What if you, the concealed carrier, could travel throughout all fifty states without worrying about whether a state acknowledged your permit? That question may be answered as soon as a recent House Bill clears its subcommittees and garners enough support to go to the floor.
The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015 is a bill currently in the sponsoring stages in the House of Representatives. As of March 16th, it is sitting inside the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. This is one of the vetting stages needed to pass before a bill will hit the floor of the House.
For the first time, Congress looks like it’s willing to make a concerted effort to propose legislation which would save concealed carriers from being charged as criminals should they wander across the border into a state that does not acknowledge their permit’s validity.
Have you contacted your House Representative and told him or her you’re on board?
If you’ve followed Concealed Nation for awhile, you likely have read your fair share of stories of concealed carriers unwittingly crossing over into New Jersey and fighting to stay out of prison. While Gov. Chris Christie promised reform to those types of restrictions, we’ve sat back and watched as the New Jersey legislature has systematically dismantled any attempt to actually do so.
In the meantime, concealed carriers are being prosecuted for violating gun laws disconnected from any actual threat that the concealed carrier posed to the public.
While we always advocate safety, responsibility, and a knowledge of the law, we’ve been stuck with a very convoluted system of managing reciprocity for concealed carry licenses. At present, you have to do quite a bit of research just to see what states you can drive through without violating some state’s law. Concealed Carry Reciprocity maps certainly help as a general guide, but when you’re faced with potentially losing your home, vehicle, and children’s future because California (or Maryland, New Jersey, Hawaii, etc.) doesn’t acknowledge a person’s right to keep and bear arms — that’s ridiculous and constitutionally wrong.
So maybe it’s time we pass a national reciprocity bill that requires all states to acknowledge each other — even permitless carry states. So long as the bill doesn’t get twisted into some sort of convoluted mess, this could signal a giant leap forward in helping responsible, concealed carriers travel freely and without impediment throughout our great country.
Step up. Call or email your House Representative and tell him you’re on board and he should be, too!