If you are a California resident wondering if you should get a Non-Resident Utah Concealed Weapons Permit, the first question you might ask is, will California honor it?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. California only honors its own permit; this means that to legally conceal carry in the state of California you need to get a permit issued by California. So why even consider getting a non-resident Utah permit?
The Utah non-resident permit being honored in 30 states is why so many California residents are getting one. When leaving the state of California the Utah permit allows you to carry in as many or more than any other state's permit. Even if you already have California's License to Carry a Concealed Weapon it's not honored in many of the states you may want to travel to. California shares its largest border with Nevada and with just a California permit you can't cross it. With the Utah permit, you can easily carry into Nevada and Arizona.
With many classes taught inside California costing less than $150 and renewal fees of just $15, it's very affordable to get and keep a Utah permit. To get the permit the whole process, state fees and all, should cost just over $200 and once you have it, maintaining it is cheap. To maintain the permit it is just paperwork and a $15 fee every five years. Some states make you go through the whole process over again but Utah does not. As long as you pay the fee and send in the appropriate paperwork every 5 years your permit will remain valid.
To get Utah's permit there is no range time or shooting qualification. To get the Utah permit you just have to take a course from a Utah Certified Firearms Instructor and pay $67 to the State of Utah for processing fees and an FBI background check. The whole class is just four hours and any good Utah permit class will include all of the ancillary items you need such as fingerprints and passport quality photos, as part of the course fee.
More training is always beneficial especially on topics such as; armed self defense, concealed carry options, legal use of lethal force, and how to avoid needing to use your gun in the first place. A good concealed carry course will go over all of these things. Even if you feel like you know all of these topics a good group with a qualified instructor will open up great discussions about situations and concerns you haven't previously considered. So don't wait, get some great training and add the best concealed carry permit out there to your wallet.