National reciprocity, at a minimum, needs to happen. People with a driver's license from Florida can drive in all 50 states and every US territory without a problem, even though driving is considered a privilege, not a right. Meanwhile, California can ignore a permit from Georgia without repercussions.
It's stupid. It's always been stupid.
And honestly, the arguments made against national reciprocity have always been remarkably stupid.
And John Lott has already debunked many of them.
As Lott explained, last year, when House Judiciary Committee passed national reciprocity along party lines, Democrats also opposed legislation that would have allowed current and retired law enforcement officers with at least 10 years of service to carry firearms in facilities open to the public—including schools—while traveling across the country.
“Given their fear that allowing experienced current or retired law enforcement officers to carry would endanger public safety, it comes as no surprise that they also oppose allowing civilians to carry across state lines,” he wrote.
Congressional opponents of national carry reciprocity lament that permit holders will commit crimes, but are able to show no evidence to support that claim.
“The facts point in the opposite direction,” Lott wrote. “Concealed handgun permit holders are extraordinarily law-abiding. States revoke their permits for firearm-related violations at rates measured in thousandths—or even ten-thousandths—of one percent. Police officers rarely commit firearm crimes, yet permit holders lose their permits for firearm offenses at only about one-twelfth the rate that police are convicted of firearm-related crimes.”
Opponents also claim that national reciprocity would confuse travelers about which gun laws apply in each state and lead to more arrests.
“But reciprocity already exists across much of the country, and no evidence shows that out-of-state permit holders create such problems,” Lott wrote. “Indeed, the same situation exists for drivers when they cross state lines: They are required to follow the driving regulations for the state they are in.”
It's really not an issue. It's never been an issue. Yes, some people may end up in some kind of trouble because they broke a law in one jurisdiction that wasn't a problem back home, but more often than not, we see more of that in states where reciprocity doesn't exist than because of reciprocity misunderstandings.
And, frankly, those who fail to note the laws of where they're going are just as responsible for their own actions as they would be if they failed to note the laws in their home states.
Plus, the statistics clearly show that people with concealed carry permits are more law-abiding than any other group, including the police officers who typically can carry in any state already. The anti-gunners don't blink about officers carrying in all 50 states, despite the numbers, but they freak out about armed citizens.
The truth of the matter is, though, no amount of data from someone like Lott will sway them. They've already decided he's not worth listening to because he doesn't cook the books for anti-gunners, and so they'll keep on ignoring him. The rest of the world shouldn't, though, because he's finding things that are absolutely true and should at least be open for discussion. For the most part, anti-gunners won't refute what he finds because they know they can't. They just ignore it, which is how you know they know it's true.
National reciprocity would, at the very least, change nothing on the criminal landscape. If we're talking about a right, even if you think rights should take a backseat to public safety, then no change should be sufficient enough to support a thing, right?
Only, that's not the case. They're too worked up about the hypotheticals in their heads to consider the reality on the ground. Every hypothetical they present is treated as a serious concern, but when I talk about an abused woman being able to shoot her abuser, even at an individual level, I'm talking nonsense because there's not tons of data supporting this happening to any great extent.
Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me, either.
Anyway, the truth is that there's literally no reason not to pass national reciprocity. None at all.
Especially since Bruen opened up the doors on concealed carry for millions of Americans who had previously been denied for no reason at all, only for us to see the homicide rate reach record lows.
This, I might add, despite the doomsaying.
Note to Congress: Do. It. Now.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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