Nationwide reciprocity bill introduced 1/3/17

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This past Tuesday ​Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House stated that national concealed carry reciprocity was a priority for the next Congress. 59 GOP representatives introduced a proposal to allow the holder of a valid concealed carry permit to carry nationwide, shortly 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 upholds that carry permits should be treated the same as driver’s licenses granting holders national mobility. “Our Second Amendment right doesn’t disappear when we cross state lines, and this legislation guarantees that,” he stated. “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.” 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 constitutional carry states would have the ability to be armed in other constitutional carry states only. A similar proposal in the last Congress gained 121 co-sponsors but failed to advance in the face of near-certain opposition from the Obama administration. Hudson is expecting greater progress from the new bill with an avowedly pro-gun GOP president in the White House. Here's hoping! ED.

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