DC Kabuki: Cassidy, Cornyn and Hagerty Introduce National Reciprocity Bill in the Senate

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Courtesy concealedcarry-ed.com

National concealed carry reciprocity is every gun owner’s ideal. Just as a driver’s license is good no matter where you go in the 50 United States (and allegedly in D.C. too), a state-issued concealed carry permit should be similarly honored throughout the nation.

The last time national reciprocity became even a remote possibility and seemed to have momentum — that was early in the Trump administration when Republicans controlled both Congress and the White House — Michael Bloomberg hired on some new minions and committed more of his pocket change to fight the effort. He was that concerned that it might become a reality.

Two months later the Congressional Baseball Shooting happened and linguini-spined Republicans quietly euthanized both national reciprocity and the Hearing Protection Act.

Today…surprise!…three GOP senators have just announced the introduction of a new national reciprocity bill in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body™.

As Senator Bill Cassidy’s press release announces . . .

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and 43 Senate Republicans, today introduced the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state that allows concealed carry, while still abiding by that state’s laws. 

“The right to protect yourself and your family should not end at the state border,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill ensures law-abiding citizens can exercise that right to defend themselves regardless of what state they’re in.”

“I’m proud to support law-abiding gun owners across America with this commonsense legislation that would let them concealed carry in all states that allow it,” said Senator Cornyn. “This legislation strengthens two of our most fundamental constitutional protections – the Second Amendment’s right of citizens to keep and bear arms and the Tenth Amendment’s right of states to make laws best-suited for their residents – and I’m grateful to XX (sic) of my Republican Senate colleagues for joining me on this important bill.”

“The constitutional right of self-defense should not disappear simply because an individual crosses state lines,” said Senator Hagerty. “I’m pleased to join my Senate colleagues in this commonsense legislation to ensure that law-abiding Tennesseans who are permitted to carry a concealed firearm are able to exercise that right in other states, consistent with those states’ laws, without having to obtain a separate permit.”

Gosh, all of that makes us want to stand up, salute the flag, and take a big bite of apple pie.

The only problem with all of that, of course, is the bill doesn’t have an ice cube’s chance in Hell of ever making it into law. If Chuck Schumer somehow sustained a serious head injury and scheduled it for a vote…and then by some miracle a couple of Democrats crossed over and actually voted for it…and then the bill also cleared the House…it would still be DOA as soon as it hit grumpy ol’ Joe’s desk. He’d veto it faster than he dips into his afternoon cup of tapioca.

These three distinguished Washington Solons are well aware of that. They know full well they’ll never be called on to actually vote for this bill.

And it’s probably just a coincidence that two of them — Cassidy and Cornyn — also voted for last year’s federal gun control bill, the happy-crappy Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that DOCTOR Jill Biden told Joe to sign into law.

President Joe Biden signs into law S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gun safety bill, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Saturday, June 25, 2022. First lady Jill Biden looks on at right. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

They also know the bill serves as a great bit of “news” for their next constituent email blasts. It burnishes their 2A bona fides and might even placate a few gun owners back home in Texas and Louisiana who, they dearly hope, will forget about the gun control bill they allowed Joe Biden to sign into law.

In the mean time, the CCRKBA is giving them an atta-boy . . .

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today applauded the introduction of the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act” by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and is encouraging America’s 22 million-plus licensed citizens to get behind the measure.

“No citizen should leave his or her self-defense rights at their state border,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “While many individual states do have reciprocity agreements, we have always maintained—and the Supreme Court has affirmed—the right to keep and bear arms applies to the entire nation, and this legislation certainly recognizes that.

“We’re encouraged that so many members of the Senate, 43 in all, are signed on as co-sponsors,” he added. “Unfortunately, we don’t see a single Democrat’s name on the list, but hopefully that will change, because their constituents have Second Amendment rights, too.”

The Cornyn-Hagerty measure will allow citizens with concealed carry permits and licenses in their home state to exercise their rights in any other state. It also treats state-issued carry licenses like a driver’s license; good in any state, but the laws of those states must be followed. It protects state sovereignty by not establishing a national concealed carry standard.

“The last time a national reciprocity bill was introduced,” Gottlieb recalled, “it passed the House but stalled in the Senate while the gun prohibition lobby and Capitol Hill anti-gunners flat-out lied about what it would do, and not do. Wild claims that reciprocity would force states to not enforce their own laws ran rampant, as did the specious argument that the federal government would adopt a single weak standard everyone would have to follow.

“That experience reminded us how anti-gunners will say literally anything to prevent law-abiding Americans from being able to exercise their right to bear arms, and to defend themselves, while traveling,” he noted. “It’s time for national reciprocity to become the law of the land, and we hope American gun owners will keep an eye on this legislation.”

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124 COMMENTS

  1. Another log to toss on the Cornyn hate fire.

    Our representatives don’t represent us, the game is rigged anyway. At least I live where I am able to own and use firearms with minimal hassle. For now.

    This sort of thing, as it continues, anywhere around the world, never ends well….

    • … not a fan of national reciprocity. Let the States work it out between themselves. If any one or more State doesn’t allow for the concealed or, any other type self-defense weapon carrying; I’ll remain in a 2A friendly State along with the money I spend. This is not a hard decision.

