb, analyze and respond to season setting proposals." Sen. Foreman isn't wrong. The Commission sets deer and elk seasons and most hunters find out about changes the same way they find out about everything — from a forum post two weeks before the season opens. A mandatory 30-day comment window seems like a low bar to clear. For Idaho residents still sorting out how the technology rules affect your 2026 setup — specifically the cellular camera question — have you already pulled your transmitting cameras off public land, or are you waiting to see where the legislature lands before making any changes? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

New Mexico made some real structural changes for 2026 — not just the usual fee tweaks. If you're planning a hunt down there, or even just watching how western states manage their wildlife commissions, there's more to pay attention to than the license costs. "Only open (iron) or peep sights are allowed on muzzle-loading rifles when used during a muzzleloader hunt. Scopes, red dots, and all other optical sights are prohibited." This is going to catch people. The whole reason a lot of hunters run a scoped inline is to get that earlier muzzleloader season window with less draw pressure — and New Mexico just closed that door. If your muzzleloader setup has a scope mounted, you're either pulling it off before you head out or you're hunting the wrong season. Not the kind of thing you want to sort out at a check station. "Miss the deadline and all of your draw applications will be rejected. That's not a slap on the wrist — that's a full season lockout." Mandatory harvest reporting with that penalty structure is serious business. Forget to file because you didn't draw — or because you hunted and came home empty — and you're done for the year across every species. Set a calendar reminder the day you buy your license, not the day the deadline shows up. "Last session, New Mexicans spoke loud and clear they wanted a better wildlife management system, and we worked hard to deliver that in SB5. Passing this legislation is the last piece of the puzzle." The commission independence piece matters more than most hunters will give it credit for. The people who set your season structures, bag limits, and unit boundaries now have some insulation from direct political removal. That's four years of rule-making cycles — 2027 through 2031 — with a commission that's harder to pressure out of a job mid-term. Whether that's good depends entirely on who's sitting on it, but the structure itself is more stable than it was. "Nonresidents must also front the full cost of the tag at the time of application. If you don't draw, the tag fee is refunded — but the hunting license and application fees are not." At $998 for a quality elk tag plus a $90 nonresident license plus application fees — before you even know if you drew — New Mexico is asking for a real commitment upfront. Stack that across two or three species applications and you're floating several hundred dollars with no guarantee of a tag. Worth knowing before you file. Anyone here hunted a New Mexico muzzleloader elk season — what were you running for a setup, and does the iron-sights-only rule change whether you'd apply? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team

California's gun laws have been a topic at every gun counter conversation I've had with people moving west or passing through. Worth laying out what's actually on the books right now, because the list is long and some of it will genuinely surprise people who haven't dealt with it firsthand. "The fees and taxes associated with a handgun purchase run around $300 on top of the firearm's purchase price. That's on a gun that might retail for $700." That's nearly a 43% markup before you even consider the 11% excise tax added in 2023. Buy a $700 pistol in California and you're realistically into it for over a thousand dollars by the time you walk out the door. A guy at my LGS here in Boise was floored when a California transplant told him what he'd paid for his last handgun purchase back home. "California requires background checks for ammunition purchases... This means a trip to the gun store for a box of .308 involves the same background check infrastructure as buying the rifle itself." If you shoot any kind of volume — even just a couple range trips a month — this adds up in time and friction fast. Grabbing a case of 9mm on the way to a match stops being a casual errand. The infrastructure overhead alone makes bulk buying at a local shop a completely different transaction than it is anywhere else. "California limits handgun purchases to three firearms per month... The appeals court found that earlier limit unconstitutional, writing: 'We are not aware of any circumstance where government may temporarily meter the exercise of constitutional rights in this manner.'" The 9th Circuit actually wrote something useful there — and California's response was to just file a new law at a higher number. Three instead of one. That quote from the panel is going to show up in a lot of briefs over the next few years, including against the new version. "Transporting firearms in California without a CCW requires the firearm to be unloaded and in a locked container — not just the glove box or center console... FOPA safe passage is a federal protection, but California has historically been aggressive in its interpretation of what qualifies. If you're driving through, don't stop for more than a gas-and-go." This is the one that catches road-trippers. FOPA is real federal law, but California has prosecuted people for stops that didn't qualify under their interpretation. If you're hauling guns from, say, Arizona to Oregon, plan your route and stops before you leave — not at a rest stop in Barstow. For anyone who's moved to California from a gun-friendly state, or made the trip back out: what caught you most off guard when you were dealing with the actual process — the fees, the waiting periods, the ammo checks, or something else entirely? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By BGC Editorial

