On July 22, 2004, President Bush signed into law H.R. 218, the "Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act." This new law exempts active and retired law enforcement officers from state and local prohibitions with respect to the carrying of concealed firearms. Previously, individual states determined whether out-of-state officers could carry a concealed weapon within its borders. In effect, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act overrides state laws and mandates that retired and active officers can carry concealed weapons in every state.

The Act does not supersede state laws restricting possession of firearms on state or local government property. Agency photo identification is required and the term firearm does not include machine guns or silencers.

A copy of the Bill is annexed hereto (PDF, 91KB) and attention is drawn to Subsection C which defines and identifies qualified law enforcement officers. In essence, a qualified law enforcement officer is an employee or retiree of a governmental agency who is authorized by law to engage or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution, or incarceration of any person for any violation of law and has statutory powers of arrest.

Any questions concerning the applicability of this statute to any members should be addressed to this office. As always, we will continue to keep you informed of any developments that may affect you.