      • So, just to be clear, you think each state should have the right to accept, or not accept, driver’s licenses from other states? Or is your “point” even more stupid than that? After all, ‘let the states work it out between themselves’.

        Maybe we could do the same thing with chattel slavery, eh??

        Women’s suffrage?

        How about the 4A and 5A??

        I can see you’ve given this a LOT of thought!!!

        @$$clown.

        • Yowzah! A return to chattel slavery might be a good thing!
          Oh, wait, we’re already slaves to the banks, big business, the military-industrial complex, and the liberal dhimmicrats. So who needs chattel slavery?

      • Explain why I can defend myself in Texas but I cannot take that same God-given right to California? You may not chose to go to these places. Some of us don’t always have a choice.

      • National reciprocity is already granted by the United States Constitution:

        Article IV Relationships Between the States

        “Section 1 Full Faith and Credit Clause
        Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.“

        • MinorLiar,

          WHY do you insist on lying ALL THE F***ING TIME???????

          Are you even capable of speaking truth??

          You know DAMN WELL that basically all court cases have upheld laws, and enforcement, prohibiting, for example, a fully-legal, licensed, concealed carrier from, say, Arizona, from carrying AT ALL in California.

          F*** you and your disgusting, evil, Leftist/fascist lies, you partisan, propagandizing, prevaricating putz.

        • MinorLiar,

          The only thing ineffective and incompetent here is YOU, and your persistent, partisan, party-driven propagandizing.

          Go suck-start a shotgun, you pathetic Leftist/fascist t*at-weasel.

      • I’m with LampofDiogenes on this. My drivers license is good in all 50 states. The 2A is not a right with state by state restrictions. My CCP needs to have unrestricted coverage in all 50 states.

  2. I got to be honest, I don’t want this bill to pass either. With all the problems in my state, at least Vermont doesn’t require a permit to carry open or concealed. If I’m not mistaken, the 2A doesn’t require me to have permission from the government to bear arms. Even if I’m in the minority, I think 2A organizations need to be very cautious about applauding bills like this.

    • …of course, if the bill were worded in such a way that it required every state to recognize the rights to carry that you have in your home state…..hm. That could be interesting. It still opens a can of worms that doesn’t need opened. Introduce a bill that further codifies true constitutional carry if you want real applause.

        • Yeah, they did. You should have seen the number of guys giving away hundreds of 30rd mags on the statehouse steps the day that was signed. Older mags were grandfathered so….use that allowance how you will.

    • I’m proud that my Senator (Hagerty) co-sponsored the bill. An “atta-boy” email is on the way. That said, I’m skeptical about national reciprocity. Unless the law is carefully worded, I think the urban-dominated prison states will assume control over the national rules of carry. I don’t want CA or NJ or NY or whatever unfriendly state dictating equipment, training, cost, etc. Life is simple now. I just happily stay out of the prison states and my Tennessee HCP works.

      • Likewise with ‘unfriendly to freedom’ urban shitholes. It’s not just the states that you have to worry about. You see that in PA and CO despite their existing State pre-emptions too. Bruen is great…but plenty of places are going to push their tyranny…because that’s what they do.

    • Show me the section in the bill that requires a license. ALL it requires is that states recognize ‘mother may I’ slips from other states. If you have one from your state, you are golden, nationwide. Depending on the exact language of the bill, if you are relying on ‘constitutional carry’ in your state, the bill might or might not apply to you. OTOH, even most ‘constitutional carry’ states do issue CCW permits, if you want one, and IF there was national reciprocity, it might be worth getting a permit, even in a ‘constitutional carry’ state,

      Not seeing the downside, here.

      • “Not seeing the downside, here.”

        Consider: “National Reciprocity” is mere, simple, legislation. 2A is a Constitutional Amendment. Amendments are very hard to deal with, legislation is subject to future manipulation based on political maneuvering in the national legislature (which can include a one vote majority). Essentially, National Reciprocity says the Constitution isn’t good enough.

        • Sam,

          Fair point, as always. I am working very hard on “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. Sure, in a RATIONAL world, the 2A would be sufficient, and I HOPE we get there, someday.

          Meantime, in the real world, we have to deal with real, day-to-day problems . . . like getting your @$$ arrested because you choose NOT to be unarmed when you enter the People’s Soviet Socialist Republik of KKKalifornia.

          “National reciprocity” should be assumed and inherent, but you know that isn’t the case. Sure, a legislative “fix” for this is a poor solution . . . but it’s one HELL of a lot better than what we have, now.

  3. Give me a break…Following Uvalde cassidy et al threw Gun Owners under the bus and while he was at it he was fully in camp with the Jan. 6 farce to lynch Trump. This is nothing more than a sleazy dangle the carrot attempt by RINOs to save face and dupe politicalky inept wishful thinking fools into buying their BS.

