The handgun carried concealed by the law-abiding person is to self-defense against potentially homicidal criminals as a fire extinguisher is to flames: a life-saving emergency rescue tool that allows the ordinary person to hold the line against death or horrible injury until the professionals can get there to deal with the matter.
The fire extinguisher in your car can go with you anywhere in the country. The handgun in your holster cannot. Many states do not reciprocate and recognize carry permits the way they do marriage licenses and drivers’ licenses.
A bill has languished in Congress, which will never pass when the Democrats take over the House with their new majority in January. (If you doubt that, check out the DNC’s national platform.) Donald Trump and pretty much the Republican Party promised us support for carry reciprocity to get our votes in 2016. The time, obviously, is now.
Concealed carry has saved countless lives. It will save many more with national reciprocity. Please, reach out to your elected representatives in Washington and urge them to get going on this at this last minute. The bill is H.R. 38 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/38 . You’ll find phone numbers and many more details at this link, thanks to Attorney Roger Katz at www.thetruthaboutguns.com :
I wish it were possible to get this bill approved in the Senate. I know that the tone of the linked articles is to blame the Republicans for not getting it done. However, I understand why the Republican leadership never brought it to the floor. They knew that the Democrats would, immediately, filibuster it. It takes 60 votes to “end debate” and the Republicans never had anything close to it. They would have had to fight to get 51 or 52 votes.
The Republican leadership simply did not want to start a fight that they could not possibly win. All it would have done would be to provide the Democrats an opportunity to grandstand on “Commonsense Gun Controls” and motivated a propaganda campaign by the left-wing, legacy media. The Republican leadership saw no “Up-Side” to bringing this bill to a vote.
The comparison to the vote for Justice Kavanaugh is not correct. The filibuster option has been removed for Supreme Court nominations. Therefore, only 51 votes was needed not 60. As we saw, even this was tough to get but it was doable in the end.
I am afraid that, given the absolute hatred by the leftist Democrats for Concealed Carry and given their tendency to vote in “lock-step” on such ideological issues, the dream of getting National Concealed Carry Reciprocity through Congress, and on to the President’s desk for signing, is just that: A Dream.
If the Republicans could ever score a real majority in the Senate. Say, having control of 57 or more seats, then it might become doable. With control of only 51 to 53 seats by the Republicans, it will never, never, never, ever happen. The rabid, foam-at-the-mouth counter-attack by the Democrats and their media allies is simply too powerful to overcome. That is the sad but harsh truth!
With respect, I disagree.
The Republicans could force a vote on the CCR (Concealed Carry Reciprocity) bill. The Senate Majority Leader (currently Mitch McConnell) and the Committee chairs have the authority to decide which bills get heard on the floor. They set the schedule.
It’s really very simple: schedule the CCR bill before the next Continuing Resolution on the budget, and then hold up the schedule until a vote happens on CCR.
Sure, Democrats can filibuster, but they’d have to explain why they’re not allowing funding the fed.gov. (BTW, this is not unprecedented; during his 21-hour filibuster, they made Senator Ted Cruz [R-TX] explain why defunding Obamacare was more important than passing the CR bill funding it and the rest of the fed.gov.)
That’s the “stick” approach. Alternatively, the GOP could use the “carrot” and agree to hear a bill the Dems want, but only after a CCR vote.
I’ve just spelled out, under the current Senate rules (including the minority party filibuster), how CCR could pass. The fact is, the GOP is at fault for not passing it, either because it’s simply not a priority for them, or because they disapprove of “the right of the People to keep and bear Arms” just as much as the Dems do.
Regardless of the “why”, they are reneging on a campaign promise AND allowing standing violations of the U.S. Constitution to continue, and because in this last election they increased their Senate majority, they will interpret that as a reward for doing so.
Personally, I’m going to try some reverse psychology. My Senators are both hard-core Leftists who will vote down CCR. Ergo, I’m going to write them and demand a floor vote on CCR so they can prove their anti-gun bona fides by voting on-record to kill it.
If the DEMOCRATS demand a floor vote, then it really will be the GOP’s fault if it doesn’t pass. Yea, I know, the Dems will never go for this, but a guy can dream, right? Heck, right now CCR is just a dream; what’s one dream over the other?
@ Archer – You might be right in the sense that, if the Republicans REALLY went to the wall for National CCR, they could force a vote. If they were willing to take steps like “Shutting Down” the government to do it.
However, what I said before still stands. The Democrats would “Grand Stand” all over the place. They would preach “Commonsense Gun Control” from every TV set in America with the willing aid of their operatives in the so-called “Mainstream Media”. The resulting propaganda campaign would be a “Sight to Behold”.
