Even PolitiFact Sees Anti-Reciprocity Hysteria As Nonsense

Most “fact checker” sites tend to have a bit of a liberal bias. Snopes is notoriously bad about finding any nook and cranny possible to defend liberal politicians or attack conservative ones. PolitiFact, however, tends to be a bit better than most.

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But that’s a low bar, to be sure.

However, they took aim at a bit of hysteria surrounding national reciprocity, and it doesn’t work out well for the anti-gun zealots.

On the eve of the vote, one Democratic lawmaker warned the expansion of concealed-carry rights would prevent states from keeping guns away from schools.

“There are 12 states that don’t require permits for carrying guns. Under #HR38, someone from one of those states could travel to your community and walk right into a school zone with a loaded weapon, no matter what local laws say,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., tweeted Dec. 5, referring to House Resolution 38. “This bill is a nightmare. #StopCCR.”

As the House-passed bill moves to the Senate, we decided to look at whether Boyle’s claim about the effects on state gun laws was correct. It turns out his read on the bill is misleading.

Boyle said the concealed carry bill would allow residents of certain states to “travel to your community and walk right into a school zone with a loaded weapon, no matter what local laws say.”

While the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would override a federal law concerning the carry of concealed weapons in a school zone, Boyle is wrong about how the bill would affect state and local gun laws.

Concealed carry permit-holders — and residents of the dozen states that allow permitless concealed carry — would still be subject to any state or local laws that prohibit or restrict the carry of a gun in a school or a designated zone around it.

We rate this False.

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They defend their rating pretty well, and it’s worth checking out.

However, Boyle is far from the only one making such claims. They appear to be a significant talking point for the anti-gun left right now as they paint all the horrible outcomes possible because someone from Oklahoma might be allowed to carry in New York City. Granted, no other laws change, something PolitiFact notes in their examination of Boyle’s claim, but whatever.

Further, people like Boyle fail to comprehend that if someone was interested in stepping on a campus for malicious reasons–the only real reason to worry about someone having a loaded weapon–there are no laws that will stop him. None.

After all, we had a shooting at a school just yesterday. After all, New Mexico has laws banning guns from schools, yet it still happened. How? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that if someone wants to kill people, they’re not exactly going to be squeamish about breaking a gun law or two.

What this is really about is control.

Liberals are upset that they’ll no longer be able to have absolute control over who gets to carry in their states. No amount of evidence that concealed carry holders are law-abiding to such a degree as to put police officers, politicians, and judges to shame will change that in their mind. They simply don’t want anyone to carry without their state’s express, written permission.

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And, as evidenced by Boyle’s claim, they’ll manufacture any kind of nonsense to keep the status quo.

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