    • “the Jan. 6 farce to lynch Trump“

      You know, the seditionists were calling to lynch the vice president of the United States of America, not Trump:

      “New video has surfaced from Wednesday’s attempted coup, and in one clip you hear a loud, chant … “Hang Mike Pence, Hang Mike Pence …” Of course, Pence had made it clear just hours earlier … he was going to certify Biden’s victory.
      The mob had the tools to make their chant a reality … a full-on gallows scaffold, with a hanging noose attached.“

      https://amp.tmz.com/2021/01/09/rioters-wanted-hurt-nancy-pelosi-hang-mike-pence-capitol/

      • So one voice is heard in a crowd and the whole crowd is guilty of what that voice is heard yelling? With that logic; Miner49er (and Dacian’s) voice represents the whole of TTAG commenters.

        Not sure how this is even relevant to the discussion on recognizing the inalienable civil rights protected by the 2nd Amendment, regardless of which state we happen to be in.

        • “So one voice is heard in a crowd… “

          With over 1000 people charged for the failed insurrection, it was slightly more than one voice.

          And here you are, giving public support to the failed domestic enemies of January 6, and you wonder what this discussion has to do with our civil rights under the constitution, including the right to due process under the law.

        • MINOR Miner49er. 1000 people charged? Charged is not convicted and it seems your buds in ANTIFA and BLM are just as guilty but we don’t hear a peep out of you about them. Other than supporting them of course.

      • MinorLiar,

        Go eat a bag of dicks. Go eat ALL the dicks, you lying, Leftist/fascist troll @$$hole. May you be infested by the fleas of 1,000 camels.

        And on that note, I love the fact that all you Leftist/fascist liars are jumping to defend Mike Pence . . . who you absolutely HATED prior to the fake January 6 “insurrection”. You’d be laughable, if you weren’t so stupid.

        • “defend Mike Pence . . . who you absolutely HATED“

          Just pointing out the violent treason the seditionists were committing, threatening the life of the Vice President of the United States is a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 871.

          “Go eat a bag of dicks. Go eat ALL the dicks“

          Still fixating on all that nasty same sex? You need a cold shower and a hobby🤪

        • And we have EXACTLY what evidence that there was a homicidal plot to kill Pence? EXACTLY what evidence? “Some people said some things.” Thank you, Ihan Omar’s d***less parrot. What’s your evidence? What is your evidence that there even WAS anything other than a bunch of @$$clowns acting out? “Over 1,000 charged”. With a variety of bulls*** charges, convicted (if they actually got that far) by DC juries (NOT a ‘jury of peers’, you @$$clown).

          There WAS no “insurrection” on January 6, you lying propagandist. A bunch of people (actually, while there were a few thousand of them, AT MOST, the Capitol gets that many visitors on an everage weekday, you lying s***weasel). HOW MANY PEOPLE committed actual violent, insurrectionary acts. and where is your proof. “Parading” is not an insurrection, you lying @$$clown.

      • MINOR Miner49er. You know you are talking about a VERY small minority of the Demonstrators who participated on Jan 6th.
        But then you Lefties always want to magnify anything that maligns a Conservative.

  4. Funny how this gets proposed all the time and never actually goes into effect. It’s almost like they’re just making happy talk for their base.

    They very simply problem that they suffer from is simple. The “otherwise” law abiding gun owning community, no longer really cares about the laws these buffoons pass. They aren’t following them. That is done at their own risk, however, as the government really no longer seems to care about following any laws themselves, it seems rather silly to assume that the gun owners would follow them.

  5. FL already has reciprocity with all the states I would need to travel through to get anywhere that I would want to go… This is just a smokescreen to hopefully make folks forget that many of them voted for that POS Omnibus bill that was totally unnecessary… They know it can’t pass even IF Chucky let it come up for a vote…

    • I’m mostly good with the free south, but I occasionally venture into enemy territory. It’d be nice not to worry about it.

      • but I occasionally venture into enemy territory

        According to the wording nothing would change in those states.

        “which would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state THAT ALLOWS concealed carry, while STILL ABIDING BY THAT STATE’S LAWS.”

        • Places like New York and California technically allow concealed carry. They just don’t hand out permits. It isn’t against the law to carry in Hawaii, but they wouldn’t give you a carry permit. Wouldn’t this proposed bill mean I could carry in those states as long as I had a permit from another state?

        • mean I could carry in those state

          Technically, yes however you would be subject to their laws, magazine capacities, types of firearms permitted, gun free zones… You would need to carry a copy of regulations and gun laws for each of them.. I’d rather just avoid them, if I need to go through New York/NJ/CT/RI/MA I’ll just put my piece in a lock box and move on to the free state of New Hampshire…

        • NY is an interesting (obnoxious) example. In NY, pistols are listed by serial number on your permit. You may not carry any pistol that isn’t registered to your own permit by serial number. (In fact, technically, you may not TOUCH any pistols not listed on your permit, which is just… sigh.)

          Anyway, if I live in a state that doesn’t have this pistol registration and permitting requirement, i.e. somewhere sane, what happens when I carry in NY? I have no pistols listed on my permit, so does that mean I’m breaking the law?

          In NY, I guarantee the answer would be “yes.” But I suspect the court case would be… worthwhile.

        • But I suspect the court case would be… worthwhile.

