I watched President Trump's gun violence meeting with Congressmen and Senators live. He made some huge mistakes.
When House Majority Whip Steve Scalise brought up the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act as a way to keep Americans safe, President Trump seemingly dismissed the bill because Democrats would never vote for it. Dianne Feinstein nodded her head in approval.
The fact is that the only way to get this common sense pro-2nd Amendment bill through is to force Democrats to accept it.
The House did that by attaching it to the Fix NICS bill. This is legislation to ensure that all of the local and state mental health and criminal records are added to the FBI's background check system.
That is a compromise. Make the background check system more thorough and in return, recognize that concealed carriers should be allowed to exercise their rights nationwide.
A concealed carry permit holder is, on average, more law abiding than your typical police officer. That's not an attack on law enforcement, it's just a fact. Civilian carry permit holders commit fewer crimes than law enforcement officers. Yet, police officers are the only ones who can bear arms in all 50 states.
When the National Rifle Association saw this meeting, they immediately scheduled a meeting with the President. They sat him down and explained how the gun control ideas he was floating were unacceptable. Trump, who was speaking off the cuff at this meeting, understood the mistake. By the next morning, President Trump was set straight and back to supporting this life-saving bill.
Many of the cowards in Congress, however, saw this as an opening to kill the bill!
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell don't want this to pass. Ryan had to be shamed into letting it reach the floor and Mitch McConnell STILL has not scheduled a vote on the bill. It has sat on his desk collecting dust for a whole year.
Now, instead of protecting your carry rights, these spineless Republicans want to strip the carry bill from the Fix NICS legislation. Instead of forcing Democrats to honor your rights in exchange for background check reforms, they are caving and simply giving the Democrats what they want.
As you read this, your carry rights are being left on the cutting room floor...
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act isn't just about extending the right to bear arms. It is about restoring the right to bear arms.
I used to live in New Jersey. There, politicians prohibit everyday Americans from carrying firearms in public. Since I went to graduate school in Philadelphia, I took the course and received a Utah CCW permit. That didn't allow me to carry in my home state, but it allowed me to bear arms when I was in Pennsylvania. Since then, I have moved to Colorado and obtained a Colorado carry permit as well. But even with these two permits, I am still only able to carry in 37 states.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would do two things:
1) If you live in a state that has concealed carry, your permit would be good nationwide. You would no longer need to get multiple permits in order to be allowed to defend yourself in different states.
2) If you are a law-abiding citizen who lives in a gun control state, you could do what I did and get a non-resident permit from a state like Utah or Florida and then use it to carry not only across the country, but also in your home state as well.
That is a big deal. This legislation would essentially dismantle more than a century of state level anti-gun carry bans. More than 26% of Americans would all of a sudden have their right to bear arms restored. States like New Jersey, New York, California, Maryland, and Massachusetts would no longer be allowed to block their residents from legally carrying firearms for self-defense.
This is the compromise. Give the Democrats reforms for the FBI's background check system to make sure criminals and the mentally ill don't fall through the cracks and in return, restore the right to carry for ALL Americans!
But as I said, the GOP is run by cowards. Paul Ryan won't push this bill forward. He was asked this week during a press conference whether he would insist that these two bills remain attached. He responded that he would separate them if necessary. Ryan has already admitted he will stab you in the back.
Mitch McConnell has let this bill collect dust on his desk for a whole year. He literally will not allow it to reach the floor.
Listen: the NRA did their job. They sat President Trump down and got him to back off of these ludicrous gun control ideas.
Now it is up to YOU to do the same for Congress!
Do not let them back down on protecting your 2nd Amendment rights. Do not allow these cowards to leave innocent Americans disarmed. Hold their feet to the fire!
It is time to draw your line in the sand. Make it absolutely clear to Congress that no gun bill can reach President Trump's desk without the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act attached!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
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