Op-Ed Defends National Reciprocity

In the wake of both the Brown University shooting and what happened at a beach at Bondi Beach in Australia are, without a doubt, terrible. At a time like this, it would be easy to focus on these two awful occurrences. It’s easy to deflect the discussion of various bills, saying that now isn’t the time for such things.

Like, say, national reciprocity.

However, the wheels of politics don’t stop on a dime, and an op-ed that was likely written well before the attack at Brown University actually has a lot more relevance today than some might want you to believe.

Written by Kate Howard of the Iowa Firearms Coalition, it defends national reciprocity.

Each day brings a new headline story covering crime across our nation, and it’s plain to see that America is a dangerous place.  Criminals roam American streets, willing to unleash brutality on innocent victims, which, unfortunately, too many women experience firsthand.

This Thanksgiving saw the murder of a National Guard soldier in Washington, D.C., which followed attacks like the one in Chicago where Bethany Magee was horrifically attacked and burned alive by a career criminal. Women are disproportionately targeted in vulnerable situations, and being defenseless is not an option.

In a nation on edge, self-defense isn’t partisan, it’s common sense. But there are still too many restrictions preventing women, and all Americans, from protecting themselves anywhere they go.

I have spent years training and advocating for responsible gun ownership. I’ve seen firsthand how essential it is for women to have the ability to defend themselves. White living in Arizona, I was active in several women’s shooting organizations and continue my advocacy here in Iowa on the Executive Committee of the Iowa Firearms Coalition.

…

Our nation’s current legal framework surrounding concealed carry permits for firearms is nothing short of a chaotic mess. It’s a confusing patchwork of laws that change dramatically from state to state. This patchwork of laws can turn a law-abiding gun owner into a criminal just for traveling.

Compare this to universally recognized licenses like driver’s licenses and marriage certificates, which are recognized everywhere we go. The same should be true for our constitutionally protected right to carry guns and protect ourselves.

That is why we need Congress to act. Today, H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, is under consideration by Congress. Sponsored by Rep. Rich Hudson of North Carolina, this common-sense bill is the solution to the chaos of conflicting state carry laws.

Howard focused on some high-profile attacks domestically, all of which were before Brown and before Bondi Beach, but let’s understand that both of those attacks just make it that much more pressing that we have some kind of national reciprocity put in place.

The world is an insane place. We’re living in an insane time. From people being stabbed on a bus to being set on fire for no reason at all, to countless other horrific attacks that take place, we never know when we’ll be at the place and time to potentially stop something from happening. I can’t call it the “right place and time” because, honestly, that feels weird. How is it “right” be be where something beyond terrible is about to take place?

And yeah, someone with a gun could have made a difference.

Brown was a gun-free zone, of course, but let’s look at Bondi for a moment. This post on X kind of sums things up:

There are like 47 videos of the Bondi Beach killers taken from vantage points where it would have been child’s play for a bystander with a gun to end the threat decisively

— George MF Washington (@GMFWashington) December 15, 2025

Bingo.

Of course, we can also debate the efficacy of gun-free zones when it comes to Brown, but that’s a separate issue.

Still, a good guy with a gun can do a lot of good, and if I leave my home state, why should I leave my right to be the good guy with a gun at home with the cat?

My freedom of speech doesn’t stay behind, nor do my Fourth Amendment rights. Why do my Second Amendment rights get a different treatment? Why am I left defenseless and at the mercy of vicious people who want nothing more than to destroy what is good and decent?

Why is anyone?

For me, these two attacks highlight the need for national reciprocity more than ever.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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