New York City elitists are terrified that if the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 passes through both houses of Congress and is signed into law, that yokels from out of town will stroll into Manhattan with a lawfully concealed weapon and not be thrown in jail like the peasants they clearly are.

Spearheaded by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the coalition, Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, took aim during a news conference Tuesday at concealed-weapons bills in both the U.S. House and Senate that law enforcement officials view with increasing alarm.

The bills, known to varying degrees as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, would allow anyone legally permitted to carry a concealed weapon in their home state to bring a firearm into states that also have a concealed carry law.

Vance said someone from Vermont, “where there are no permit requirements, could come into New York City with a loaded gun, come to Times Square, go to the subways and be amongst us in our communities.”

NYPD officers would be powerless to arrest and charge that person because possession of a gun would be legal in Vermont, he said.

“It is so absurd, it is the lowest common denominator approach to legislating around gun safety,” Vance said.

New York has a concealed carry permit for residents after they have gone through a rigorous vetting process.

“This obviously is bigger than a city issue, bigger than a state issue, it is a national issue,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “This bill must be defeated, it simply will cost lives if it passes.”

It’s clearly the opinion of these snobs that national reciprocity would set off a mad dash of Clampetts to the Big Apple, and that once these hayseeds arrived, they’d suddenly lose their minds and start blazing away at the giant Gambian rats that they can’t find back home.

Mr. Vance and Ms. Singas, you somehow have the warped belief that people who have never committed a violent act in their lifetime after carrying a firearm for five or ten years or maybe more will somehow suddenly become violent when they visit your city.

Does that say more about them, or your city?

These New Yorkers want to keep the current permitting system in place. If you’re not familiar with that system, it’s the one where the rich and powerful and famous are awarded concealed carry permits based on their social status, while everyone else waits to be a victim of either the violent criminals who ignore the law.

No, thanks.

I’m rather confident that I can drive in from North Carolina to visit friends in New Windsor (NY), take the train down from Beacon to Grand Central Station, walk around the crowded streets of Manhattan for a full day, stroll through Central Park, visit museums, have an over-priced meal, and take the train back north to Beacon without somehow developing the homicidal urge to murder everyone in my path with an appendix-carried P-07.

Not that he ever would consider bringing a firearm into a non-permissive environment, of course.

That would be illegal.