HR 38

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North Carolina Police Chiefs Against Reciprocity

April 30, 2018 by 2 Comments

It is not news that many big city police chiefs are against national reciprocity for concealed carry. Earlier in April, the International Association of Chiefs of Police sent a letter to Congress expressing their disapproval for HR 38 and S. 446.

What should be news is the hypocrisy of those chiefs from North Carolina who have signed on to the letter. It is hypocritical to argue against reciprocity for North Carolinans with valid permits visiting any other state when North Carolina law recognizes ALL permits from other states. In other words, North Carolina General Statute § 14-415.24 (a) provides for universal reciprocity for out-of-state permits.

If your police chief listed below is one of the signatories to the letter, you might want to ask him or her why they think North Carolinians should have the same rights accorded to visitors to this state.

Police Chief Bernette Morris, Morehead City Police Department, Morehead City, NC


Chief of Police and Executive Director for Community Safety Christopher C. Blue, Chapel Hill Police Department, Chapel Hill, NC


Chief of Police Monroe Wagoner, Elkin Police Department, Elkin, NC


Chief of Police Gina Hawkins, Fayetteville Police Department, Fayetteville, NC


Chief of Police Jeff Prichard, Graham Police, Graham, NC


Chief Wallace W. Layne, Holden Beach Police, Holden Beach, NC


Chief of Police Timothy R. Summers, Kernersville Police Department, Kernersville, NC


Chief of Police Joel Johnson, Kitty Hawk Police Department, Kitty Hawk, NC


Chief of Police Allen Lawrence, Marion Police Department, Marion, NC


Chief of Police Tim Ledford, Mint Hill Police Department, Mint Hill, NC


Chief of Police James Wilson, Norwood Police Department, Norwood, NC


Chief of Police Ryan James Thompson, Pine Knoll Shores Police Department, Pine Knoll Shores, NC


Chief of Police Robert Hassell, Reidsville Police Department, Reidsville, NC


Chief of Police Kenneth J. Klamar, Sunset Beach Police, Sunset Beach, NC


Chief Daniel Wilcox, Cape Fear Community College PD, Wilmington, NC


Chief of Police Timothy J. Wenzel, Aberdeen Police Department, Aberdeen, NC


Chief of Police John Letteney, Apex Police Department, Apex, NC


Chief of Police Paul D. Burdette Jr., Beaufort Police Department, Beaufort, NC


Chief of Police John Phillip Harris, Jr., City of Brevard Police Department, Brevard, NC


Chief of Police Walter Horton, Carrboro Police Department, Carrboro, NC


Chief of Police James A. Reese, Emerald Isle Police Department, Emerald Isle, NC



Chief of Police Laura Fahnestock, Fuquay-Varina Police Department, Fuquay-Varina, NC


Chief of Police Ronald L Matthews, Garland Police Department, Garland, NC


Chief of Police Brandon Zuidema, Garner PD, Garner, NC


Chief of Police Michael Andrew Winters, Long View Police Department, Long View, NC


Chief of Police Erik S. McGinnis, Misenheimer Police Dept., Misenheimer, NC


Chief of Police David Ng, WakeMed Campus Police and Public Safety, Raleigh, NC


Police Chief C.T. Hasty Jr, Roanoke Rapids Police Department, Roanoke Rapids, NC


Chief of Police/Director of Public Safety Patricia D. Norris, Winston-Salem State University Police, Winston-Salem, NC


Chief of Police John J. Ruppe, Woodland Police Department, Woodland, NC


Chief of Police Jeff Harvet, Atlantic Beach police, Atlantic Beach, NC


Chief of Police Farron Gray Jester, Boonville Police Department, Boonville, NC

Moreover, just so we are clear as to North Carolina’s place in the fight for national carry reciprocity, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC-8) is the primary sponsor of HR 38.

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Reciprocity Passed The House But Will It Pass The Senate

December 11, 2017 by 3 Comments

Ian Argent, in a guest post at Shall Not Be Questioned, has run the numbers on HR 38 to see the chances it will pass in the Senate. He compared how the Senate voted on a proposal for carry reciprocity put forth by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in 2013 and how he expects them to vote now.

Starting with the 2013 vote (57 Ayes to invoke cloture), I did up a spreadsheet of the likely vote results in 2017, based on current occupancy, the 2013 vote, and the Senators political stances on the issue.

