Which U.S. states currently require concealed-carry permit holders to immediately notify police they are armed?

1. The short answer: commonly cited “duty to inform” jurisdictions

Authoritative secondary compendia that compile state statutes and local rules — notably the USCCA’s duty‑to‑inform summary — list Alaska, Arkansas, California (county‑dependent), the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine (in certain non‑permit situations), Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota (in certain non‑permit situations) and Texas as jurisdictions where a person who is armed may be required to notify police at first contact; those sources caution that failing to notify can carry penalties in those places (USCCA) ^[1].

2. Why different lists disagree: legal nuance, permit status and local variance

The apparent disagreement among trackers and guides stems from three separate fault lines in the law: some states impose a proactive “notify at first contact” duty only on people carrying without a permit (Maine, North Dakota per multiple trackers), other states require permit‑holders to both disclose and present a permit when asked, while some state rules are implemented or interpreted differently by counties or municipalities (California’s county variability is repeatedly noted) ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Compilers also differ on whether they treat duty‑to‑inform as mandatory “immediate” notification or as a requirement triggered by an officer’s question, producing variation in consumer guides ^{[3] [2]}.

3. Statutory examples and telling details

State statutes and annotated summaries show the variation: Louisiana’s statewide permit statute explicitly requires a permittee to notify an officer who approaches the individual in an official manner, language reflected in statutory reproductions used by legal trackers (handgunlaw.us reproducing R.S. 40:1379.3) ^[4]. By contrast, guides note Maine and North Dakota’s rules that create a short window to notify when carrying without a permit but do not impose the same duty on permit holders in all circumstances ^{[2] [3]}. California is frequently flagged as “county‑dependent,” meaning local issuing authorities and local ordinances can add notification conditions even though the statewide framework is more complex ^{[1] [3]}.

4. How to read the practical implications: what this does — and does not — tell a carrier

Compilations from organizations such as USCCA, ConcealedNation and WorldPopulationReview are useful signposts but do not replace checking the exact statute, county code, or judicial interpretation where one is traveling; the trackers themselves explicitly warn that the duty sometimes applies only to permitless carriers or only when an officer asks, and that failure to comply can mean penalties ranging from citation to permit action depending on the jurisdiction ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Because laws change and local practice matters, the most reliable course when moving between jurisdictions is to consult the state statute and county law or authoritative state resources referenced by those compilers before relying on any checklist ^{[1] [5]}.

5. Bottom line and limits of reporting

The best available public compendia converge on a roughly consistent set of places requiring notification in at least some cases — Alaska, Arkansas, California (county‑dependent), D.C., Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine (limited), Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota (limited) and Texas — but any definitive claim that “these states require immediate notification of permit holders in all situations” overreaches the sources, which repeatedly note permit status, local variation, and statute phrasing as limiting factors; this summary therefore names the commonly cited jurisdictions while acknowledging those statutory and practical caveats ^{[1] [4] [2] [3]}. If a precise, up‑to‑the‑minute determination for a particular state or county is needed, official state codes, local ordinances, or an attorney should be consulted because the publicly compiled guides synthesize but do not replace primary law ^{[5] [4]}.