• March 28, 2024

Should Trump administration support new congressional concealed-carry law?

 

Millions of Gun-rights supporters may be just a congressional vote and presidential signature away when President-elect Donald J. Trump takes his seat behind the Oval Office desk.  Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., has introduced new legislation that would grant “national reciprocity” for Americans with concealed firearm permits, according to Fox News. What a novel idea to have Constitutional Second Amendment protection from seas to shining sea. Would a President Trump sign the law if it lands on his desk?

The answer is a definite yes. Bottom line, if your drivers’ license works in every state so should your legal concealed-carry license.  Soon “national reciprocity” has a high probability that it will become the law of the land.  The president-elect has already backed such a law.

In fact, GOP presidential candidate Trump campaigned on protecting the gun rights of the millions of Americans. These same legally armed American patriots were tired of Obama’s nearly eight-year effort to strip away those constitutional rights and feared the threat a Hillary Clinton administration posed for gun owners.

Rep. Hudson has hit upon one of the major problems that gun owners face which is how a myriad of patchwork laws governing state-issued concealed-carry licenses threaten their right to carry. In far too many cases a legal own owner who has a state-issued concealed-carry license can cross state lines and fine him or herself in criminal violation of that particular state’s law.

A direct case in point applies to Shaneen Allen, a Philadelphia mother of two, who was arrested and faced three years in prison when she mistakenly entered New Jersey while in possession of her legal loaded handgun.  She was unaware that her legal gun permit was not transferable when a New Jersey police officer stopped her due to a traffic violation.

Even though the legal gun owning mother suffered through some very strenuous stressful months in fear of possible incarceration, Gov. Chris Christie pardoned her in 2015.

What if she had traveled to a state with an anti-gun rights governor?  She could very well still be doing hard time in prison.  This type of assault upon her right to carry a legal gun across state lines with a concealed-carry permit should not depend upon the kindness or charity of a governor of that state.

Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action appears to be in lockstep with national right to concealed-carry.  He stressed, “Law-abiding citizens should be able to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense while traveling across state lines,” reported Fox News.  Cox added, “This is an extremely important issue to our members and we thank Congressman Hudson for leading the fight to protect our rights.”

Senate gun control democrats have pledged to block nearly all pro-gun rights legislation and are simply waiting for this and other gun rights legislation to turn up in their chamber.  Yet, Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America appears assured that this proposed law would successfully pass in the Senate.  According to Fox News he pointed out concealed carry amendments in 2009 and 2013 obtained 58 and 57 Senate votes, even with Democratic control of that chamber.

Pratt stated, “We think the chances of passing concealed carry reciprocity are very good. The Senate has already voted on similar legislation twice in the past — and both times the bill garnered a large majority,”

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