I came out with maximum of 59 Aye votes (assuming Luther Strange gets to vote Aye or his replacement votes Aye).

The vote delta (because we had both gains and losses)

NH: -1 (Maggie Hassan replaced Kelly Ayotte)

IA: +1 (Joni Ernst replaced Tom Harkin)

SD: +1 (Mike Rounds replaced Tim Johnson)

WV: +1 (Shelley Moore replaced John Rockefeller)

However, what I don’t see is the 60th vote. I broke out the Nay votes who are in seats up in 2018 in states that voted for Trump

Bill Nelson is a hard NO
Claire McCaskill is a hard NO
Sherrod Brown is a hard NO
Bob Casey is a firm No
Tammy Baldwin is a hard NO

Unfortunately, I think Ian is correct. So long as the Senate has the filibuster on everything but judicial nominees, then 60 votes are going to be required.

I was looking at the vote in the House on HR 822 back in 2011. It was interesting to compare that with the vote on HR 38. HR 38 passed the House last week by a vote of 231-198. The ayes included 6 Democrats and 225 Republicans while the nays included 184 Democrats and 14 Republican. By contrast, the vote back in 2011 was 272-154 in favor of passage. The big difference can be attributed to 43 Democrats voting in favor of concealed carry reciprocity.

Of those 43 Democrats who voted in favor of concealed carry reciprocity in 2011, many are no longer in the House. A couple such as Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) have moved on to the Senate. In fact, they were two of the Democrats who voted in favor of Cornyn’s bill in 2013. What is disturbing, however, are the 13 Democrats who voted in favor of reciprocity in 2011 who voted no on it in 2017 even though the bill contained the Fix NICS Act. What made them switch their vote on reciprocity for an aye to a nay? Did the Democrats crack the whip on those members or was it that they were warned that they would have a primary opponent funded by Mike Bloomberg?

If any of the these 13 are your representative in Congress, I’d be asking why.

  1. Andre Carson (D-IN)
  2. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
  3. Joe Courtney (D-CT)
  4. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
  5. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) (though he was a surprise aye vote)
  6. Brian Higgins (D-NY)
  7. Rick Larsen (D-WA)
  8. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)
  9. Tim Ryan (D-OH)
  10. Terri Sewell (D-AL)
  11. Adam Smith (D-WA)
  12. Tim Walz (D-MN)
  13. Gene Green (D-TX)
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Today’s The Day

December 6, 2017 by

Today is the day that national concealed carry reciprocity finally comes to the floor of the House of Representatives. We have been promised it since last year’s Presidential campaign. It should have come up in March or April but the House Republican leadership seems to have been dragging their feet on this.

We have seen reciprocity pass the House before only to die in the Senate. HR 822 passed the House by a strong majority (272-154) back in November 2011. As much as some are upset about the pairing of carry reciprocity with the Fix NICS Act, that plus the number of red state Democrats up for re-election in the Senate may be the thing that gets it passed. The main thing in the Senate is not only to get it passed but to get it passed without amendments that would either cripple reciprocity or would add a virtual assault weapons ban to the bill. I could see Sen. Dianne Feinstein trying to do both of those things.

In the meantime, here is the schedule for today as put out by the House Majority Leader’s Office.

H.R. 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, Rules Committee Print (Closed Rule, One Hour of Debate) (Sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson / Judiciary Committee)
Postponed Suspension Votes:
1) S. 1266 – Enhancing Veteran Care Act (Sponsored by Sen. James M. Inhofe / Veterans Affairs Committee)
2) H.Con.Res. 90 – Condemning ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya and calling for an end to the attacks in and an immediate restoration of humanitarian access to the state of Rakhine in Burma, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Joseph Crowley / Foreign Affairs Committee)
Special Order Speeches

The House will first have to vote on House Resolution 645 which contains the rule for consideration of HR 38. The Rules Committee provided this summary of the rule:

Rule Information

COMMITTEE ACTION:
REPORTED BY RECORD VOTE of 8-3 on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.
FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 645: 
MANAGERS: Collins/Hastings
1. Closed rule.
2. Provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary.
3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
4. Provides that an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 115-45 shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read.
5. Waives all points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended.
6. Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

The bottom line is that today is the day to light up the phones to Capitol Hill and district offices. You can be damn sure the gun prohibitionists are doing it and thanks to Giffords you know what they are going to say.

