Why this page exists
Carry law is not hard because the rules are complicated. It is hard because the obvious reading of the rules is sometimes wrong, and nothing on the page warns you. A statute still printed in the code has been struck down. A state went permitless, so people let their permits lapse, not realising the permit was the only part that travelled. A federal rule sits on top of state law and cancels an exemption you assumed you had.
Most references handle this by flattening it — picking one answer and stating it cleanly. That reads better and it is how people end up carrying on the wrong side of a line they never saw. We would rather show you the anomaly than tidy it away.
Every pattern below came out of an actual verification pass against primary sources. Several of them are mistakes we made and had to correct, and we have said which ones.
Found one we missed?
If you know a trap that belongs here — particularly one where the plain reading of a statute leads people wrong — tell us. Include the official source and we will verify it and add it, with credit to the correction in our public change log. Contact us.