National Reciprocity Introduced

Katie Pavlich points out that it was a North Carolina Representative, Richard Hudson who introduced the National Reciprocity bill into the House.  You can read Ms. Pavlich's post at Townhall, entitled NRA Backs Newly Introduced National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill  Pavlich quotes Mr. Hudson:

“Our Second Amendment right doesn’t disappear when we cross state lines, and this legislation guarantees that. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 is a common sense solution to a problem too many Americans face. It will provide law-abiding citizens the right to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits," Hudson released in a statement. "As a member of President-elect Trump’s Second Amendment Coalition, I look forward to working with my colleagues and the administration to get this legislation across the finish line."

The National Rifle Association is throwing its support behind the legislation.

Just so.

Then there is this take, from Leesa K. Donner over at the American Thinker entitled Donald Trump and the Gun Law Revolution. Ms. Donner writes from the perspective of someone coming out of the American gun culture:

The problem with current concealed carry laws is this: concealed carry gun restrictions are so muddled and baffling that they have citizens wondering whether they can even go from county to county within their states with their firearms for fear that they are violating one law or another.

Case in point: Most of my youth was spent inside gun clubs around western Pennsylvania, where firearm safety was indoctrinated in us with every type of firearm available – from a Colt .45 to a .357 Magnum. By age fifteen, I was entirely comfortable with pistols and by sixteen a .20-gauge shotgun. Having spent a lot of time on the firing range, I decided that a concealed carry permit was in order when my husband ran for public office in 2011. There are a lot of crazies out there, and one never knows.

Living in liberal Fairfax County, Virginia meant filling out and then filing a half-inch sheaf of paperwork along with a personal trip to the county courthouse. Finally, months later, my permit arrived. Whew!

But because we reside in the D.C. Metro area, the permit served only to complicate things. Could I take my firearm the twenty-minute drive into the District of Columbia? What about when I traveled fifteen minutes in the other direction into Bethesda, Maryland, where we worship and belong to a club? If you know anything at all about D.C. and Maryland, you know that those are two places where you most certainly do not want to get caught with a gun unless you want to find out what's on the menu at the county lock-up. The constant confusion about what was allowed where ultimately proved to be a fundamental impediment to my right to carry.

I can attest to the the problems she faces as a resident of Fairfax County, Virginia. I lived there for 20 years, and worked in downtown Washington, DC. Crossing into Maryland is like crossing into a foreign country. With license plate readers now, it is possible for anyone with a concealed carry permit from a different State or Commonwealth to become the target of over zealous police. I just didn't go to Maryland unless I absolutely had to.  Even if you left your gun at home, they can and will sometimes detain you for hours for just crossing into the State.

National Reciprocity, or making gun permits as regular as drivers licenses is a logical next step.  I hope it passes.  Meanwhile, don't get too comfortable.  Our next step is Constitutional Carry for everyone..0