And there you have it: our third quotation from a major piece of gun rights legislation. Except this one is the dictionary definition of disingenuous and law in question is the big Kahuna: H.R. 822. Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) introduced the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011. If passed, it would require all states to recognize all other states’ concealed carry weapons permits . . .

While the above quote attempts to fool—I mean “reassure” California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island et. al. that they can continue to deny citizens their Second Amendment rights, ha! HA ha ha ha ha. Mandark would appreciate the evil genius of that statement. As would any politician.

[If you’re confused about which states honor which other states’ concealed carry permit, no surprise there. Click here for the best resource: usacarry.com’ interactive map. Click on a state’s permit, choose resident or non-resident, and it’ll tell you where you can pack heat.]

The NRA has created a bullet point sales job for the bill, offering the usual combo of Constitutionalism and crime fighting. Regardless, if you contact your DC reps on one gun bill this year, I reckon this is it. Good luck and godspeed!

  • H.R. 822 recognizes the significant impact of the landmark cases, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), which found that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms and that the protections of the Second Amendment extend to infringements under state law.
  • Today, 48 states have laws permitting concealed carry, in some circumstances. Forty states, accounting for two-thirds of the U.S. population, have right-to-carry laws. Thirty-six of those have “shall issue” permit laws (including Alaska and Arizona, which also allow carrying without a permit), two have fairly administered “discretionary issue” permit laws, and Vermont (along with Alaska and Arizona) allows carrying without a permit. (Eight states have restrictive discretionary issue laws.)
  • Citizens with carry permits are more law-abiding than the general public. Only 0.01% of nearly 1.2 million permits issued by Florida have been revoked because of firearm crimes by permit holders. Similarly low percentages of permits have been revoked in Texas, Virginia, and other right-to-carry states that keep such statistics. Right-to-carry is widely supported by law enforcement officials and groups.
  • States with right-to-carry laws have lower violent crime rates. On average, right-to-carry states have 22 percent lower total violent crime rates, 30 percent lower murder rates, 46 percent lower robbery rates, and 12 percent lower aggravated assault rates, compared to the rest of the country. The seven states with the lowest violent crime rates are right-to-carry states. (Data: FBI.)
  • Crime declines in states with right-to-carry laws. Since adopting right-to-carry in 1987, Florida’s total violent crime and murder rates have dropped 32 percent and 58 percent, respectively. Texas’ violent crime and murder rates have dropped 20 percent and 31 percent, respectively, since enactment of its 1996 right-to-carry law. (Data: FBI.)
  • The right of self-defense is fundamental, and has been recognized in law for centuries. The Declaration of Independence asserts that “life” is among the unalienable rights of all people. The Second Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms for “security.”
  • The laws of all states and the constitutions of most states recognize the right to use force in self-defense. The Supreme Court has stated that a person “may repel force by force” in self-defense, and is “entitled to stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force” as needed to prevent “great bodily injury or death.” (Beard v. United States (1895))
  • Congress affirmed the right to own guns for “protective purposes” in the Gun Control Act (1968) and Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (1986). In 1982, the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution described the right to arms as “a right of the individual citizen to privately possess and carry in a peaceful manner firearms and similar arms.”

 

 

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27 COMMENTS

  1. I’m pretty supportive of this, but will it get enough votes to be be proofed against a veto by our national editor-in-chief?

  2. Okay, so what does this mean for us stuck in NJ? Since we cannot obtain a NJ CCW does this mean NJ will have to honor my FL (or Utah) non-resident CCW?

    • If this law were to pass (which it won’t because a snowball has a better chance of surving in hell) each state would only recognize permits issued in your HOME state. Any person who has a permit issued by their HOME state would be able to travel thru NJ, but a NJ resident without a NJ permit would be screwed as usual.

  3. President Theodore Roosevelt once said “Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far”. Our current dumbo in chief would rather throw the stick down and run away like a scared lil bitch. The once mighty USA is turning into a country panty waste girl scouts.

  4. Let the NRA push this bill in Congress while the SAF and similar organizations pursue our rights in court. Our rights were not stripped from us in one fell swoop, and we won’t get them all back with one stroke of the pen. As flawed as this legislation might be, its passage would mark a huge improvement over the status quo.

  5. Weird. If you click on the pic above, you get a whole different message. I think Farago is trying to see who is paying attention, and who the stoners are…

  6. Watch out for that concealed knife. In many jurisdictions, that knife is illegal and state pre-emption laws won’t apply. GeorgiaCarry.Org had a member who was carrying a knife and gun. He had a license. But, he was arrested/detained for illegally carrying a knife, not the gun.