The Conservative Republicans, who supported this effort, would be painted as “Extremists” who were so in the pocket of the NRA that they were even willing to shutdown the Government for their masters. The RINO’s in the Republican Party (and there a more than a few) would run and hide under the bed while disclaiming any support for the effort. Likely, the effort would collapse before bearing fruit and, even if the Republican Leadership had the guts to ignore the Democratic and Media Counter-Attack, the RINO’s deserting the ship would cause it to sink and fail in the end. The final floor vote would see the CCR bill fail to get even 50 votes. It would fail in the Senate.
It is sad to say but the Republican Leadership looked at the math, weighed the cost versus the likely outcome and decided that they did not love the 2A and National CCR enough to fight to the death for it.
Let’s be realistic. In these days and times and with the Democrats owning almost all of the media outlets, you are not going to find that level of “Backbone” in the Republican Party or any other Party for that matter. That is some more “sad but harsh truth”.
Yo Mas: Just spent the last hour calling the White House, NRA my local Oregon Senators, Sen. Grassley and Mitch McConnel’s office…Imagine that …his mailbox is full!, and won’t take any more messages!
Any followers of Mas, please take the time to do the same! Light their asses up! This is not a negotiable request…Stand Up for our President and Founding Fathers, or get out of Public office! Happy Holidays…Put this request under your Christmas Tree!
@Tom Kelly: Oregonian here, too. I’m going to try some reverse psychology on our Senators, since they’re both anti-gun Democrats (both F-rated by the NRA, based on statements and actual voting records).
I’m going to ask them to demand a floor vote on national reciprocity so they can prove their anti-gun bona fides and kill it.
No, I don’t think they’ll go for it, but it’ll confuse the hell out of them. 🙂
Here’s the message I sent to both my Senators, under the message topic “Civil Rights”:
Please support H.R.38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 as a cosponsor in the US Senate, for the benefit of Oregonians.
When I and other Oregonians travel outside our fair State, we find other States that fail to recognize and honor Oregon’s Concealed Handgun License. My marriage license and my driver license remain valid when I cross State lines, due to States’ mutual respect and extending “Full Faith and Credit” (Article IV Section 1) to other States. H.R.38 requires the same for my Oregon CHL.
Just as I must obey other States’ traffic laws when I drive there, and visitors must obey Oregon’s traffic laws when they drive here, licensed carriers will continue to be required to obey the gun laws of the State they’re visiting.
H.R.38 will provide significant benefits for Oregonians visiting other States, and will effect no change for Oregonians in Oregon. Please support H.R.38, and join as a cosponsor in the US Senate.
TN_MAN, Sadly I think that you are spot on with your analogy of this hopeless situation. I too understand that it is no doubt a losing battle to get the bill passed due to the fact that the democrats hate Trump so badly that they will vote ANYTHING down that he proposes even if it hurts them! I think that we should all enjoy what is left of this presidency because come 2020 I am afraid that this Great Country is going to go to who knows where if the democrats get back into the White House. May God help us all.
If national reciprocity ever passes, liberal states like New York will likely outlaw concealed carry. I heard from a local firearms trainer that this possibility was being discussed by NYS lawmakers. Is this true? Who knows- but with liberals now in control of the NYS Assembly, Senate, & Governor’s office- it could very well happen. The NYS government is radically anti-gun.
If outlawing concealed carry is not unconstitutional then most if not all lib states could do the same.
@Vin:
Currently all 50 states ostensibly allow CCW. The various Circuit Courts are split over whether banning CCW is unconstitutional. Currently, even in the Nutty Ninth, banning CCW is only OK as long as open-carry is allowed, and vice versa; the States must allow SOME form of carry (thus, for example, California’s ultra-restrictive “may-issue” CCW licenses were upheld; no word from the courts yet now that the state has banned open-carry, too).
I don’t know if the Second Circuit has weighed in, but the more circuits conflict with each other, the more likely we’ll eventually hear from SCOTUS. SCOTUS is always a crap shoot, but I’m liking our odds lately.
Call my reps in DC? Laughable. I live in Murderland (Maryland) and MY reps are the ones who are stopping any progress in terms of OUR 2-A rights.
That said, but because of TOTAL lack of interest, funds or whatever the excuse, our wonderful NRA and Second Amendment Foundation have left us to fend for ourselves in MD. I get inundated with donation requests via phone and email. My eyes and ears are just as blind and deaf to those requests, as the ones, who are requesting from me.
