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Over the last three decades, carrying concealed guns in public in the United States has become easier and easier. First, in the 1990s, states began to guarantee permits to anyone who could legally own a firearm. Then, beginning in the mid-2000s, states started removing permit requirements altogether.

Now, a majority of states — 29 as of 2025 — require no license to carry a loaded gun in public, a policy known as permitless carry. But what happens when a resident of one of those states wants to carry their handgun in one of the 21 states that does require a permit?

That led a reader to send in a question concerning concealed carry reciprocity, or when one state recognizes the concealed carry permits of another. The reader asked:

“If your state has decent laws, which Michigan where I live has (ok) gun laws, the constituents of my state still have to follow our state’s laws. But could someone from Louisiana come here and have the very lax laws of their state apply to them while visiting Michigan? Is it a race to the bottom?”

It’s a timely question. Congress may vote as soon as this month on a bill that would require national concealed carry reciprocity, effectively allowing the residents of those 29 permitless carry states to carry guns nationwide without a license. The Trace dives into the specifics of concealed carry reciprocity, and what a nationwide law — a longtime gun rights goal — would look like.

What is concealed carry reciprocity?

Concealed carry reciprocity refers to the patchwork of state laws, policies, and agreements that determine whether one state honors concealed carry permits from another state, allowing permittees to travel across state lines with their guns.

Importantly, “reciprocity” is often not mutual: Recognition of out-of-state permits varies widely, and many arrangements are unilateral rather than formal two-way agreements.

Some states adopt broad recognition — for example, North Carolina and the reader’s home state of Michigan recognize permits from any state.

Others condition recognition on comparable standards, including fingerprint-based background checks, mental health disqualifiers, age requirements, or live-fire training. For instance, Minnesota recognizes permits from 33 states whose requirements its attorney general has deemed similar to Minnesota’s.

From there, it can get even more complicated. Washington state — which won’t recognize other states’ permits if they don’t require mental health background checks, or if they issue permits to people under 21 — only recognizes 10 states’ permits, and of those, sometimes only honors enhanced permits that have stricter eligibility requirements like live-fire training.

At least 10 states, including California, Oregon, and New York, and the District of Columbia, do not honor any out-of-state permi

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Picture your favorite holiday movie. Maybe it’s a scene from “Home Alone” in Illinois, or one of the dozens of Hallmark films set in small-town New England (even though many are filmed in Canada). You probably remember them for their snow, romance, humor, and festive miracles — they may have even made you want to visit or live in the towns they depict.

But what are these places like in real life? If you were to move to one of these places today, could you afford to settle down, or would the price tag break the holiday spell?

Redfin Real Estate explores how affordable some of the most iconic movie towns really are. From timeless classics to contemporary hits, cozy up and take a snow-covered journey that may make you think about things a little differently.

1. “Home Alone” (1990) – Winnetka, Illinois

• Median sale price: $1,758,000
• Median household income: $250,000

You may remember the classic brick homes and snow-covered lawns of the “Home Alone” world, where Kevin fended off two bumbling burglars and learned to outsmart the grown-ups around him.

The movie is set in real-life Winnetka, Illinois, and on the surface, it might seem like a great place to live. But most people would have a hard time affording it. Homes regularly sell in the millions in this upscale suburb, and six-figure salaries are the norm. In fact, the real-life home of the fictional McCallister family, dubbed the “Home Alone house,” sold for $5.5 million in early 2025.

On the whole, Chicago is relatively affordable, but its suburbs are often wealthy and defined by classic American architecture.

2. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) – Seneca Falls, New York

• Median sale price: $260,000
• Median household income: $54,400

This holiday classic is set in the fictional town of Bedford Falls, which is commonly thought to be based on Seneca Falls in Upstate New York — a quiet, snowy hamlet full of small-town charm. The real-life town even celebrates its Hollywood connection with a dedicated museum and large annual festival.

If you saw the movie’s quaint streets, string lights, and old-school charm and thought it would be a nice place to visit or live, you’re in luck. Seneca Falls’ median sale price is nearly half the national rate, similar to nearby cities like Rochester and Syracuse.

3. “A Christmas Story” (1983) – Cleveland, Ohio

• Median sale price: $249,000
• Median hous

tete_escape // Shutterstock

From science fiction wonder to reality, AI is all the rage, with countless powerful AI tools becoming widely available for public use. It can be wildly helpful, whether you need help writing an important email, a workout routine, or even a last-minute dinner recipe. Unfortunately, AI has also helped scammers step up their game, in some cases to scary-good levels. 

Today, Spokeo takes a look at what exactly AI scams are, including what they look like and how to spot them. 

Key Takeaways: 

• AI technology is empowering scammers to run even more convincing scams.
• Watch out for scams that use voices and/or faces you recognize.
• Social media is a hotbed of AI-powered accounts and influencers. Beware of any messages you receive or posts you see that request private information or money.
• Look for common signs of AI, including “the uncanny valley,” abnormalities in a video or photo, and odd speech patterns that are overly repetitive and vague.

