Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House on Tuesday made it clear
that national concealed carry reciprocity was a priority for the next Congress.
A group of 59 GOP representatives introduced a proposal — to
allow the holder of a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun in any state —
just after the body convened for its first session this week.
The bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican
from North Carolina, who is one of just six congressmen listed among the 62
co-chairs of the pro-gun Second Amendment Coalition of advisors to
President-elect Trump.
Hudson contends carry permits should be treated the same as
driver’s licenses.
“Our Second Amendment right doesn’t disappear when we cross
state lines, and this legislation guarantees that,” he said in a statement.
“The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 is a common sense solution to a
problem too many Americans face. It will provide law-abiding citizens the right
to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about
conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits.”
Hudson’s plan, entered as HR 38, would allow the holder of a valid photo ID and
concealed handgun permit to carry in any state so long as they are not
prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law. Persons carrying as a
non-resident in a state would otherwise be bound by whatever laws of the state
they are visiting. This would end the confusing patchwork of reciprocity
agreements that are currently in place across the country.
Residents from one of nearly a dozen constitutional carry states
would have the ability to be armed in other states that recognize their own
resident’s right to permitless concealed carry.
A similar proposal in the last Congress gained 121 co-sponsors, including Hudson, but failed to advance
in the face of near-certain rejection from the Obama administration. The
lawmaker is expecting more from the new bill with an avowedly pro-gun GOP
president in the White House.
“As a member of President-elect Trump’s Second Amendment
Coalition, I look forward to working with my colleagues and the administration
to get this legislation across the finish line,” said Hudson.
Across the aisle, Democrats such as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal
of Connecticut have vowed to block any version of a national reciprocity bill
in the upper chamber of Congress where Republicans hold a majority too slim to
overcome a partisan filibuster.
