Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) announced Saturday at the Texas State Rifle Association’s general meeting that he would introduce the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act” in the U.S. Senate next week. The bill would “allow those with concealed carry privileges in their home states to exercise those rights in states with similar laws.”
According to Kerry Picket of the Daily Caller, Sen. Cornyn’s bill is expected to be an upper-chamber companion to North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson’s National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which was introduced into the house in January. Rep. Hudson’s bill would arguably allow residents of New York and other states to carry a firearm in their home states.
The bill is carefully worded to allow the possibility as long the New Yorkers were issued a license to carry from states like Utah or Florida, which issue licenses to non-residents who undergo a background check and complete a training requirement.
Meanwhile, Democrats continue to express opposition to any sort of national reciprocity bill. New York County D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. signalled his strong opposition to national reciprocity at a meeting of the Women’s National Republican Club in Manhattan on Wednesday night, reports the New York Post.
Vance declared that a national reciprocity bill would be “a mistake.”
“Our gun laws I think are a significant part in the rapid and consistent decline in violent crime in New York state and New York City,” said Vance, noting that people carrying an illegal weapon in New York now face up to three-and-a-half years behind bars. “It’s important to have gun laws.”
The Post also reported that there was some opposition to the pending bills in Congress from the New York law enforcement community, but could not, apparently, get anyone to speak on record about it. Instead, the paper quoted the anonymous and dubious “one police source” and “another cop.”
According to the Post, all “one police source” could come up with was the usual blood-in-the-streets argument anti-gunners have been spouting for decades:
It’s going to be like the wild, wild West. There could be a lot of shootouts, and not only with cops. If this person who comes [to New York] gets into a dispute, an argument with someone else, their first reaction might be to pull out a firearm and use it in the confrontation….
And “another cop” averred:
This would lead to anarchy. You’d just make our job ten times harder when you let any Tom, Dick and Harry walk into New York City with their guns in holsters….
Perhaps the supposed law enforcement sources the Post allegedly dug up declined to provide their names because they feared embarrassment due to the hackneyed, hysterical nature of their objections. Or maybe they were just punking the Post reporters.
In any event, the Post correctly reports that President Trump is on record as supporting national concealed carry reciprocity. “The right of self-defense doesn’t stop at the end of your driveway,” the president said on his website during last year’s campaign.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week, Presidential Advisor Steve Bannon exhorted the crowd to keep up the pressure on elected officials — including the administration — to honor their promises. “Hold us accountable,” Bannon said. “Hold us accountable to what we promised, hold us accountable for delivering on what we promised.” Roger that.