    We got that issue resolved last year but the NRA focus on guns has left major potholes in our self defense laws in regard to knives and other weapons.

  8. Once CCW becomes a federal issue, the feds can take control of CCW based on withholding funds from the states.

  10. Never in a million years. Before you guys can orchestrate an incremental program which leads to this insanity, things will change on the Supreme Court and in the country. Your golden years won’t last forever and the progress you’re making is too little too late.

    The reason it’ll turn around is because it’s wrong, plain and simple. Permissive gun laws are contributing to the world records that the US enjoys in gun violence, shameful records.

  11. MikeB302000

    You couldn’t be more wrong…

    But you’re one of those types that if I have to tell you the answer, you’ve already shown me you lack the comprehension to deal with its complexities.

  12. I am supportive of the idea behind this bill, but I have concerns over 10th amendment implications of the Federal Government compelling states to allow reciprocity.

  13. I am a Texas CHL holder, USMC veteran, and avowed Second Amendment enthusiast. On first blush, HR822 seems like a good idea. What could possibly go wrong, right? Still, what the government gives, the government can take away, and giving the feds an inch on gun rights practically guarantees they will eventually take a mile. CHL issuance and reciprocity are issues properly reserved to the states, and there they should remain.

  14. “Permissive gun laws are contributing to the world records that the US enjoys in gun violence, shameful records.”

    Show the numbers or admit you don’t know what you’re talking about.

    In any case — if there were an unusually large number of libel cases, would you then call for restrictions on the 1st Amendment?

      • And murder is not protected under the Second Amendment. The principle is the same. Do you restrict rights of honest people to prevent criminals from breaking other laws?

  15. The trick of it is that some states allow for out-of-state concealed carry permits. Utah, is it? If it is Utah as I remember, you apply for an out-of-state Utah carry permit, and then it has to be held in reciprocity in, say, New Jersey. It won’t matter if NJ doesn’t want to provide any permits, you just pay for your background check and medical records check and paperwork to the friendly people in Utah who make it a tidy profit center.

    • That’s not how it will work, you will need to have a resident permit from your home state because they will not accept nonresident permits.

  16. Unless the Gun Free School Zones Act is changed or repealed, nobody can legally carry in a state other than the one that gave them a permit. If you go within the magic distance of a school, which is hard to avoid doing, you need either a permit issued by the state in which the school is located or to have the gun in a locked case. So this legislation has, in effect, made it a federal felony to carry in a state other than the one that gave you a permit. To be sure, they probably won’t enforce this law, unless they decide for some reason that they don’t like you.

  17. I understand Libertarian/constitutional fundimentalist objections. But thos who object for these reasons, just can’t see the fun this bill would cause.
    Schummer would be pleading it is un constitutional because of 10th ammendmendment issues. Bloomberg would pee his pants while addressing the Criminal Mayors against Guns. The People of Jersey might start asking why mobsters and visiters can have guns but not they. Fruits and nuts of California would whip themselves into an organic berry smoothie.
    Oh the joy and glory of the press clippings if this bill should pass.

  18. If you pay the fees and jump through the hoops, you can get PA, Utah and Florida. Those allow you to carry in more than 2/3rds of the states. So many of us are there. Why the folks like MikeB302000 insist that all hell would break loose if I could carry in all 50 states is insulting. I have been carrying in various states (12) legally for years and I have not unholstered my defensive weapon at any time.
    It is offensive to me that he claims the sky is falling when he has no data to back that up in any way! I am a law abiding citizen in a country where guns are allowed to be owned and carried, and he insults my intelligence by attempting to claim I am somehow a wild cowboy out to shoot someone!
    I hope National Reciprocity will pass. I will let my Senators and Congressman know of my convictions.
    Let’s remember we have 4.5 to 4.8 million NRA members to get a letter out.
    Brady has about 15,000… What would they do without Joyce Foundation?

      • Me too – just wrote a freakin’ long letter to my Massachusetts representative (who is very anti-gun unfortunately) about support for this bill (and for the FairTax bill as well!)
        Felt like I was writing an essay in American History class. 🙂

  19. For the life of me I can’t understand why the Full Faith and Credit clause is not applicable? If I am visiting a state I don’t need to re-apply for a marriage license or a driver’s license. If I am divorced, a felon or a fugitive, going to another state doesn’t relieve me of the status. A private pilot’s license is a federal issued license recognized in all 50 states but the background check for a Concealed Cary permit has to clear through a federal database is not recognized. Why has the NRA not taken this as one of its bullet points?

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