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120 Republicans and one Democrat introduced the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act in the House of Representatives Wednesday. The bill would allow anyone with a state-issued concealed carry license to conceal a handgun in any other state, it would also allow residents in constitutional carry states to possess a firearm in other states.
(“Our Second Amendment right does not disappear when we cross invisible state lines, and this commonsense legislation guarantees that,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C. said in a statement. “The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act will protect law-abiding citizens’ rights to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits.
The bill has been introduced on multiple occasions since 2017 and has never been signed into law. While it will likely pass the House, it’s unlikely to get approved in the Senate where it needs 60 votes.
Trump: “I will protect the right of self-defense everywhere it is under siege. And I will sign concealed carry reciprocity. Your Second Amendment does not end at the state line.”
Gun rights groups celebrated the bill’s reintroduction. Gun Owners of America said if the bill is passed it would be the greatest legislative victory for the gun rights movement in a century.
Erich Pratt, Gun Owners of America: “Your bill not only protects people that have permits from their own state to be able to carry in other states, there’s 29 permitless carry states, your bill also protects them to carry permitless carry around the country. That is huge because that totally fits within the 2nd amendment, ‘shall not be infringed.’ That’s a huge protection that your bill offers.”
Gun control groups oppose carry reciprocity legislation. Every Town for Gun Safety said reciprocity legislation would “gut” state standards.
“CCR would force each state to recognize the concealed carry standards from every other state, even those that have dramatically weaker standards—and those that don’t require any permit at all.”
For instance, some states require training to get a concealed carry permit, others do not. And not all training programs are the same – some are online, others are in person and involve firing the weapon.
If the bill is approved it would only apply to handguns, it explicitly states machine guns or other destructive devices are not included.