Now, this next negative may or may not apply to you. Some proponents of gun rights believe that even a shall-issue permit is too much restriction on our second amendment rights. While I won’t go into whether this is valid or not, if you find yourself in this camp, a bill like this would only further reinforce the existing permit system.
The final negative I’ll touch on is something I’ve already mentioned, constitutional carry states. Although the 2014 bill is worded in such a way that these states would not be hurt by the bill, another bill may not be worded in such a way and could restrict residents of these states from carrying outside the state.
Potential Positives
Despite some of these negatives, there are a number of very positive things that could occur if a national reciprocity bill were to be passed. The first and most obvious benefit of this is that traveling would be significantly easier. All you need to do is understand the laws of the state you are traveling to, rather than attempting to determine if you are even allowed to carry.
The second big positive is that there will no longer be states where you aren’t allowed to carry. Before Florida expanded its gun rights, tourists in rental cars were a major target for criminals because they knew that the tourists would be unarmed. With national reciprocity, this would never be able to occur.
Finally, depending on the wording and amendments of the bill, it may actually cause some anti-gun states to become less restrictive. Again, this is purely hypothetical and entirely based on how a bill is worded, but the potential is there. Along with this, a national reciprocity bill would add to the already gun friendly environment that has been growing in the United States and may cause states to voluntarily reduce their gun restrictions due to political pressure.
Now, much of this is just speculation in order to get you thinking about this issue. Gun rights are expanding all across the nation, and based on the number of bills with national reciprocity in mind that have been introduced in the last couple of years, expect to see something passed in the next few years. However, I present these potential positives and negatives to you so that the next time you see a bill attempting to solve this issue, you stop and think. Just because something sounds good, we need to be aware of the far reaching implications that a bill like this will have and make sure that whatever is passed is something that promotes gun rights across America and allows us to defend ourselves wherever we travel to.
