San Antonio, TX — On Wednesday night, Carlos Molina sat in Popeye’s Chicken having dinner with his family when two of his children went to the restroom, leaving his wife and two other kids back at the table. Andrews Herrera, 19, stormed in with a gun attempting to rob the restaurant. In the confusion, the employees were able to flee, but the Herrera kept Molina and his family there, demanding to give up their valuables. He even made threats toward his children. Molina said they didn’t have anything for him, and asked if they could leave. He was letting them go, when the two of Molina’s children exited the restroom. Herrera swung around and pointed his gun at them.

What he didn’t know is that Molina was legally carrying with his concealed carry permit. Molina saw the gun pointed at his children leaving the bathroom, drew his pistol and shot Herrera several times. Herrera died on the scene.

No one else was injured or hurt, according to authorities.

Concealed carry laws vary from state to state, some states allowing no permit and people to carry as they see fit. This is called “Unrestricted jurisdiction.” This includes but is not limited to Kansas, Alaska, Arizona, New Hampshire,West Virginia and Vermont. There are other states here that have similar rules with certain stipulations here and there (like you have to be a resident of that state, the weapon has to be unloaded, or something of that nature).

Then you’ve got the “Shall-issue jurisdiction” which essentially means that, if you fit the state’s criteria, you are eligible to receive a concealed carry permit. There is no discretionary force here, just the rules and regulations you must abide by in order to carry. Some of these states include but are not limited to Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin. Texas is also one of these states.

A “May-issue jurisdiction” means that you have to pass similar stipulations as with a shall-issue, but you also have to be approved by local law enforcement. California is a may-issue state, and, for example, if you live in San Francisco, they are known to only give out a handful of concealed carry permits out each year at a maximum. The circumstances there have to be very extreme to warrant an “okay” from local law enforcement. Other states include Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and every military installation.

States like Florida or Georgia are pretty much the same across the board (perhaps with the exception of major cities), but often times there will be a vast difference in policy regarding concealed carry permits depending on the county. For example, in more rural parts of California there exists shall-issue policies that would be unimaginable in the more populated parts of the same state.

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