Back in April, word came out that the GOP leadership had relented and agreed to hold a vote on the largest pro-gun bill ever: H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Three months have passed and neither Ryan nor McConnell have allowed the bill to move forward.
242 years ago, our forefathers gathered in Philadelphia and signed a document declaring that Americans human rights were inalienable and any government that violated those rights, or refused to protect them, was unjust.
Nearly a dozen years later, they would cement those inalienable rights into the country's Constitution. That includes the right to keep and bear arms for defense of self, family, and country.
The Founders understood the power of an armed citizenry. The American Revolution never could have been won without the militia: colonists who used their personal firearms to take the fight to the largest military on earth. It is not a coincidence that gun rights were the second to be added to the Bill of Rights.
And yet, for well over 100 years, liberal deep blue states have been allowed to defy the Constitution and violate their residents' rights, particularly their right to "bear" arms.
Right now, 26% of Americans live in states that refuse to allow citizens to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Those states are California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. In these states, residents are allowed to apply for a carry permit, but a police chief or judge is allowed to reject the application for literally any reason.
This is an abomination.
Last year, the GOP leadership betrayed American gun owners. At the last minute, they stripped the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act from the omnibus spending bill. Instead of protecting gun rights, they added more gun control in order to get Democrats on board.
The backlash was swift and GOP leaders eventually promised to hold a vote on the bill this summer. But summer is now 1/3 over and there is no movement at all on this common sense gun rights bill.
Mitch McConnell has now blocked Concealed Carry Reciprocity for over 16 months. It is time to force them to act!
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has a simple premise. If you are licensed or permitted to carry a concealed firearm in one state, then that license or permit must he honored by all states.
Right now, the only way for someone to carry a gun in all 50 states is if they are active or retired law enforcement. There is literally no other way for an American citizen to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights nationwide.
I have not one, but two active concealed carry permits: one from the State of Colorado and another issued by the State of Utah. Even with these two permits, I am only allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights in 37 states. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity would take my Utah and Colorado permits and require that all 50 states honor them.
But the CCRA goes even further than that. It would also apply to constitutional carry states as well. In states like Kansas, if an American is legally allowed to own a gun -- no criminal or mental health record -- then he or she would be allowed to carry that gun. In these states, the Constitution is considered the only carry permit a gun owner needs. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would extend nationwide reciprocity to these gun owners as well. This would make sure that as states begin abolishing the need for a carry permit, their residents would still be allowed to carry nationwide.
But the biggest part of this bill is that it would essentially dismantle the anti-gun regimes in these deep blue states. When a New Jersey resident, for example, wants to apply for a carry permit, they have to prove they have a "justifiable need" to self-defense. It is literally impossible to prove a justifiable need, so practically all concealed carry applications are denied. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would allow law-abiding citizens in these states to acquire non-resident carry permits from Utah, Florida, or New Hampshire and use them to carry nationwide... including in their home state!
This is the biggest pro-gun bill in American history and would not only restore the right to carry for all law-abiding Americans, but it would literally free the 26% of Americans living in anti-gun states.
On July 4, 1776, our forefathers declared independence from a tyrannical government and declared their rights inalienable.
It is time to redeclare our independence and STOP these anti-gun states from infringing on our God-given rights!
Our call is simple. We are calling on Congress to hold a clean vote on the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. A watered down and muddied version passed in the House already. We know the votes are there. In the Senate, we need just 9 Democrats to sign on.
In just a matter of months, there are 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in Trump country. That includes states like Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia -- states that Donald Trump won by double digits. A Democrat Senator is also up for re-election in Ohio, which Trump won by eight points. Other states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, and Pennsylvania are closer, but these are all largely pro-gun states. Those are just the Democrat Senators who are up for re-election in pro-gun states this year. That doesn't even include Alabama Senator Doug Jones.
Those are 11 vulnerable Democrats who represent pro-gun states that Donald Trump won. There is no way that an anti-gun Democrat can win in states like Missouri, North Dakota, or West Virginia. But Ryan and McConnell want to let them off the hook. They want to let the Left run for re-election without having to go on the record on the 2nd Amendment. This is shameful.
When we started pushing for this bill, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity was just collecting dust in Congress. Now, we have a pathway to passage. This is all because of your activism.
But we cannot give up. We must force Congress to vote on this pro-gun bill THIS summer and force Democrats to go on the record!
And with Independence Day tomorrow, I cannot think of a better time to fight for this inalienable right!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
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