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Too Slick By Half

December 6, 2017 by 2 Comments

The (anti-gun) cult of personality known as Giffords has produced a Concealed Carry Reciprocity Toolkit for all their uninformed followers. It provides talking points, phone scripts, email templates, pre-written tweets, ready-to-use graphics, and loaded (pun intended) town hall questions.

Here are some of their talking points:

TALKING POINTS

  • This bill would make it legal for dangerous and untrained people to carry loaded, hidden guns in more public places. If this bill passes, people who are prohibited from getting a concealed carry permit in a state with strong gun laws will be allowed to apply for a permit in a state with weaker laws. This includes convicted stalkers, domestic abusers, people convicted of violent crimes, and people with no training or experience firing a gun.

  • This bill fails to create a national standard for who should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon and undermines states rights by forcing states with strong concealed carry laws to honor permits from states with weak or non-existent concealed carry laws. Right now, states have the right to choose which states’ concealed carry permits they recognize, which is important because the requirement to carry hidden, loaded guns in public vary drastically from state to state. If this bill passes, that will no longer be the case.
  • Concealed carry reciprocity will make it nearly impossible for law enforcement officers to quickly and easily verify that people carrying a hidden, loaded weapon are doing so legally. Nearly every major law enforcement association OPPOSES this bill because of its disastrous consequences for public safety.
  • Concealed carry reciprocity will threaten the safety of victims of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking by enabling domestic violence offenders to follow their victims across state lines with loaded, concealed firearms. Preliminary data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline shows that 23% of victims reported that their abuser crossed state lines in an attempt to further assault their victims.
  • Weakening gun laws will increase violent crime in our communities. Recent research found that violent crime increased in states that loosened concealed carry laws, with 10% more murders and up to 14% more violent crime.

You can examine the entire document here.

What I think this illustrates is just how much of a top-down, Astro-turf organization that the group formerly known as Americans for Responsible Solutions really is. This was obviously created for them by public relations and media professionals. It assumes that the Know Nothings who feel that “something has to be done” are too uninformed to write their own letters or say something more than “I’m against this” when calling Congressional offices.

I find it highly ironic that a group so closely associated with the Democrats would go full “states’ rights” in their opposition to carry reciprocity. While it is now the rallying cry of the progressives on this issue, it was the rallying cry for racist Democrats in the 1950s and 60s in their opposition to integration and civil rights.

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Proposed Amendments To HR 38 That The Rules Committee Must Take Up

December 5, 2017 by 3 Comments

The House Rules Committee was scheduled to start their hearings on the rule for HR 38 which now combines the original HR 38 plus HR 4477 or the Fix NICS Act. Amendments for consideration have begun to pile up. Most are from Democrats who want to gut the bill with a few from Republicans who either want to clarify some aspects or who want to decouple the two bills.

In my opinion, the “bipartisan” amendment from Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) is the most dangerous as it would graft their so-called anti-bump stock bill which really is any modification on to HR 38.


As of 2:25PM EST:

Amendments (click headers to sort)

