Republican North Carolina Rep. Pat Harrigan introduced a bill Thursday to allow active-duty and honorably discharged special operators across the U.S. to carry concealed weapons, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.
The Special Operations Forces Concealed Carry Act would extend federal concealed carry authority to “qualified special operators” — elite military personnel whose training and marksmanship standards match or exceed those of retired law enforcement officers. The legislation would also recognize their service “without undermining existing safeguards on firearm possession in sensitive places,” according to the bill’s text. (RELATED: ‘Right Tool At The Right Time’: GOP Rep Unveils New App To Help Combat Human Trafficking)
“Federal law already trusts retired police officers to carry concealed nationwide,” Harrigan, a combat-decorated Green Beret, told the DCNF in a statement. “That makes sense. But it makes no sense that a retired SEAL or Green Beret, someone who spent a career mastering firearms under the most demanding conditions in the world, has no equivalent recognition under federal law.”
“This bill fixes that,” the North Carolina Republican continued. “It does not create new rights or weaken any safeguard. It simply extends an existing, proven framework to the warriors who have earned it more than anyone.”
Harrigan’s legislation would also establish permanent eligibility for qualified operators with no annual firearms requalification requirement, and would define qualifying service roles across the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, officers are allowed to carry concealed weapons not only in their jurisdictions but in all 50 U.S. states as long as certain conditions are met, according to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Bulletin.
As of 2023, there were close to 22.9 million concealed carry permit holders across the nation, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association reported in June 2024.
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