Question:  I recently starting carpooling (in my vehicle) with a co-worker.  I found out he has a felony conviction from about 8 years ago.  I have a valid CCW and want to know how, if at all, this poses a problem for me and or him being in a vehicle with a concealed weapon.

Answer:  The answer to the question above is  “it depends”.  To understand why, let’s take this situation a piece at a time.

Since you have a valid CCW and it is your vehicle, as long as your firearm stays under your exclusive control (probably by being on your person), neither you nor your co-worker should have any issues.  

He is not in possession of the firearm, which would be illegal for him and you are not allowing a ‘prohibited possessor’ access to a firearm which would be illegal for both of you.

But with a slight modification of the circumstances, things could change fairly dramatically.  For example, if you were to place your firearm in the glove box and your co-worker were sitting in the passenger seat, he would have immediate, unrestricted access to your firearm.  This would be illegal for him and could have several complications for you as well.  It would be even worse if you left him alone in the vehicle with your firearm.

The key element here is his ‘access’ to the firearm.  If he doesn’t have access, then it is not a problem.  If he does, then it is.  I’d suggest that you keep the firearm on your person, or if you can’t do that you need to lock your firearm inside a secure lockbox that is somehow attached to your vehicle or inside of your trunk where your co-worker has no access to it.

As an additional piece of information, if you co-workers conviction was for a non-violent felony offense, he should consider asking the court to restore his civil rights, including his right to own a firearm.  If this request is granted, it could help him out a great deal and could make this entire problem go away…