Reports suggest that nearly 22 million hold permits to carry a concealed handgun, a dramatic rise from 2014’s 11 million permit-holders. Moreover, this number should be set to surge further. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in the NRA-supported case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, law-abiding gun owners in well-populated states such as California, New York, and New Jersey are only just beginning to enjoy a right to carry.
Of course, even the growing permit figures underestimate the number of Americans who carry concealed firearms, since 29 states now have permitless concealed carry via their constitutional carry laws.
This dramatic increase only intensifies the importance of a national conversation on gun rights and the imperative that inconsistent state concealed carry laws be reconciled to protect law-abiding citizens who responsibly carry concealed firearms across state lines.
At present, states are not bound by specific national standards governing concealed carry. While a majority of states don’t require concealed carry permits, 21 states and the District of Columbia have imposed differing standards and procedures for granting permits that often make the process onerous and complicated. What’s more, the huge disparities between state laws have fostered widespread confusion, added to burdensome bureaucratic red tape, and, in some cases, resulted in life-changing criminal charges.
The most pressing issue arising from the patchwork of state concealed carry laws is that of permit reciprocity between states. Many states do not honor other states’ concealed carry permits, and, thus, any nonresident who lawfully carries a concealed handgun for self-defense in his own state could face criminal charges in another.
For example, if someone who holds a concealed carry permit in her home state of Nevada visits California and tries to conceal carry, she is at risk of prosecution because California does not honor any other state’s concealed carry permits or licenses. Absent a clear, consistent standard on state reciprocity, responsible gun owners and law-abiding citizens could face prosecution, fines, and even significant jail time for simply driving across state lines with their otherwise lawfully concealed firearms.
As the NRA has consistently argued, state laws that infringe on the right to bear arms don’t inhibit violent crime but instead facilitate it. As restrictions and impediments to concealed carry increase, well-trained gun owners will be less likely to carry and act in self-defense or defense of others out of fear they will be prosecuted for unknowingly violating a state’s laws. As a result, criminals face fewer good guys with guns.
Thankfully, newly introduced legislation in Congress promises to restore Second Amendment protections.
H.R. 38, introduced recently by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), would streamline concealed carry permit protections across the 50 states. If signed into law, it would allow residents of one state who are licensed or hold a permit to carry concealed firearms to possess and carry concealed firearms in other states that 1) have concealed carry permitting and licensing provisions or 2) do not prohibit or restrict possession of concealed carry firearms.
This legislation honors the intent of the Second Amendment not by establishing a national standard for concealed carry permitting, but by ensuring law-abiding gun owners have the same privileges and protections in other states they may be temporarily present in as they do in their own. While some states currently implement a reciprocal concealed carry system and honor other states’ permits, the exceptions and registration rules among those still make the legal landscape extremely complicated. Legislation such as Hudson’s would eliminate the needlessly confusing nature of concealed carry reciprocity and ensure that the right to self-defense is honored and upheld across the 50 states.
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Hudson has introduced similar legislation before. In fact, bills to establish national reciprocity have been introduced routinely since 2011, passing the House that year and again in 2017, both with bipartisan support, but going no further. Now, with an openly pro-Second Amendment presidential administration and a united Congress, the legislation may finally be enacted.
Self-defense is a fundamental pillar of a free society, and that right doesn’t end when you leave your house or when you cross state lines. For far too long, the patchwork of concealed carry permitting and licensing laws has subjected gun owners to unjust prosecution simply for being prepared to defend themselves and others. The 119th Congress can fix that and make America safer by making national reciprocity the law of the land.
John Commerford is executive director of NRA-ILA.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
