Existing state codes have created a confusing patchwork of reciprocity agreements for concealed carry permit holders. 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. All 50 states already allow for some form of concealed carry, a policy that has been proven to increase public safety. A 2013 study in Applied Economic Letters found that between 1980 and 2009, “states with more restrictive concealed carry laws had gun-related murder rates that were 10 percent higher.” Additionally, a 2013 survey of 15,000 current and retired police officers found that 90 percent of them support the concealed carry of guns by civilians.
HR 38 also reauthorizes the National Instant Criminal Background Check Systems (NICS) Improvement Act and increases records submissions assistance for states. The Attorney General is required to report every two years on the improvements made to the NICS system, and law enforcement shall be notified when a prohibited person received a firearm in error. This will help ensure that criminals who have been barred from gun ownership remain unable to get their hands on firearms.
Below are some statements from Newsmakers:
Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming at large)
“I’m proud the House passed H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. This legislation, which I co-sponsored, will ensure that law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights are not infringed when they cross state lines. Folks in Wyoming deserve to know the constitutional carry rights we enjoy at home won’t be threatened when we cross into other jurisdictions. Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t have to fear criminal prosecution for exercising their Second Amendment rights. I am proud the House passed this important bill that will protect our citizens’ individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”
Steve Cohen (D-TN, 9th)
“Just a month after the mass shooting of 26 in Texas and two months after a gunman killed 58 in Las Vegas, the House majority’s response is to override state laws with reasonable restrictions on the concealed carrying of handguns. Beyond the incomprehensible tone deafness of this action, it ignores the very states’ rights Republicans so often cling to – except when the National Rifle Association tells them not to,” Cohen said.
“Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia, including Tennessee, require residents to be at least 21 to receive a concealed carry handgun permit. This bill would allow permit holders from states allowing concealed carry at younger ages to, in essence, violate more restrictive states’ laws. I support concealed carry laws and was the sponsor of Tennessee’s when I was in the state senate, but I think state laws that are more restrictive should be respected.”
Doug Collins (R-GA, 9th)
“As a member of Congress, I have a duty to uphold American liberties—including the right to bear arms—for current and future generations. I cosponsored the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act because I believe the Second Amendment doesn't end at state borders.
"Our forefathers didn't cement our right to defend ourselves and our families as a philosophical exercise—they were protecting freedoms that they recognized as essential elements of our democracy. The Second Amendment will always be one of those foundational liberties, and today's vote affirms that.”
James Comer (R-KY, 1st)
Congressman James Comer (KY-01) voted in favor of the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 231-198. The bill, which is endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), prioritizes the Constitutional Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act will ensure that concealed carry permits issued in one state are valid in other states. This guarantees that Americans’ Second Amendment rights do not stop at a state line. Additionally, it puts the burden of proof on the state to show an individual carrying a concealed firearm violated the law, protecting law-abiding gun owners from burdensome civil lawsuits.
“I am proud to support this common-sense legislation. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act protects the rights of Kentucky gun owners by saying that if you can legally carry a firearm in the Commonwealth you won’t have to worry about crossing into Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee or any other state as long as you follow that state’s laws. The Second Amendment right to bear arms is one of the most fundamental rights provided to us in the Constitution and I will proudly continue to stand up for the gun rights of Kentuckians.”
Paul Cook (R-CA, 8th)
“This important legislation will go a long way toward protecting our rights while making Americans safer. It clarifies current gun regulations, preserves the right of law-abiding citizens to right to carry a gun for self-defense, and maintains and improves safeguards to ensure we keep guns out of the hands of criminals. I urge the Senate to swiftly take up and pass this vital public safety legislation.”
Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota)
“There is no reason a law-abiding gun owner in North Dakota should lose their Second Amendment rights while crossing state lines,” said Cramer. “The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act protects every citizens’ federal constitutional right to bear arms while ensuring individuals, who are legally prohibited from owning a firearm under current law, are prevented from doing so. This is a very common sense law.”
John Culberson (R-TX, 7th)
“Today, the House of Representatives took decisive action to protect one of our most fundamental rights: the right to keep and bear arms. Today’s legislation will guarantee that our second amendment rights are valid from coast to coast and do not stop at state lines. H.R. 38, The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, was combined with H.R. 4477, the Fix NICS Act of 2017, to create one bill which will ensure that concealed carry permit holders can travel across state lines without fear of arrest.”