          Not if it means they hold your primary EDC until it’s “resolved”, too many possibilities of “ooops, sorry, we seem to have misplaced your firearm”…

  6. Thank you Dan for pointing out what a joke this is. We need more of that. They’re always so tough until they actually attain the power to do something, at which point they lower some taxes, high five each other, and go home. Remember how McCain fundraised off ending Obamacare until he had a chance to save it?

    Cornyn and Cassidy are on the very long list of Republicans that must be replaced. Never forget who they really are. Hagerty seems okay so far, but I wouldn’t trust any of them. They should fear us replacing them. Instead, they laugh at us.

    • You can add one of “my” senators- Joni Ernst, to that list. The Turtle McConnell put her up for the “Safe Communities” and gay marriage defense BS because he figures she’ll have 4 years to patch things up with her base. Perhaps, but she’s getting raked over the coals at present and many here now exercise very long memories since democrats have become neutered in Iowa for the time being.

      I hope those who voted for Cornyn and Cassidy have had similar awakenings. They need to be held accountable for what they’ve done, not for their platitudes and intentions that will go no where.

  7. it is already the law of the land, its called the Second Amendment. But…. there isn’t any political ‘frequent flyer miles’ to be gained in simplicity so everything has to be complicated.

  8. Democrats do this all the time, trotting out Feinstein’s AWB for it’s yearly presentation. They even hold votes on them like if they have the house so they can say they passed it. I guess HPA actually passed in the house in similar circumstances didn’t it?

    On the one hand, yeah, they won’t be doing much with it so yes, it is just a political statement. On the other hand, the Republican Senators tend to not put out any pro-gun rights bills at all unless they have the votes, so you don’t even regularly hear that they have an agenda or plan.

    Also in the wake of some recent killings like in California usually the Republicans hide any and all support so that may be the main positive?

  9. I will need to read the bill as written, then again as it is changed prior to the vote before I can support it. I have seen too many things weighed down with extra crap and altered to openly support it at this time. But i will still write my senators with my view on this, just as I have my congressman.

    • The alternative options look more likely and less horrifying by the year and will probably do so until they are necessary.

  10. Found “Constitutional Carry Acts” from 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021 introduced into the Senate. The current one only has 45 signatures/votes.

    Yes, this one is another brick on the wheelbarrow of futility. Makes for fund-raising, and is effective so long as Republicrats don’t actually have to sponsor and pass such a bill when they have control of the Senate (well….they would do the same if they had control, and were assured either the House, or the President would strangle it).

      • This is all a smoke show but it is the ONE 2A thing about Illinois that is good. A bunch of states recognize the Illinois concealed carry permit. Add the nonresident Arizona, Florida and Utah concealed carry permits and you are about as close to national reciprocity as it’s going to get.

    • ” Why do we need something that is granted already in the constitution?”

      Well, to be superscilious (and snotty) about it….the Constitution doesn’t grant our rights, it grants certain powers to the central committee, and places a demand on government to protect our natural, human and civil rights.

      On another note, the Constitution declares that all laws enacted by the national legislature and the president, are “the law of the land”, insofar as legislation is grounded in the Constituiton. Determining whether national legislation is, in fact, sourced from powers granted government via the Constitution is a matter for the courts.

      • Unless those laws passed are repugnant to the Constitution, and therefore null and void…and therefore not “law of the land”…

        • “Unless those laws passed are repugnant to the Constitution…”

          Yes, a matter for the courts to determine; else chaos.

        • “The Constitution doesnt GRANT our rights”… Indeed, ALL rights inhere in the individual, Nature and Nature’s God… some are granted to the federal government by the Constitution and the will of the People… The country went wrong when the above was forgotten and ignored by “the people” and the State.

  11. @Dude
    Wouldn’t this proposed bill mean I could carry in those states as long as I had a permit from another state?

    Maybe. Likely only places not designated “sensitive”.

      • “And what about people who live in a permitless carry state?”

        My impression is that permits, if needed, are available in all 57 states. OTH, isn’t the gun owner required to abide by the laws in every jurisdiction to/through which they travel, visit?

        • Kinda my point.

          Traveling requires you to pay to get a permit in your state that doesn’t require one so that your rights can travel with you.

          Which, in the inverse, means that the other state’s infringements travel to you.

        • means that the other state’s infringements travel to you.

          That’s not going to change under this bill, I can currently carry in 37 states and the other 20 or so (in Brandons America) are states that are not on my need to go list nor are they in the way of other states that I do regularly visit. FL CCL is actually a concealed “weapons” license that covers knives, swords, clubs, various sprays, tasers and anything else that might be considered a weapon, many states only cover handguns which would still be an issue under this bill. I see no benefit of a government “permission slip” that forces states that don’t want me there to allow me to carry a gun that they don’t want either, it’s a set up for disaster when they start targeting vehicles with tags from “free states” in an effort to “find” something wrong with what or how someone might be carrying a firearm that is in contradiction to some obscure rule or law that might exist in that state.

      • The democrats are preventing us from showing dogs or ponies at this year’s dog and pony show. We need YOUR help to stop the left-wing campaign against cute animals! Send money.

        Sincerely,

        The GOP (a subsidiary of Griftco)

        • “We need YOUR help to stop the left-wing campaign against cute animals! Send money.”