# Version # Sponsor(s) Party Summary Status
1 Version 1 Titus (NV) Democrat Strikes Title I of H.R. 38. Submitted
2 Version 1 Thompson, Mike (CA), Demings (FL) Democrat SUBSTITUTE Invests in the NICS system and expand background checks to all commercial sales. Submitted
3 Version 1 Thompson, Mike (CA) Democrat Establishes a select committee on gun violence. Submitted
4 Version 1 Norton (DC) Democrat Prohibits Title I (Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017) from taking effect until the law banning guns in U.S. Capitol buildings and grounds is repealed. Submitted
5 Version 1 Lofgren (CA) Democrat Prevents forum shopping by limiting concealed carry reciprocity to those who have a permit from their state of residence. Submitted
6 Version 1 Deutch (FL) Democrat Prohibits a person from carrying a concealed firearm across state lines if they have been convicted in the past 5 years of cruelty to animals. Submitted
7 Version 1 Deutch (FL) Democrat Preserves a State or local governments right to restrict concealed weapons on private property. Submitted
8 Version 1 Bacon (NE) Republican Extends the renewal of concealed carry permits under LEOSA from every year to every 3 years. Submitted
9 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Permits law enforcement officers to conduct reasonable investigations to verify with the issuing State that an individual producing a concealed carry permit/license is eligible to carry such a firearm. Precludes the payment of attorney fees if an individual is convicted of a crime in the same proceeding in which this Act is successfully used as an affirmative defense. Submitted
10 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Provides that concealed carry reciprocity will not be permitted between states unless the reciprocating state issues a joint certification from the Attorney General, head of the State police, and Secretary of State that the laws of both states involved are substantially similar. Precludes reciprocity in states with no restrictions on concealed carry to similarly situated states. Submitted
11 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Provides that concealed carry reciprocity will not be permitted between states unless the issuing state provides a means of permit/license verification on a 24-hour basis, conducts reverification checks at least biannually, and has the authority to revoke permits/licenses if ineligibility is determined. It also creates a GAO study regarding firearms crimes committed by concealed carry permit holders. Submitted
12 Version 1 Raskin (MD), Norton (DC) Democrat Precludes application of this Act in the District of Columbia. Submitted
13 Version 1 Nadler (NY) Democrat States that a person who has been convicted of a violent crime within the preceding three years may not possess or carry a concealed handgun under this section in a State that by law prohibits a person from doing so on the basis of a conviction for such offense. Submitted
14 Version 1 Schneider (IL) Democrat Prohibits a person who has been convicted of two (2) or more offenses related to driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances within the preceding five (5) years from possessing or carrying a concealed handgun in a State that by law prohibits a person from doing so on the basis of such convictions. Submitted
15 Version 1 McKinley (WV) Republican Clarifies that complete records submitted by State authorities reporting to NICS shall include disposition records. Submitted
16 Version 1 Moulton (MA), Curbelo (FL) Bi-Partisan Bans the manufacture, possession, or transfer of any part or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle (i.e. bump stocks and similarly functioning devices of different names). Submitted
17 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Takes an affirmative step towards addressing public safety threats posed by gun violence when perpetrated by former military personnel with convictions through accountability of the Department of Defense. Submitted
18 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Prohibits any person convicted of a hate crime, as defined under section 249 or any substantially similar offense under the law of any State, from carrying under this bill. Submitted
19 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Provides that States not be required to allow an individual to carry where such person is convicted of an offense of domestic violence or stalking as defined under the law of a State or Indian tribe, or as defined under the Violence Against Women Act. Submitted
20 Version 1 Demings (FL) Democrat Strikes the provision that would allow persons from other states to carry concealed weapons in school zones. Submitted
21 Version 1 Demings (FL) Democrat Strikes the new private right to sue a law enforcement officer in that officer’s individual capacity for any alleged violation, and to allow judges discretion in determining whether to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party. Submitted
22 Version 1 Kildee (MI) Democrat Eliminates the study on crimes committed using bumps stocks and inserts a provision mandating that bump stocks be treated like machine guns and silencers under the National Fire Arms Act. Submitted
23 Version 1 King, Steve (IA) Republican Ensures that Members of Congress are afforded the greatest latitude regarding interstate concealed carry, commensurate with that of Federal Judges under this legislation. Submitted
24 Version 1 King, Steve (IA) Republican Ensures that Judges are treated the same as all other law-abiding citizens regarding interstate concealed carry. Submitted
25 Version 1 Biggs (AZ), King, Steve (IA) Republican Strikes Title II, the Fix NICS Act, from the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. Submitted

UPDATE: The hearings are being carried on YouTube Live.

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HR 38 Is Moving To A Floor Vote

December 4, 2017 by

The House Rules Committee will issue a rule for HR 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 – on Tuesday, December 5th. This news was announced on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio show by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) on Sunday.

It is expected that the bill will come before the House for debate and a vote starting on Wednesday.

However, as predicted by Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) the Fixed NICS bill has been merged with concealed carry reciprocity. It is now Title II of HR 38. Massie goes on to say that when the bill hits the Senate, carry reciprocity will be dropped and only the Fix NICS portion approved. Then given different bills have passed the House and Senate it will go to a conference committee who will only report out the Fix NICS portion of the bill. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) has offered an amendment to the bill being considered in the Rules Committee that would drop the carry portion of the bill.

It should be noted that Massie, despite being chairman of the Second Amendment Caucus, has opposed HR 38 from the start according to Dave Cole who is both a constituent of Massie and a blogger at Black Man with a Gun.

I think it was to be expected that that bills would be combined in that they both dealt with guns and both came out of the House Judiciary Committee at the same time. The NSSF is supporting both parts of the bill including the Fix NICS portion.