National Reciprocity ain’t gonna happen in my lifetime, I’m 60, however, the next “Un-Civil War”, on the other hand, is another question. In fact, don’t be surprised if some sort of ammo tax, magazine restrictions and sporting rifle prohibitions aren’t attached to the border wall funding bill. Don’t be surprised at all…
…the red flag laws are very, very bad as they are written, and that could light the fuse.
Stay safe.
Would it be possible to get the word out to all police departments to not arrest citizens who have CCWs from other states? Tell the officers to give a verbal warning to the out-of-staters but not arrest them. Could departments which insist on harassing concealed-carry folks be shamed by other, patriotic police departments? This would be addressing the problem from the grass roots, bottom up. I know we could never convince prosecutors and judges to obey the Second Amendment as written.
Makes me angry because I know the Left gets what they want most of the time. When they don’t get their way, they practice civil disobedience. We lost the culture war.
If reciprocity is passed, you can be sure that the news would widely disseminate in the police world. Until then, law enforcement has to enforce existing laws.
I wrote physical letters to both my Senators from Virginia when this first came on the scene. Senator Warner, the “pro” 2nd amendment senator came right our and said NO. Senator Kaine sent a nice letter not saying no or yes but it was clear the untone was no. I also sent a letter to Representative Comstock (RINO) who never responded. She also lost re-election to a gun-grabbing socialist. Speaker Ryan sent a nice letter saying nothing but noting his accomplishments.
I’m sorry, but VA has turned completely blue this last election and will be as bad if not worse than MD in a decade when it comes to gun rights and socialism. Moved to TX and hoping for a better outcome.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Funny, it was a big enough deal the Founders felt it necessary to attach “shall not be infringed”.
The time to push it was when they had the shooting at baseball practice. All of them were wanting to carry guns right after it. Thy would have passed it then.
Amen!
This and a whole lot of other stuff should have been like T-ball practice in the first 90 days. We lost this chance for at least two years if not a life time.
Unfortunately, it seems that we our at the zenith point in carry rights. Moving to Texas always seemed like a viable option, but with this last election cycle, it appears that even Texas is starting to tip more blue. I was reading a recent article that Vermont hunting licenses sales have been on a steady decline for the past ten years, and it is an issue that has Fish & Game Department worried about the future. This is a cultural thing that I just don’t know how to reverse. I go to several nearby shooting ranges and all I see is 97% white males, mostly between 45-75 years of age. I don’t necessarily think that all young people automatically hate guns, but they just don’t have an interest in it as a hobby.
@Will McGraw:
Maybe it’s a regional thing, or maybe it’s what kinds of shooting ranges you’re visiting. What kinds of shooting do they allow?
As an anecdote/example, my town has two shooting ranges. One is a classic “rod and gun club”, and the other is a gun store with an attached 25-yard indoor range.
The R&G club caters mostly to hunters; they have a nice 200-yard rifle range (if you don’t mind shooting through muffler barrels), an indoor range limited to .22 rimfire, and a 50-foot pistol range. (TBH, the pistol range is lackluster and off to the side, as if added as an afterthought.) They also require slow-fire only (by the old military definition: no more than one shot every 5 seconds) on all ranges.
The other range is built to accommodate any caliber up to .50, including rifles, and allow shooting at any speed the shooter can control (the RSO monitors and will let you know if he/she feels you’re going too fast for safety, will give you some tips for improving, but will also eject you if you’re not shooting safely).
From what I’ve seen, the R&G club is used mostly by the demographic you describe: mostly white males (with a smattering of white females), 45-75 years old (and although I’m not privy to the numbers, it seems like their membership has been declining for a while but the leadership is not willing to make any significant changes to attract younger shooters). The indoor range, on the other hand, is used by all ages, all races and genders, but mostly (by a slight majority) 20-40 years old … and it’s always busy.
Where I’m going with this is, younger folks tend to be more interested in self-defense than hunting and “sport” shooting. If (big IF) the ranges you’re visiting cater to “Gun Culture 1.0” (like my local R&G club), you probably won’t see many “Gun Culture 2.0” folks showing up. It’s not that young people categorically hate guns or aren’t interested guns as a hobby; it’s that their interests are different from previous generations, and not all ranges are built to accommodate all interests.
Just my $0.02, worth every penny you’re paying for it. 🙂
National Reciprocity is sorely needed as activist AG’s in PA and other States are making it excruciatingly difficult for Non-Residents to obtain carry permits without going through THEIR background checks AND appearing in person within a given time frame to pick it up or lose it! Perhaps an Executive Order will provide relief?
Will, the younger generation in my opinion is being lead away from the legitimacy of hunting and other sport shooting activities. It’s largely because of our media and our schools. And, we’re loosing our independence, plus, I feel the moral fabricate of our nation isn’t what it should be.
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