          I, like, you know, totally, gave at the office already.

  12. This is just for show because of what the gun control bill they supported the summer of 2022 after Uvalde happened. The Republicans and Rinos have had plenty of opportunities to do this when they had control of the House and the Senate in 2017 and 2018. They just did not want to do it. No more smoke and mirrors. Do it when you can or stop getting peoples hopes up when you can not do anything.

  13. John Communist Cornyn trying anything to appeal to pro 2A Americans (Texans) after stabbing them in the back. Many of us won’t forget, I won’t.

    • Cornyn basically wrote the 2022 gun control bill (so called Bipartisan Safer Communities Act). 2A got nothing out of it, and he could have included reciprocity if it was important to him. Instead, we got Federal funding of red flag laws, an expansion of misdemeanors that remove rights, blocking 18-20 year olds, and billion in spending. I hope Texans primary him.

      • “Instead, we got Federal funding of red flag laws, an expansion of misdemeanors that remove rights, blocking 18-20 year olds, and billion in spending.”

        But it could have been worse, if Cornyn/NRA hadn’t defended the Second Amendment.

  14. It’s a TRAP!
    I don’t like being played, and this is the Republicans playing their constituents. There is no point in bringing this bill now except for Brownie Points.

  15. Because this comes out of the Senate it is very difficult to take seriously. Where were these people when the Republicans control the Congress and the White House during the Trump years? And that includes that so-called “libertarian” senator from Arizona Jeff Flake.

    • “Because this comes out of the Senate it is….merely acknowledging that we require government permission, via legislation.

      • It was about 50 years ago when shooting teams were taken out of the schools. By the Left. Who was always made up of single adults with no children.
        And we’re sexual degenerates.

        • So now we have a huge part of the population, who really think they need government permission to get a gun.

          We stopped teaching future voters about their civil rights and the responsibilities that go with them.

          And that is the plan of the Left.

  16. What on earth is wrong with Alan Gottlieb? Why is he giving cover to that Cornyn turncoat? We need rid of that guy and Gottlieb is now helping him out? Spineless covers Republicans in general and Republican Senators in particular.

  17. It might be the start of something good, but it allows the states too much control over YOUR RIGHT still. Saying that you must abide by their state laws. NO . . .Do you LOSE some of your SPEECH rights in certain states? It’s nothing like a driver license, a driver license IS NOT A RIGHT . . .it’s a PRIVILEGE. Yet, pretty much all the laws governing deriving are the very very similar across the nation. Carry conceal laws are not. Therefore, if this Bill SEES the LIGHT of Day, it needs to establish the simple fact that: You have the RIGHT TO CARRY, OPEN or CONCEALED in ALL STATES, and the 2nd Amendment Prohibits Infringement of that right.

    • it needs to establish the simple fact that: You have the RIGHT TO CARRY, OPEN or CONCEALED in ALL STATES, and the 2nd Amendment Prohibits Infringement of that right.

      THAT is exactly what (and the only thing that) a national firearms carry bill should say…

  18. @strych9
    “Traveling requires you to pay to get a permit in your state that doesn’t require one so that your rights can travel with you.”

    Zackly. “National Reciprocity” is another attempt to play nice with tyrants.

    • I’d have said that it’s “another attempt to put lipstick on a pig”, but that’s just me.

      The fact that this won’t pass makes it basically a non-issue but I have to wonder how someone like Cornyn is going to react later this year vis a vis guns, which I suspect is going to become a very hot issue as other things brewing since 2020 start to affect John and Jane Q. Public via an increase in crime that I expect to be pretty big.

      Once again, that annoying question of “How does international shipping relate to your 2A rights?” is coming back up. And if someone like the geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan is even 10% right that’s going to be a major issue for the 2A community for years to come.

      • “I have to wonder how someone like Cornyn is going to react later this year vis a vis guns, which I suspect is going to become a very hot issue as other things brewing since 2020 start to affect John and Jane Q.”

        We already know the answer. Business Insider (2012) notes, “The (NICS) system has received 156,577,260 applications since 1998”, tens of millions more annually since, yet, here we are.

        • I’m not so much worried about him not supporting gun rights as I am that he and other GOPers will actively attack gun rights if things get spicy.

          The GOP is notoriously squishy when it comes to well-placed emo arguments from the Left. Mostly, because at base they agree with the Left philosophically that they’re the elites and we plebs need our lives run on our behalf because we can’t figure it out.

          At this point, honestly, outside of local and maybe state elections (depending on where you live) I fail to see the point in voting.

        • “The (NICS) system has received 156,577,260 applications since 1998”; yet, here we are.

          But 25/30 of those were mine as I suspect holds true for most gun owners, so not indicative of NEW (first time) gun buyers…

  19. As much as I want this bill to pass. I am sure that Chuckie will never let it happen nor will Sleepy Joe sign it.

  20. With the multitude of different State laws on when you can and cannot shoot a national reciprocity law would never work. A person traveling across multiple State Lines could never be sure on when he could legally use a gun for self defense and his gun would probably not even be legal to carry in many states that have multitudes of handgun restrictions and even outright bans on both certain brands of handguns and of course bans on high magazine capacity.