New York firearms law is the kind of thing you think you understand until you're actually standing in it — and then you realize you've been wrong about three separate things. Worth walking through for anyone who travels east or has family there. "A license is required both to possess and to carry a handgun. There's no separating the two — you cannot legally own a handgun in your home without going through the licensing process." That trips up almost everyone who moves there from a free state. You're not just getting a carry permit — you're getting permission to own the gun in the first place. And then every handgun gets listed on the license by make, model, caliber, and serial number. Add a gun, amend the license. It's not a right, it's a filing system. "An 'on premises only' license means exactly what it says: the handgun stays at the address written on the license. It doesn't even technically authorize transport from the gun store to your home." Read that twice. You can get the license, buy the gun, and then have no legal way to get it out of the store. The article doesn't spell out the workaround, which tells you something about how that state views the whole transaction. "The training requirements for a carry permit now include 16 hours of classroom instruction and 2 hours of live-fire training under DCJS-approved standards, covering legal use of force, safe handling and storage, situational awareness, and timed marksmanship qualification." Eighteen hours total is more than most states require for anything — and this is just to carry what you're already licensed to own. For context, Idaho's enhanced permit requires four hours and a live-fire qual. The 2-hour live-fire portion is actually reasonable on its own. The 16 hours of classroom is the tax. "If you become ineligible at any point after receiving your license, it is deemed revoked under NY Penal Law § 400.00(11)(c) and you are required to surrender both your license and all your firearms — not just the licensed ones." That last clause is the one that should stop you cold. A DUI, a domestic dispute, a mental health hold — and you're not just losing the handgun license, you're losing every gun you own. That's a total forfeiture triggered by the licensing system, and it's why some folks in New York keep their long guns and never bother with a handgun permit at all. If you've ever had to navigate New York's laws — whether moving, visiting family, or transporting guns through the state — what actually caught you off guard that nobody warned you about? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By BGC Editorial

Illinois gun law is a different world from Idaho — and not in a good way. If you've got family there, or you're considering a move, or you just want to understand what the other end of the regulatory spectrum looks like, this breakdown is worth your time. "Illinois requires a FOID card to purchase, possess, or transport firearms and ammunition. There is no exception carved out for private property, inheritance, or a trip to the range." Read that again. You need government permission to touch a firearm on your own property. That's not a city ordinance or a county quirk — that's statewide. Makes Idaho's constitutional carry situation feel like a completely different country. "A bolt-action, pump-action, lever-action, and slide-action firearms are not assault weapons under PICA — even if they have features that would otherwise be regulated — unless the firearm is a shotgun with a revolving cylinder." So your Marlin lever gun is fine. Your Mossberg 590 with a detachable magazine is a different conversation. The carve-outs here are specific enough that you genuinely need ISP's flowchart in hand before you assume anything. "A muzzle brake and a flash suppressor are not the same thing under PICA. Per ISP, a muzzle brake directs the energy of the muzzle blast to reduce felt recoil — it does not suppress flash." This is the kind of detail that actually matters at the gun shop counter. Two muzzle devices that look similar to a casual observer fall on completely different sides of the law there. The guy behind the counter better know the difference, because the customer paying for the install is the one who gets charged. "If you have an endorsed assault weapon and want to transfer it, your options are limited: Transfer to an heir, transfer to an individual residing in another state who will keep it in that state, transfer to a Federal Firearms Licensee." You can't sell it to your neighbor. Full stop. What was a normal private transfer in most of the country becomes a one-way door in Illinois — it goes to family, goes out of state, or goes to an FFL. That's a significant hit to the resale value of anything grandfathered under PICA, and worth thinking about if you're sitting on rifles you eventually want to move. For those of you who have family in Illinois or have helped someone navigate a move in or out of that state with guns — how did the transfer or transport logistics actually work in practice? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By BGC Editorial

