Sen. John Cornyn’s just-introduced Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would give legal concealed carry gun owners the right to travel with their weapons from state to state without having to worry whether they’re breaking law — like licensed drivers do.
“[My bill] operates more or less like a driver’s license,” the Texas Republican told The Hill. “So, for example, if you have a driver’s license in Texas, you can drive in New York, in Utah and other places, subject to the laws of those states.”
The National Rifle Association praised the measure, referring to it as a “much-needed solution to a real problem for law-abiding gun owners,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, on the NRA-ILA website.
Mr. Cox went on: “The current patchwork of state and local laws is confusing for even the most conscientious and well-informed concealed carry permit holders. This confusion often leads to law-abiding gun owners running afoul of the law when they exercise their aright to self-protection while traveling or temporarily living away from home.”
He also said that gun owners’ “fundamental right to self-defense does not stop at a state’s borders,” nor should it.
This isn’t the first time Mr. Cornyn’s brought forward his bill. He introduced it in January of 2014, also, saying then that it would bolster “two of our nation’s most fundamental rights, ensuring law-abiding gun owners can lawfully carry their weapons into like-minded states, while respecting the rights of states to adopt laws that are best-suited for the people of that state,” in a statement on his website.
That bill nearly passed, even with a Democratic-controlled Senate.
Concealed carry laws are in every state, as well as in the District of Columbia. But states have different requirements, and not all require permits.
And Everytown for Gun Safety said that’s part of the problem with Mr. Cornyn’s bill — that it would let those states with the “weakest gun laws to trump the reasonable judgments” of the other states, The Hill reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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