What Are AI Scams?

Let’s start from the very top. AI scams use artificial intelligence tools to create sophisticated and often personalized content to effectively target and trick victims. AI is capable of allowing scammers to copy voices and faces, making it almost impossible to tell if a phone call or video is actually the person you’re hearing or seeing. It is scary stuff — especially if you don’t know how to spot it.

Beyond impersonation scams, AI also allows scammers to take a mass approach to email and text scams. Classically, scammers needed to actively interact with victims who emailed or texted them back in order to move the scam along. Now, with a properly trained AI, scammers have technology that can do all of the interacting on their behalf, and do so on a much bigger scale (essentially creating a little army of AI scammers). 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With AI rapidly improving, there’s a 100% chance that AI-related scams will improve with it. But, for now, let’s look at some of the most current AI scams.

Common AI Scams

Here’s how scammers are using AI to trick their victims.

AI Voice Scams

Imagine this: You get a call from a loved one, explaining an emergency situation that they need your help with — what do you do? Classically, you probably jump into action, no questions asked. After all, you just talked to them on the phone. Now, you might need to take a beat to sus out if that call was real, or if it was using AI voice cloning. 

AI voice scams operate by either cloning a loved one’s voice or even a recognizable authority figure. They will then call you using the cloned voice, and present a situa

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Evan Perez, CNN

La mañana del domingo, mientras los investigadores preparaban una orden de registro para una habitación de hotel en Coventry, Rhode Island, el director del FBI, Kash Patel, celebraba en redes sociales que una persona relevante para la investigación había sido detenida en el caso del tiroteo de la Universidad de Brown.

Al mismo tiempo, el alcalde de Providence, Brett Smiley, anunciaba la detención del hombre desde un podio y les decía a los residentes que podían “respirar un poco más tranquilos”.

Resultó ser el hombre equivocado.

El anuncio de Patel, realizado en una publicación en la red social X, destacaba el papel del FBI al usar datos de torres de telefonía celular para encontrar a la presunta persona relevante para la investigación. Para ese momento, sin embargo, algunos investigadores ya sabían que el teléfono celular de dicha persona no había sido identificado en el lugar del tiroteo, lo que arrojaba dudas sobre la participación del hombre, dijeron a CNN tres personas familiarizadas con la investigación.

En cuestión de horas, esas dudas aumentaron cuando los investigadores determinaron que las pruebas en los casquillos encontrados en la escena del tiroteo no coincidían con el ADN de la persona relevante para la investigación, dijeron dos de las fuentes. Dos pistolas encontradas en la habitación de hotel de esta persona tampoco coincidían con la balística de los casquillos, y una prueba de residuos en las manos del hombre resultó negativa, indicaron las fuentes.

El hombre detenido fue liberado más tarde ese domingo.

“Es justo decir que no hay ninguna razón para considerarlo persona relevante para la investigación”, dijo el domingo el fiscal general de Rhode Island, Peter Neronha, sobre el hombre que había sido detenido. “Por eso está siendo liberado”.

Cabe señalar que el tiroteo en la Universidad de Brown es una investigación dirigida a nivel local y estatal, y el papel del FBI es asistir. Luego de tensiones durante el fin de semana, los funcionarios se reagruparon el lunes y Patel envió más recursos a Providence para apoyar la investigación.

Ahora el FBI ofrece una recompensa de US$ 50.000 por pistas que lleven a la identificación y condena del atacante.

La publicación de Patel en X del domingo por la noche, en la que decía “activamos el Equipo de Análisis de Encuestas Celulares para proporcionar capacidades críticas de geolocalización”, proyectaba un trabajo investigativo preciso y confianza en que los investigadores se acercaban al posible responsable.

Dichos datos de torres de telefonía celular, que muestran ubicaciones precisas y movimiento de teléfonos que se conectan a torres cercanas, han sido clave para encontrar sospechosos en crímenes, incluyendo al hombre acusado en la investigación de bombas de tubo puestas cerca de las sedes del RNC y DNC en la ciudad de Washington, en 2021.

La publicación del director del FBI en redes sociales enfureció a funcionarios locales y estatales en Rhode Island, quienes la consideraron prematura y perjudicial para la investigación.

Una persona familiarizada con la publicación del director del FBI en redes sociales dijo que Patel se refería al uso de los datos CAST para ubicar la localización de la persona en el hotel.

El FBI declinó hacer comentarios.

El mensaje en X y su reacción recuerdan un episodio anterior en el que Patel anunció prematuramente un arresto en el asesinato en septiembre del activista conservador Charlie Kirk.

Antes de convertirse en director del FBI, Patel cultivó una gran cercanía a movimiento MAGA con frecuentes apariciones en podcasts y publicaciones en redes sociales donde atacaba al FBI con teorías conspirativas sobre el