    • Thank you for making the point that all gun restrictions are a prior restraint against a Constitutionally protected right, though I am sure that wasn’t what you intended.

      • We have won a string of solid victories for gun rights. More are in the pipeline.

        And being honest we have to admit that at least some of the credit for those victories go to dacian.

        He is one of our strongest allies. He’s just too damaged to realize it.

    • duncian: That’s why you look all that stuff up BEFORE you travel to another state, yeah that’s right YOU are not the only person alive that knows how to look stuff up on the internet.

      • Funny enough any state I can carry in I can carry whatever the fuck I own simply because it is defacto compliant anywhere I am able to carry. If I go for a NJ permit at most I would have to use screwdriver tips or critical defense/duty ………..so only a change if I go bigger than 9mm. With that said use of force is pretty darned close from state to state so not particularly worried about that its more just remembering to brush up on prohibited places to avoid.

      • Ummmm, MAXX??? From where did you get the absurd idea that dacian the demented dips*** knows how to look ANYTHING up??? He has his standard list of reliable “sources” (like VOX, Slate, and the NYT) that he knows will tell him comfortable lies that will reinforce his insane world view, and he NEVER ventures beyond them. As St. Jimi used to sing, “His mind’s so narrow, if he fell on a pin, he’d be blind in both eyes.”

        • To be fair “dacian the demented dips***” does at least need to look for the pertinent article to copy/paste and then IT must employ a minimum of comprehension in order to do the alterations necessary to make the article work with whatever nonsensical point IT is trying to make at the moment, therefore you must concede that “dacian the demented dips***” does at least retain a modicum of intellect.

        • If dacian the demented dips**** had a modicum of intellect, he would be a less attractive target of scorn and mockery. He lacks the wit to pour p*** out of a boot, with the instructions printed on the heel. He is absent the capacity for rational thought.

  21. Cornyn needs to take a long walk off a short pier! Idiot! He can’t disappear soon enough. This in no way makes up for the stupid law he backed last year.

  22. strych9@
    “At this point, honestly, outside of local and maybe state elections (depending on where you live) I fail to see the point in voting.”

    Vote against the incumbent. Sticking a thumb in the eye of the elites is its own virtue.

    • Earlier I said “And if someone like the geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan is even 10% right…”.

      I doubt he’s 10% correct. Probably something like 50% or more. He didn’t get to where he is by being full of shit. As such, I don’t see the point in wasting the energy putting my finger in the elites eye. IMHO and while I don’t think we’ve got a 2-6 off-suit I do think we’re chasing an inside straight in a Hell of a lot of ways, for most of which people wouldn’t see the connection to the 2A unless I took several pages to explain it. Then, provided they followed along and didn’t TL;DR the whole thing, they’d be ready to shit their pants.

      In many regards you could say Iac­ta alea est. As such I’m of the opinion that there’s no point in fighting battles you cannot win, rather it’s time to focus on the ones you can.

      And the thing that ties that together for me is how manipulation of the population works and how to defeat it because otherwise literally nothing else matters when 75% of the public continues to be led around by the nose on any given topic through tactics they don’t understand and honestly don’t believe can possibly be real (or believe they can easily resist because they’re special). Scare the shit out of the public, which I strongly suspect is coming in multiple forms, and if this course is maintained you’ll have a Forth Reich right here in the US. And just like the past, it will be brought into being with overwhelming public approval.

      And why do I say that? Well, just look at the last few years. The list of Constitutional, ethical and moral abominations is too long to bother typing out and most people don’t care. At all. This country is, at absolute best, openly proto-fascist at this point. Where’s the pushback? Oh, there isn’t any. Because Douglas Murray was right, the battlespace preparation engaged in by the Left has successfully cowed virtually everyone into pre-submission. What Tim Snyder referred to as “anticipatory obedience” in his book On Tyranny.

      And as Mr. Snyder correctly points out, historically speaking, that never ends well.

      The silver lining to that little cloud is that the people in charge of this clownshow are wholly incompetent. That means we don’t need to really much worry about them truly taking over like Lenin or Mao but it does mean that they can break a lot of shit that will take a very, very long time to fix and they can do it damn fast.

      This ain’t dumb shit like copper driving the availability of brass for a couple years. It’s much larger than that.

      • You don’t have to be competent with an ignorant population. They’ve been very good at staying in power forever and pushing their policies and wasteful spending. Inflation Reduction Act? Over a trillion for “infrastructure” during record inflation, while running record deficits? STILL pushing mask and vax mandates? Ignoring Covid origin? All while suppressing speech? If they can do that, they can do about anything.

        • I’d push back on that. What is coming, and coming fast, is lightyears beyond where we’ve been and will produce a different reaction. It’s easy to lie about things that people don’t see but try lying about egg prices, as a single example.

          What’s coming is a breakdown in global supply chains forcing the re-shoring of industry which is expensive and will happen either now or by necessity and in a [more expensive] rush later, massive (300-700%) increase in the cost of raising capital in the markets and a 15 year+ worker shortage that very specifically cannot be replaced by “imports”. That’s mostly just demographics.

