Getting All Lathered Up Over Nothing

So, according to Opposing Views, Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts will not vote for H. R. 822, the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011. Yawn.  This is hardly news. Frankly, I don't get lathered up over bills like this anymore.

But I should explain.

I used to get worked up over such things. Thinking logically, I couldn't see the difference between a gun permit and a driver's license. Different States have varying requirements for obtaining a driver's license, but once I have it, I can drive in any State of the union I want. The same can not be said of my Concealed Handgun Permit. While North Carolina has extensive reciprocity with other States, I can not carry in all of them. Both cars and guns can be used to kill, and thus require their owners to use them responsibly. Approximately 12,000 people are killed as a result of gun homicides. In that same year, 2004, there were 38,444 fatal car crashes. It seems like there should be more emphasis on drivers than on gun owners. Others, apparently, do not see things the same way.

Look, this bill has very little chance of actually being passed and signed into law. Even if it is passed by the House, it is likely dead on arrival in the Senate. Indeed, what the bill is designed to do is allow normally anti-gun Congresscritters to burnish their street cred with the NRA ahead of an election that is sure to upset some Congresscritters' apple cart.  Jeff Knox has a great piece on the issue over at World News Daily. Jeff Knox:

What will probably have the greatest impact on whether the "full faith and credit" concealed weapons permit bill (H.R. 822) gets voted out of the House is its prognosis in the Senate. If Harry Reid and Senate Democrats make it clear to their House colleagues that the bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate, the House will consider it a freebie and pass it in a heartbeat. If, on the other hand, Reid and company suggest that locking up the bill would be difficult and politically inconvenient, there will be much more resistance to passage in the House – from Democrats and Republicans.

It is unfortunate that for once the Congress would be performing a Constitutional act by passing this bill. But there is real danger as well. As soon as the House finds itself back in Democrat control, perhaps with the next election (after all, the Republicans haven't exactly covered themselves in glory so far) the bill would then be used as a basis to add all kinds of restrictions on guns nationally.  And we have seen how little the Democrats care for our opinion with the passage of Obamacare. So, in many ways, I think I would rather let the issue rest where it is.

Meanwhile, we'll be pushing for Restraunt carry here in NC.  We've come so close twice before.