Washington state has been stacking gun laws faster than most people can keep track, and if you've got family or hunting buddies over there — or you're thinking about a move — this stuff has real teeth. "The law defines 'assault weapon' broadly. Named models — including AR-15s — are explicitly listed. Beyond that list, the definition sweeps in: semiautomatic centerfire rifles with a detachable magazine and one or more of: pistol grip detached from the stock, thumbhole stock, folding or telescoping stock, forward/vertical/angled grip, flash suppressor or sound suppressor, muzzle brake or recoil compensator, threaded barrel..." That's not a narrow ban — that's a features test that catches most modern sporting rifles sold in the last 20 years. A basic PSA carbine with a standard A2 grip and a threaded muzzle device would likely qualify. Worth understanding if you're driving across the border with a truck gun. "An 18-year-old who takes a semi-auto rifle to the range is in a legal gray zone under this law. Talk to an attorney before doing so." This one's easy to miss. A 19-year-old who legally owns a semi-auto rifle can't just load it up and head to a public range in Washington without running into a real legal question. That's a significant restriction on a right that same person can exercise in Idaho without a second thought. "If you're in a situation where you believe you need a firearm immediately for personal safety, Washington law does not provide an emergency override to this waiting period based on source material available." Ten days is ten days — no exceptions. That's the part of waiting period laws that gets glossed over in the policy debate. The person buying a gun because of a credible threat waits the same as everyone else. "Washington is building a permit-to-purchase system that takes effect in 2027... A permit-to-purchase system adds a government approval layer before you can buy a firearm — separate from the federal background check at the point of sale." Two approval layers before you can take a gun home — background check plus a government-issued permit you had to qualify for ahead of time. That's the direction Washington is heading, and it's worth watching whether that model spreads. Idaho is in a completely different place right now, but these things have a way of traveling. For those of you with family in Washington or who make the drive over for hunting or matches — how are you handling gear and transport across the state line, and have you run into any friction at local ranges or gun shops over there? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By BGC Editorial

Virginia is moving fast on this stuff, and if you carry, own ARs, or have friends and family there, the details matter more than the headlines. "Any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an 'assault firearm' as defined in § 18.2-308.2:2 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A subsequent conviction under that section triggers a three-year prohibition on purchasing, possessing, or transporting any firearm." That second conviction trigger is the part people will miss. First offense is a misdemeanor — bad enough — but catch it twice and you're locked out of purchasing anything for three years. That's not a slap on the wrist for a paperwork technicality. "A person who lawfully owned an assault firearm before July 1, 2026 may: sell it to a licensed dealer or to someone outside of Virginia who can lawfully possess it... You cannot simply sell or transfer it to a Virginia neighbor who didn't own one before the cutoff." So you can keep what you have, but it's essentially frozen in place. You can't sell it locally, can't pass it to a buddy in the same zip code. Think about what that does to the used market — grandfathered guns become orphaned assets that can only move out of state or into an estate. "SB727/HB1524 specifically targets the carrying and transportation of these configured firearms in public spaces, even for owners who grandfathered their firearms under the sales ban." This is the one that bites you even if you did everything right. You kept the rifle, stored it legally, and now transporting it to the range might be a crime depending on configuration. Grandfathering your ownership doesn't grandfather your ability to use it the way you've always used it. "HB916 would expand the curriculum requirements for Virginia CHP classes and — significantly — eliminate the National Rifle Association and United States Concealed Carry Association courses from the code as qualifying courses for the permit process." Stripping NRA and USCCA courses from the approved list is a squeeze on access, not safety. Those are the two most widely available qualification courses in the country. If Virginia scrubs them and replaces them with a narrower approved list, people in rural counties where options are already limited are going to feel that first. "If you bought an 80% lower or unfinished frame before the law's effective date, the bill would still expose you to liability for possessing it if you haven't completed and serialized it — or if you have completed it into an unserialized firearm." That's retroactive liability on a legal purchase — something you bought, legally, under existing law, becoming a criminal matter after the fact. If you're in Virginia and have unfinished lowers sitting in the safe, the clock on that decision is April 13. For anyone who's lived in a state that went through a major legal overhaul like this — California, Colorado, New York — what's the one thing you wish you'd done before the effective date that you didn't get around to in time? Read the full article in The Handbook → | By BGC Editorial