In NH we carry open with no permit and conceled with a permit...HOWEVER in my old home state of MA...you need to have a permit to even own a gun...and then there are three levels of permiting class A, B, or C and each has its own set of restrictions...however if you are NOT carring concealed (with a permit to do so) then your wepon MUST be secured ( and by secured they don't mean unloaded...they mean LOCKED with an approved triger or magazine lock) so if you were to carry it thru the state in yor saddle bag (illeagle to start with as you are not licenced by the state to have a wepon) but say you caught a LEO who also thinks the laws are assinine, and he was feeling nice and liked your bike...it had better be unloaded and locked in your saddle bag....no I KNOW that MA is not on your route to CA from MT...but my point is...CHECK EACH STATE you intend to be in....its easy enough with google and the NRA sites...better safe...and screw the .380 and 9mm....carry something with some stopping power... .45, .357, .44...they all come in small easy to conceal frames now...even my P14-.45 is a little bulky but a nice shoulder holster works great