HR 4477 – Fix NICS – as it passed the House Judiciary Committee includes a provision to require the Attorney General to provide a report on how often bump stocks had been used in crimes. This would be part of the combined bill. That said, I think the actual instances of a bump stock equipped carbine or rifle being used in a crime will be very few.

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HR 38 Moves Forward

November 30, 2017 by

The House Judiciary Committee passed HR 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 – yesterday on a 19-11 vote. There were a number of amendments offered. Many of these amendments were meant to gut the bill. Of the 22 amendments offered, only three were adopted and all came from Republican members of the committee. The bill now moves to the whole House of Representatives for consideration.

The first amendment was in the form of a committee substitute offered by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) which added a third section to the bill concerning off-duty and retired sworn law enforcement officers. The amendment would allow these individuals to both carry concealed and discharge weapons in school zones.

The second amendment that was accepted was offered by Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL). His amendment clarified that nothing in HR 38 would prevent a law enforcement officer from “conducting a brief investigative stop in accordance with the Constitution of the United States” if they had a reasonable suspicion to the violation of any law. This passed on a voice vote.

The final amendment that passed was from Rep. Daryl Issa (R-CA) and concerned the carrying of concealed firearms by Federal judges. It allows Federal judges to carry concealed in any state so long as they are not prohibited from receiving a firearm. In other words, if Justice Ginsberg can pass a NICS check, then she could carry a concealed firearm not that that would be likely.

The whole list of amendments and their disposition is on this page on the House Judiciary Committee website.

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Firearms Policy Coalition Seeks Improvements In HR 38

November 29, 2017 by

The Firearms Policy Coalition is headquartered in Sacramento, California. Being as they are in one of the bluest states with some of the worst gun laws, they are hoping for passage of HR 38. However, they want to make it better for those who live in states like California, New York, New Jersey, etc. They also want the bill to include those living in Federal districts like DC, commonwealths like Puerto Rico, and other territories like the Northern Mariana Islands.

Many legal scholars agree with the FPC that the bill would be on stronger Constitutional grounds if it was based not on the commerce clause. The FPC would like to see the right to carry nationally be based upon the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms. They hold that this would reinforce the rulings in Heller and McDonald.

Their full release with embedded links to their proposed changes is below:

SACRAMENTO,
CA (November 28, 2017) — Yesterday, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC)
sent a second letter regarding H.R.38 (the Concealed Carry Reciprocity
Act of 2017) to bill sponsor Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and House
co-sponsors. The letter says the pro-gun bill could potentially “leave
law-abiding people exposed” because of “a byzantine patchwork of state
and local prohibitions” and suggested solutions to 6 individual legal
problems in the bill’s text.
The
group’s concerns also include “vague and undefined terms,” an exemption
to the federal Gun Free School Zone Act they say is “of limited
utility,” and the bill’s total reliance on
“constitutionally-antagonistic Commerce Clause doctrine.” FPC also
suggests that the measure’s scope be extended to include protections for
people in places that are not a “State or political subdivision
thereof,” like Washington, D.C. (a federal district), as well as
commonwealths, republics, and territories “administered or controlled by
the United States (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).”
FPC’s
letter says that, if H.R38 is passed without some important changes, it
“may very well indirectly cause people to be prosecuted and lose their
Second Amendment rights over harmless mistakes.” And, if “H.R.38 is not
amended to address our concerns,” they “predict that this
well-intentioned measure would leave millions of peaceful and
law-abiding people exposed to serious criminal liability.”
“As
we said in March, H.R.38 is a significant piece of legislation
that—properly amended to address the issues discussed above—would
establish one of the greatest, if not the greatest, legislative
advancements of Second Amendment rights so far in the history of our
federal government,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in the letter.
“And with just a few simple but important changes, H.R.38 could unlock
and protect the Second Amendment right to bear arms for all law-abiding
people—especially where it is denied today.”
Explained
FPC Spokesperson Craig DeLuz, “Any bill that seeks to expand the right
to keep and bear arms must be carefully crafted to ensure protection for
all law-abiding people, but especially for those in ‘battleground
states’ and cities hostile to Second Amendment rights.”
“If
a bill doesn’t protect people in places like California, New York, New
Jersey, and Maryland, then it doesn’t really get the job done,” DeLuz
concluded. “Our reasonable suggested amendments would help ensure that
people in anti-gun jurisdictions can exercise their fundamental,
individual right to bear arms.” 
A copy of FPC’s letters supporting H.R.38 can be viewed or downloaded at http://bit.ly/support-hr-38. Gun owners who wish to send letters supporting H.R.38 may use FPC’s free Grassroots Action Tools at http://bit.ly/support-hr-38.
FPC has also established #OurGunVote, a grassroots campaign to urge pro-gun bill passage in the House and Senate, available at http://www.ourgunvote.com/.
H.R.38 is scheduled to be next heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 29.
Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org)
is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the
fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