          And that is, honestly, your best case scenario. Every possible inflationary input you could shake a stick at plus whatever else becomes self-inflicted or caused by externalities. Add in a big food shock because of mismanagement and… well that whole “grandma eating catfood” won’t be a meme anymore.

          This sort of reversion to historical mean is great for Xers, Millennials, and Zoomers (Alpha’s outcome will depend on how many of them there are) who can basically write their own ticket provided that they’re remotely competent.

          It’s real shitty for the retirees for a goodly while. This makes the stock market a bigger than normal risk while retirees usually move to less volatile investments anyway. That presents a truly bad choice for the retired. They can get eaten alive by inflation (which won’t be <5% "officially" for years, IOW expect 10%+/year for a decade) or they can play games with their now limited resources to try to outpace inflation in risk markets, or go full-stupid and try their hand at C-bonds. 99% don't have the acumen to trade commodities and would lose their shirts if they tried.

          That's a dumpster fire for the largest generation in history, who, on average, retire literally now and who represent, at minimum ~$17 Trillion in unfunded Social Security liability and God-knows how much Medicare liability against a backdrop of falling .gov revenues unless .gov massively increases payroll and other taxes and kills the Golden Goose for a few decades.

          And all of this has decidedly stark political consequences no matter what happens. Historically speaking, governments that fail the test that's coming in the next 1-5 years get violently overthrown and contrary to the Left's narrative, the US Military can't deal with that sort of thing once shit gets real dark. It's literally impossible.

          And for all the shit that Millennials and Zoomers get from older people, they're not going to watch their parents and grandparents get fed into a woodchipper without doing something about it. That woodchipper is coming, like it or not. Statistically, "We HaZ mOnieZ!" is going to turn into "We NeeDz a CoLA fOr dA inFlAtIonZ!" most rickytick. That's inescapable. It's not even math, it's arithmetic.

          The question is what to do about all of this. There are answers, pretty good ones that set the US on a very nice path for the next 100+ years and make the transition to a more regional trade system easier. We're in a good position to do that. The current course steers right into the rocks and will absolutely not be tolerated by the population once the pain really starts, which it will.

          There's an inverse correlation between spiciness of a population and comfort. The comfort quotient is about to crater. "Let them eat cake" comes to mind.

          On the plus side, nearly all of our major competitors worldwide are in far, far worse situations and the countries in the best situations tend to be friendly.

          As for the Covid stuff, that narrative is shifting fast. The people who fail to get out of the way may actually end up like certain Germans at Nuremberg. For all the bullshit in the media, the actual scientific papers on this are pretty fuckin’ horrifying (I picked such a great time in 2019 to go into MCDB, I almost wish I didn’t know what those papers say, but hey, I warned about this right here on TTAG in early 2021 and “experts” who didn’t know fuck all said they knew better, so whatever) and it won’t be much longer before the “Long Covid is causing the excess mortality” (currently running 12-22% across the West and accelerating to some extent) narrative starts to get people snuffed out most brutally.

      • “The silver lining to that little cloud is that the people in charge of this clownshow are wholly incompetent. ”

        I never ascribe “incompetence”, or “stupidity” to that which can be accurately identified as malice.

        On the whole, I read the back of the book; the US is not included as a significant entity (or any entity at all).

        NOTE: I do like to read your long essays.

        • There are malicious actors to be sure but they’re not the forward facing public officials. I’d suggest that to at least some extent, Chuck Schumer outed them in 2016. I doubt that’s all of them.

          But then behavior that outwardly seems to be a “conspiracy” need not be if everyone involved tends to think alike. At that point a “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” policy effectively becomes an emergent system of corruption and conspiracy.

          Ultimately, real power doesn’t like to be seen. Add to that the demonstrable fact that the elected officials are mostly incompetent geriatric kleptocrats who’s only real skill is riding a gravy train and it’s hard to come to the conclusion that they’re actually going to do anythin going forward other than retire or fall on their faces. These people can barely string together a coherent policy statement when it’s in a prepared speech FFS.

          Of course, inquiring minds might wonder who’s actually in charge, which I rather suspect depends on what topic you’re discussing. But regardless, the current situation dictates that they either reveal themselves or abandon the project for some period of time as the Fall Guys go down.

          So, it’s win either way, IMHO.

        • They’re only incompetent if you think they’re trying to help the citizens or the country in general. They don’t care. They only care about consolidating wealth and power for themselves. If/when the SHTF, they’re in a much better position than anyone else to either ride out the storm, reverse course, or ride off into the sunset. Wealth and power gives you options. If you judge them by their actual goals, then they look like geniuses.

          I’ve seen enough to have zero confidence in American citizens waking up to the reality of the situation. There was a chance for a vote on Covid tyranny in 2022. Voters said more please. There was, and never will be, a reckoning for the Russia Hoax. The Right barely talks about it anymore. The propagandists made the biggest known liar and racist in the senate into your kind, gentle uncle fighting for unity and peace. People are clueless about our inflation woes because half the country supports the continual spending suicide pact. The other half bragged how they spent their Covid welfare checks. I saw zero pushback.

