Secret Weapon

Noah Dressel, the gun counter manager at Missoula’s Wholesale Sports, has a permit issued by the state of Montana to carry a concealed firearm. But the permit isn’t valid in Washington, a state he often travels through, nor is it valid in Minnesota, where his parents live. So Dressel obtained what’s become the gun-lover’s golden ticket—a Utah concealed firearm permit. It gives Dressel the freedom to carry a concealed weapon in the 32 other states that recognize or have formal reciprocity with Utah’s gun laws—including Washington, Minnesota and Montana.

What’s more, Dressel didn’t have to travel to Utah to get one. He took a class right at Wholesale Sports, taught by an instructor from Oregon. In the mid-1990s the Utah Legislature waived residency requirements for the state’s permit, making it easy to get and highly desirable across the country. The permit’s become especially popular in the past two years as gun sales have surged following the election of President Barack Obama.-[source]