One Democrat and 120 Republicans introduced the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The bill would allow anyone with a state-issued concealed carry license to conceal a handgun in any other state, and 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.”
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Lawmakers have introduced the bill several times since 2017. However, the bill 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.
President-elect Donald Trump committed to signing a reciprocity law during the campaign.
“I will protect the right of self-defense everywhere it is under siege and I will sign concealed carry reciprocity,” Trump said in February 2023. “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.
“[The] 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, [the] bill also protects them to carry permitless carry around the country,” said Erich Pratt, Gun Owners of America senior vice president. “That is huge because that totally fits within the 2nd amendment, ‘shall not be infringed.’”
Gun control groups oppose the legislation. Every Town for Gun Safety said reciprocity 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,” the organization stated.
For instance, some states require training to get a concealed carry permit, others do not. Not all training programs are the same, some are online, while 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.
