The Second Amendment Should Trump State Lines

In the June issue of Townhall Magazine I took up the issue of national concealed carry reciprocity. My bosses at Townhall were nice enough to post the column online.

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Here’s a taste:

My state-issued driver’s license allows me to get into a car and drive to visit friends in other states. If I decide to drive to visit my friend Pablo in Arizona, or Jacqueline in New York, my North Carolina-issued license will be honored by every law enforcement agency I may encounter along the way.

If I were to visit Pablo, I would not need to obtain additional driver’s licenses to drive through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. If I were to visit Jacqueline, I would not need to obtain additional licenses for Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. No matter where I drive in the United States, I have reciprocity with my driver’s license, under the presumption that if I am deemed competent to drive in one state, then I am competent enough to drive in every state.

If I even brought up the idea that I might need a driver’s license in each individual state, reasonable people would look at me as if I might need my current license revoked, at least until I’m checked over thoroughly by mental health professionals.

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I have a second state-issued license in my wallet, that allowed me to carry a concealed weapon. I’m granted reciprocity in just 36 states. Apparently I’m allowed to travel to certain parts of the nation, I’m just not allowed to defend my life when I arrive.

Read the whole thing, and let me know what you think about Senator John Cornyn’s Senate Bill 1908: The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014.

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