In 1999 I was dating a woman who had been a high school classmate. She was a cheerleader, and I was on the basketball team. In high school, she was dating (and later married) the captain of the football team. We didn't share any classes, and I'm not sure if we ever spoke in high school. We encountered each other at a reunion in 1997, discovered that we were both divorced and unattached, I asked her out, and we continued to see each other for a couple of years.
She had a nephew who was a police officer (later made captain) on the force of a nearby small city. In 1999 we were invited to a 4th of July BBQ at the home of her former brother-in-law -- the father of the cop. The cop nephew was there, and somewhere along the line I asked him about the legality of transporting a handgun to a shooting range if I didn't have a carry permit (which I didn't, in 1999). He said, "No problem."
WRONG! In fact ... in this state it would have been (and still is today) a felony. I got my carry permit in 2000, so it hasn't been an issue, but his well-intended advice could have gotten me in deep doo-doo
Never ask a cop about the law...