          A little about me personally: I historically tend to be an optimist. That isn’t sarcasm. That’s how concerned I am.

        • If you judge them by their actual goals, then they look like geniuses.

          Say it in French and you’re describing Marie Antoinette until about June 1791. October doesn’t go very well for her either, she loses her mind along the rest of her head.

          I won’t make a long argument here, I’ll simply point out that there are two possible outcomes for TPTB if they stay the course, to which many, many people are waking up (hilariously, thanks to Elon Musk).

          1. They all get murdered most brutally.

          2. Everything collapses and they flee the country. But to where? Such policies are actually worse (and therefore close to a collapse) in most of the Western world and the rest of the world would mostly string them up in a New York minute. Which basically means they flee and either get returned or executed elsewhere.

          I mean, we’re talking about people who are instituting “plans” as public policy that, quite literally, have a 0.00% chance of working. Example: Move everything to electricity as you crash the grid? That’s asking to get put against the wall. It’s not a plan.

          Whatchu think happens over the next couple years vis a vis the jab mandates? Hrm? Think “Pfertility” is a top trend on Twitter because the public’s dumbed down and docile? Think they can hide those official excess death stats from most of the public much longer? Can they keep hiding Pfizer’s official admissions that Pfizer has in its own press release post-Veritas videos?

          Again, “There’s an inverse correlation between spiciness of a population and comfort. The comfort quotient is about to crater.”

          And if you go back and look at our civil war, or that of the French or the Algerians or many other countries, each of those wars was “impossible, the population is too tame” right up until shit got really, really real. Hell, it was “common knowledge” across the Eastern Bloc AND the Western Bloc that the Wall coming down would take decades. It was literally an argument within Poland’s government at the highest levels the day before the wall fell. Decades on one side, 3-5 years on the other. Everyone shit their pants the next morning and emergency flights to Moscow were arranged.

          These things happen the way that is oft described as “gradually then suddenly” or “slowly at first and then all at once”. Public opinion is like that. But if you see it beforehand then as Homer put it, “… the Waiting Game sucks, let’s play Hungry Hungry Hippos”.

          The black pill is just a repackaged double strength blue pill. I recommend against both. The political realignment we’re undergoing right now nationally, and at the various state levels, has happened before several times. None of us were alive to see it but there really isn’t anything new under the sun here.

          “We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” is a damn fine quote. It applies here as well. And if you see what’s going on then you get the opportunity that the sheep don’t. You get to brace for the impact.

          Consequences are coming across a host of fronts, and quickly. As usual, fortune favors the numerous, the bold, the prepared, the forewarned, the brave and the strong. It doesn’t favor the troll, the idiot, the sheep, the fatty, the arrogant, the coward or the shill.

          In short, it doesn’t favor who it appears to favor right up until shit slides sideways. Then suddenly, the “favored” are disfavored because the system that favors them evaporates like smoke on the breeze.

  23. Kabuki.
    They know this will never pass in a Dem controlled Senate, much less get over Child Molester Joe’s desk.
    Conryn really does think you’re this stupid.

  24. Wait a minute…wait a minute…I don’t care about the Kabukiness….
    Where can I meet la Señorita Sample??? Yo quiero muchísimo.

  25. What for? It has no chance of going anywhere!

    John Cornyn negotiated away our 2nd A constitutional rights in 2022!
    In June 2022 a group of Republicans rolled over and negotiated away our 2 A rights by expanding the number of people who are prohibited from possessing guns and encouraging red flag laws.

    John Cornyn is only doing this to dupe Americans into thinking he is pro second Amendment.

  26. @MADDMAXX
    “But 25/30 of those were mine as I suspect holds true for most gun owners, so not indicative of NEW (first time) gun buyers…”

    Indeed, sorting first time buyers from the regulars is a dicey proposition.

  27. @Lamp
    “Sure, a legislative “fix” for this is a poor solution . . . but it’s one HELL of a lot better than what we have, now.”

    But is it really?

    NR puts stilts under an impenetrable maze of gun controls in each state. As written, NR requires abiding by gun controls in whichever state is visited, or traveled to. I could get excited about NR, if it meant that every state must accept the gun control laws in the state of residence of the gun owner, but not the other way around.

    As mentioned earlier, gun control laws are symptoms of NFA/GCA. End those, and the branches of the poisonous tree die off. Now, the problem with that is the SC declared, “The Second Amendment is not a second class right, but….”. This means even if the Second Amendment ranks with all the others, we are still faced with government approved infringements on our right and ability to forcefully discipline government should it become necessary.

  28. @strych9
    “Of course, inquiring minds might wonder who’s actually in charge,..”

    The incompetent can be especially malicious.

    • I’ll point to Bernays again, writing in 1927.

      “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

      • “Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

        As the ancients wrote:

        “For we wrestle….against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,… in high places.”

  29. @Dude
    “A little about me personally: I historically tend to be an optimist.”

    It isn’t inconsistent to be an optimist, but not a cockeyed optimist.

      • “There’s nothing wrong with being a cockeyed optimist as long as you’re boxing, drunk or both.”

        Oh. So now we are going to start the “Cockeyed Optimist” wars?

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