We had our annual Retiree's Shoot yesterday where I found there had been some notable changes to the LEOSA. The purpose of the annual shoot, sponsored by my former department, is to qualify and certify retired LEOs under the LEOSA. It is also a great time to catch up with old comrades who you haven't seen in awhile.
Back in 2004, President Bush signed into law the Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act (Public Law 108-277). This law allowed LEOs who retired in good standing with their departments (after a minimum number of years of service) to carry concealed nationwide, provided there were no state or local restriction/prohibitions. The law provided for many exceptions to the privilege for the retired LEOs to carry, including denying the privilege when the RLEO was in a gun free zone, such as a school, entertainment venue, etc. RLEOs also had to comply with state and local restrictions to carrying concealed. The purpose of the law was to use thousands of retired LEOs as an additional resource in homeland security.
In Oct, 2010, a month after last year's shoot, Pres. Obama signed into law the LEOSA Improvements Act (Public Law 110-272). The law exempts qualified active and retired LEOs from local and state prohibitions on carrying concealed firearms. There are still federally protected areas where the law does not provide the officers the privilege to carry, such as aircraft, cruise ships and trains. Also not covered are Indian casinos and private property where the owners do not wish firearms on the premises.
As an aside, I found last month that the River Cruises offered in Chicago are considered cruise ships by the Coast Guard and TSA and you cannot carry concealed on them, either. I would predict that any such cruises around New York or Seattle would also be classified similarly. I personally do not want to irk Big Sis-I don't think she would see the actual safety in having me or one of my comrades armed on board if something broke out-as I feel she would have me locked up to make a point.
Back on point. In Michigan, this means that there is no longer a need for retired LEOs to obtain a CPL with gun-free zone exemption in addition to a LEOSA certification. The LEOSA certification is all that is needed now. It also means not having to drive around Illinois on your way to Iowa if you only had a CPL and want to carry on your vacation.
This will save me around a hundred dollars every few years. Right now this is the only thing I can think of that I really want to thank President Obama and Congress for.