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Rep. Richard Hudson On His Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act

November 29, 2017 by

One of the speakers at this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference held in Dallas was Shaneen Allen. She made a plea for the passage of HR 38 so as to protect anyone else from having to go through what she did when she crossed into New Jersey. As attorney Evan Nappen who has handled multiple firearms cases in New Jersey noted yesterday on Facebook, passage of national reciprocity will change that state from being the “North Korea of CCW”. Nappen was the attorney for both Shaneen Allen and Brian Aitken.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) specifically mentions that Allen case in his release announcing that his bill is scheduled for markup today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released the following statement after the House Judiciary Committee announced it will mark up his bill, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (H.R. 38), on Wednesday, November 29:
 
“For me and the vast majority of Americans who support concealed carry reciprocity, this is welcome progress. I want to thank Chairman Bob Goodlatte for his strong leadership to protect our Second Amendment rights. I will continue to work with my colleagues and President Trump to pass this common sense legislation to protect law-abiding citizens.”
 
Concealed carry reciprocity is one of the most important pro-Second Amendment measures in Congress. Currently, the patchwork of reciprocity laws and agreements between states is confusing and has caused law-abiding citizens like Shaneen Allen to unwittingly break the law and suffer arrest and detention. Even the most careful and knowledgeable concealed carry permit holders find it difficult to navigate the current maze of state and local concealed carry laws. H.R. 38 is a common sense solution. The bill, which is supported by major pro-Second Amendment groups and has 213 cosponsors, would allow law-abiding citizens with a state-issued concealed carry license or permit to conceal a handgun in any other state that allows concealed carry. It would also allow law-abiding residents of Constitutional carry states the ability to carry in other states that recognize their own residents’ right to concealed carry.
 
H.R. 38 would allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed only if they are not federally prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm, are carrying a valid government-issued photo ID, and are lawfully licensed or otherwise entitled to carry a concealed handgun. Each person would have to follow the laws of the state, county and municipality in which they are carrying concealed.
 
For a one-pager on the bill, click here. For a Q&A document, click here.
 
In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court ruled that “the inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right,” which is “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.” This fundamental right does not stop at a state’s borders and law-abiding citizens should be able to exercise this right when crossing state lines. In addition, Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution states, “Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.” This is the clause that allows a driver’s license to be recognized across state lines.
 
Contrary to the misinformation critics spread, under H.R. 38, states would retain their authority to enact time and place restrictions on where people can lawfully carry in the state. In addition, the bill would not make it any easier to buy a gun. It has nothing to do with the purchase of guns, it would not alter access to guns, and it would not change the federal law requiring background checks.
 
The American people understand these facts. That’s why an overwhelming majority of Americans support concealed carry reciprocity – 73% according to a recent New York Times survey.
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HR 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 – Comes Up For Committee Vote This Morning

November 29, 2017 by

The House Judiciary Committee is holding its markup hearings on three bills this morning at 10 am EST. HR 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, and HR 4434, the Fix NICS Act of 2017, will be two of the bills included in the markup. The other bill concerns amber alerts on Indian reservations.

Passing national reciprocity was one of the promises that President Trump and the Republicans made to the gun rights community in 2016. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) introduced HR 38 on the first day of this session of Congress and we have been waiting (and waiting) for any movement on the bill. The bill currently has 210 Republican and 3 Democrat co-sponsors.

HR 4434 and S. 2135 are identical bills introduced to correct some of the problems with the reporting of data to the FBI for inclusion in the databases used to conduct the NICS instant background checks. Both bills were introduced after the murders at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. In that instance, the murderer had convictions on his record that made him a prohibited person. However, the US Air Force failed to report his convictions to the FBI and the murderer was able to buy multiple firearms after passing multiple NICS checks. The House bill is sponsored by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and the Senate bill by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). There is bipartisan support for both of these bills.

You can view the hearings live on YouTube.