Henry Cuellar (D-TX, 28th)
“I believe that Congress is taking appropriate steps in protecting people’s basic constitutional rights. However, I think that more should be done to prevent tragedies like the one that occurred in Sutherland Springs, from happening in the future. That is why Congressman Culberson and I have joined together, alongside other members in Congress, to push our legislation aimed at curbing gun violence. We are dedicated to improving the federal criminal background check system and confident in closing major loopholes in the NICS database.”
Diana Degette (D-CO, 1st)
“This bill gives the weakest state standards on gun violence prevention the force of law nationwide,” DeGette said. “Compelling state legislatures to adopt the concealed carry standards of other states will only undermine the protections that their citizens have come to expect their elected officials to uphold.
“If this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, Coloradans would be in greater peril. I refuse to let our communities face such mindless and needless danger without a fight.”
DeGette is a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which was formed after the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Shortly thereafter, she introduced a bill to ban high-capacity assault magazines similar to the one in place in Colorado, and she continues to support this move. She has also advocated other measures in the current Congress, including the proposed ban on bump stocks that briefly seemed to have bipartisan support after the Las Vegas mass shooting two months ago but has since stalled.
Scott DesJarlais (R-TN, 4th)
“The right to self-defense is an unalienable one and the most important to protecting ourselves from harm,” said Rep. DesJarlais (TN-04), “as the Supreme Court has decided. Our Constitution guarantees that right – and also that states must respect our common laws.”
“Today’s bill ensures Tennesseans who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights will face no undue burden when traveling to gun-friendly states,” he said. The Congressman is a strong Second Amendment supporter, as well as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, who after terror attacks at a recruitment center and military facility near Chattanooga in 2015, guided passage of a law allowing more service members to carry firearms on base.
Sean P. Duffy (R-WI, 7th)
“Law-abiding Wisconsinites deserve Concealed Carry Reciprocity, because your Second Amendment right shouldn’t stop at a state’s border,” said Congressman Duffy. “I’m proud to cosponsor the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act because citizens with a concealed carry permit deserve to protect themselves and their families regardless of what state they’re in.”
Eliot Engel (D-NY, 16th)
“This bill is attack on common-sense gun laws across the country. It doesn’t create a national standard, but instead, lets the states with the weakest laws dictate safety standards for everyone else,” Engel said. “Thirty-one states require safety training. Thirty-five states prohibit domestic abusers from carrying concealed weapons. Twenty-seven states prohibit people convicted of violent misdemeanors from carrying concealed weapons. All of these state laws will be overridden if H.R. 38 becomes law.
“It is unconscionable that in the wake of two of the worst mass shootings in modern American history, Republicans are trying to dismantle gun laws. We must fight on behalf of the safety of all Americans and pass comprehensive gun safety laws, not this dangerous bill.
“So much for the Republican mantra of ‘State’s rights.’”
Elizabeth Esty (D-CT, 5th)
“It is outrageous that today, of all days, one week before the five-year anniversary of the horrific murder of twenty schoolchildren in my district, and just two months after the slaughter of over fifty Americans in Las Vegas, that we are acting on a bill to put more guns in more the hands of more dangerous people,” Esty said. “Rather than helping raise the standards nationally for gun safety, this bill would lower them, making it easier for domestic abusers, stalkers, and violent criminals to carry loaded, hidden weapons across state lines.”
Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN, 3rd)
"For far too long law-abiding gun owners have had to navigate a treacherous and ever shifting labyrinth of local and state gun laws while traveling with their concealed carry permits," Fleischmann said. "H.R. 38, The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, will provide certainty to properly licensed individuals who travel with a firearm to carry in all states that already allow for concealed carry. I was proud to vote for H.R. 38 to ensure that upstanding citizens are not deprived of their Second Amendment rights or threatened with needless jail time due to crossing a state border."
Bill Flores (R-TX, 17th)
“Today, the House strengthened the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans by ensuring that these fundamental rights apply across state lines. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support, affirms that law-abiding citizens who are issued a concealed carry license or permit in one state can carry in other states that also allow concealed carry. The bill also makes sure that federal and state agencies are reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System as prescribed by current law. Gaps in this system contributed to the tragedy in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Additionally, the bill calls for a report to be submitted to Congress by the Bureau of Justice Statistics regarding the use of bump stocks. It is important that we continue to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens while at the same time working to improve public safety.”
H.R. 38 is supported by 24 State Attorneys General in a letter written to congressional leadership outlining how the individual right of gun ownership does not correlate to increased risk of crime. Both bills move to the Senate for further action.
The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, on whose board of directors Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich serves, opposes the bill, saying that undermining state and municipal laws will increase danger to police officers.
The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence also opposes the bill.
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