NRA President: It’s Time for National Reciprocity

As a Georgia resident, I’m not required to have a concealed carry permit. Most of the states I travel to have permitless carry of some sort, too.

But not every state does, and reciprocity means some of those states will recognize my Georgia permit just fine.

The problem is that while my driver’s license is recognized throughout the nation, my carry permit isn’t. In some states, it’s pretty much impossible for a non-resident to carry a firearm lawfully. My privilege of driving is preserved throughout the nation, but my right to keep and bear arms? 

Not so much.

At America’s 1st Freedom, NRA president Bob Barr says now is the time to change that.

We have now reached another crucial point in the concealed-carry movement. It is time to eliminate the patchwork of state laws that makes it nearly impossible for lawful Americans to travel from one state to another without having to choose between risking their lives by leaving their firearms at home or jeopardizing their freedom by inadvertently violating the law in more-restrictive states.

Unlike most rights enumerated in the Constitution, rights protected by the Second Amendment are often regulated differently by each individual state. While the rights to speech, religion and protections under due process or search and seizure remain consistent and do not end at a state’s border, gun rights vary from state to state. Although reciprocity agreements may exist between states, they often change, which can create additional confusion.

One avenue for ending this sordid situation is the recent legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

The “Constitutional Carry Reciprocity Act” (H.R. 38 and S. 65) seeks to establish nationwide reciprocity for concealed-carry license holders and residents of constitutional-carry states. More than 120 of Rep. Hudson’s colleagues have signed on as sponsors of this bipartisan initiative in the House, while in the Senate, Sen. Cornyn’s measure already boasts 44 co-sponsors.

Some pro-gun-rights advocates have been skeptical of reciprocity proposals in the past, fearing that gun owners in constitutional-carry states who chose not to renew their permits would be left out in the cold. However, H.R. 38 has no such drawbacks. If you can legally carry in your state of residence, then under this law, you could legally carry anywhere in the nation.

There are some other concerns about national reciprocity, namely that once the feds get into talking about concealed carry, they’ll start introducing restrictions to it. I get the concern.

My own take is that there’s nothing to stop them from trying to do that here and now beyond the fact that they don’t have the votes to make it happen.

The truth is that if this bill is as described, we should be good to go. I’d love to walk around California, carrying lawfully without a permit, and knowing that I’m perfectly legal despite the state’s best efforts.

Of course, I find it interesting that Barr is pushing the bill introduced by Cornyn–the man most responsible for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act–instead of Rep. Thomas Massie’s National Constitutional Carry Act. That bill would end permits entirely, including in anti-gun states like California, New York, and New Jersey, where they’re still trying to make it as difficult as possible to carry a firearm lawfully.

Maybe it’s because Barr thinks this is an easier sell in Congress versus Massie’s bill.

To be fair, I’ll take either one at this point. It’s all the same to me.

I still prefer Massie’s bill, though, because there are a lot of people out there who won’t benefit from the Hudson/Cornyn bill.