National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act Introduced in GOP Controlled House
With the lower chamber of Congress under new management, a fresh bipartisan proposal for installing national concealed carry reciprocity has been introduced.
The concept to sidestep a patchwork of reciprocity laws and agreements between states has been kicking around Capitol Hill for a decade and even made it through a Republican-controlled House in 2017 only to die in the Senate. Its latest version, H.R. 38, was debuted on Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, the North Carolina Republican who sponsored the stalled 2017 attempt.
“H.R. 38 guarantees the Second Amendment does not disappear when crossing an invisible state line,” said Hudson in a statement emailed to Guns.com. “The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act protects law-abiding citizens’ rights to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits. I am especially proud to have such widespread and bipartisan support for this measure as I continue working to get this legislation over the finish line.”
According to Hudson’s office, H.R. 38 would allow people with state-issued concealed carry licenses or permits to conceal a handgun in any other state, so long as the permit holder follows the laws of that state. It also allows residents of the 25 states that have recognized permitless carry practices to carry in other states without a CCW or permit.
Research by the Crime Prevention Research Center points to no less than 21.52 million active concealed carry permits nationwide in 2021.
The bill has the support of national gun rights organizations, firearms industry trade groups, and concealed carry organizations.
“We applaud Congressman Hudson for continuing to stand up for the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” said Tim Schmidt, president of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. “This long-overdue legislation would represent a step in the right direction towards modernizing America’s concealed carry laws to ensure responsible gun owners can avoid danger and save lives.”
Introduced with an impressive 121 co-sponsors including one Democrat, H.R. 38 has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, which is chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan both co-sponsored and voted in favor of similar legislation in 2017.
