Radio talk show host and entertainment icon Howard Stern used the considerable reach of his SiriusXM platform on Tuesday to voice his support for a national interstate concealed carry reciprocity law.
This law has been NRA’s number one legislative agenda item for several years. And with the election of Donald Trump as president, as well as pro-gun majorities in both houses of the U.S. Congress, the prospects for such a law have never looked better.
Trump has formally endorsed the concept of interstate reciprocity in a position paper published on his campaign website and in a number of other public statements. According to his position paper:
The right of self-defense doesn’t stop at the end of your driveway. That’s why I have a concealed carry permit and why tens of millions of Americans do too. That permit should be valid in all 50 states. A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state. If we can do that for driving – which is a privilege, not a right – then surely we can do that for concealed carry, which is a right, not a privilege.
Howard Stern and his longtime co-host, Robin Quivers, echoed those sentiments in their own comments. “When you think about it,” Stern said, “somebody is a legal and responsible gun owner – let’s say in Massachusetts – why when he crosses the border is he suddenly an outlaw?” As Quivers elaborated on how current law requires state-by-state licensing for concealed carry and how Trump’s proposal would protect licensees traveling interstate, Stern interjected, “Makes total sense,” and, “I support that.”
Quivers also pointed out, correctly, that the majority of concealed carry licensees “are the most law-abiding people in the country.” She continued, “So why not give them the right to carry wherever they are?” She and Stern additionally invoked the analogy of a licensed driver and noted (with typically colorful Stern show language) that requiring drivers to be licensed in every state through which they traveled “doesn’t make any sense.”
Howard Stern has previously expressed his support for the Second Amendment on his show, insisting that law-abiding citizens should be left to decide for themselves how many firearms and of what type they should own, as well as how much ammunition they should keep on hand. Robin Quivers has expressed a similar opinion, noting that when it comes to criminals and their firearms, “They don’t have any rules there.”
The views Stern and Quivers expressed on Tuesday also reflect those of a majority of the American people, who believe, according to a 2015 Gallup poll, that the United States would be safer if “more Americans carried concealed weapons.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member