The new year looks to bring a lot of Legislation that Second Amendment supporters should watching. While much of it will likely be negative, the 2021 session starts on a positive for firearms owners. HR 38 Conceal Carry Reciprocity Act has little chance of being passed, but it is a bill whose time is past due. This is a great opportunity to warm up our advocacy skills on something worth supporting.
HR 38
House Resolution 38 was introduced on January 4, 2021 by Representative Richard Hudson. Representative Hudson hails from North Carolina’s 8th District. The bill currently has 154 co-sponsors, including 3 Democrats. The Resolution has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
What the Legislation Does
The Congressional Research Service has not received the official text of SB 38 as of this writing so no formal summary is available. However, the formal title of the Resolution clearly reflects its purpose: To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a means by which nonresidents of a State whose residents may carry concealed firearms may also do so in the State.
So what does that mean? It means that if you live in Arizona and have your conceal carry permit and travel to California, California must recognize your permit. This works just like it recognizes your Arizona Driver’s License. If you live in a Constitutional Carry state like Kansas and travel to Colorado, they must recognize your right to conceal carry based on your home state. When doing so you must follow all laws of the state you are in. This includes things such as prohibited locations to have a firearm, just like you have to follow that state’s driving laws.
Why You Should Care
A nationwide conceal carry reciprocity law would help protect lawful gun owners. The current reciprocity standards can be confusing and hard to figure out what is allowed where. By treating conceal carry like we do driving privileges, we can eliminate many of those confusion based issues. HR 38 still requires all state laws be followed while conceal carrying.
You can use the information here to contact your Representative and let them know your feelings on House Resolution 38. The next several years are going to require diligence from the firearms community to protect our rights.
In the first 2 years of the Trump term, republicans owned the congress and couldn’t get this done. Nothing but cheap political grandstanding today.