My college student son recently turned 21 and decided to purchase a handgun—a strong believer in the 2nd amendment! I am trying to give him advice on how to avoid any potential issue with authorities/campus police.

From what I have been able to gather, he is precluded from having the weapon on campus with the exception of parking lots & drives—so he can keep it in his car(locked!). In addition, he is allowed to operate the car with the gun in it (castle doctrine but must keep it concealed) as long as he does not break other laws.

He has plenty of experience with guns and has a good understanding of the responsibility of ownership.

At this point, my advice is to go ahead and get a CHL for further legal education—also LE would be more comfortable in the event he is pulled over with it in the vehicle. The piece of advice is securing the weapon to avoid issues with someone in-experienced getting their hands on it. Obviously, lock the car but also locking the weapon in glove box or gun box if there are other that could inadvertently access—safety first.

Let me know if you have other experience or considerations that I’m not thinking about here. I have been a CHL holder for a number of years and want to make sure I don't miss anything for a non-chl/student perspective.

The only issue I can see is word getting around about a handgun stored in the car and then the car gets broken into and an expensive handgun stolen. The CHL is always a good thing to have.

Id tell him to use his new found maturity, that comes at the age of 21 when we are allowed to buy alcohol and pistols, to make a wise decision and leave it at home.

Could he get an off campus apartment / house?

Thanks for the insight and comments.

jdk1985, that is definitely a good option for the next year.

Headed to the lease for a little whitetail action. Good luck and safe travels to all this weekend!