These States Oppose National Reciprocity. Is Yours One Of Them?

If we’re going to have to have concealed carry permits, it would be nice to have those permits honored in other states. After all, drivers licenses are so honored, as are marriage licenses, and neither of those are explicitly protected constitutional rights like the right to keep and bear arms.

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As things currently stand, those traveling out of state who want to carry a firearm are required to deal with a confusing mess of which states will honor their permits and which won’t.

Thus enters national reciprocity, which means states would be required to honor the permits of other states. Unfortunately, not everyone likes the idea.

A group of attorneys general have gone on record in their opposition to legislation that would see greater acceptance of concealed carry permits nationwide.

Led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the group penned a letter to Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle this week voicing why they think national reciprocity for concealed carry is a mistake. The group contends each state currently has rules of their lawmakers’ own choosing, designed around their local needs and in fitting to their own political climate.

“Rather than creating a new national standard for who may carry concealed firearms, these bills would elevate the lowest state standard over higher ones and force some states to allow concealed carry by people who do not qualify under their laws,” says the letter, whose signatories include Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Schneiderman — an advocate of increased gun control, default enforcer of New York’s strict SAFE Act, and backer of fights against even stun guns and toy guns — said a move towards increased reciprocity is ill-conceived and would override local public safety decisions.

“What’s right for one state is not right for all. This lowest-common-denominator approach would undermine states’ basic responsibility to protect our communities – including by determining who may carry a concealed, loaded gun within our borders,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “This legislation would risk the lives of our families and our law enforcement officers while facilitating gun trafficking and promoting mass violence – and Congress must swiftly reject it.”

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Of course, the fact that it’s only a handful of states, and most are the usual suspects. From Schneiderman’s statement, the states in question are New York, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

In other words, there’s not much in the way of surprises in that list, that’s for sure.

Unfortunately for Schneiderman and company, they only represent 17 states, and while those are some pretty populated states, they still represent less than half of all Americans.

In other words, there’s no reason on Earth to take them all that seriously.

Especially in light of the fact that concealed carry permit holders everywhere go through background checks and are vetted to make sure they’re not a risk to society. This is standard across the country, yet these Attorneys general think they’re justified in acting like pretending they are the sole voice of authority on just who should be able to carry a firearm.

It’s a good thing they’re not the ones who decide.

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