Mitch McConnell and the GOP leadership has hit a new low. For the 47th consecutive week, they have blocked the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act from receiving the final vote necessary to reach President Trump's desk.
Trump has promised to sign it. He is a concealed carry permit holder himself and since he owns property in multiple states, he understands how hard it is to legally carry nationwide. Concealed carry reciprocity was one of the earliest promises that Trump made as a candidate.
During the State of the Union, President Trump devoted half a sentence to his administration's 2nd Amendment accomplishments. Trump did succeed at rolling back Obama's last ditch attempts to impose gun control, but since those early victories, the President has been left waiting for significant 2nd Amendment legislation.
Enough is enough.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has a pretty simple promise. If you have a concealed carry permit that is issued by one state, you would be allowed to use it in every state. Residents who live in anti-gun states would also be able to get non-resident permits from Utah or Florida and use them to carry nationwide.
Currently, reciprocity is determined by the states. Some states automatically extend reciprocity to every other state. Others require bilateral agreements before out-of-state gun owners are allowed to carry.
The result is a patchwork system that is next to impossible to navigate. Every month, gun owners end up arrested in anti-gun states because their lawful concealed carry permit, while valid in most states, is not recognized in every state.
Donna Marie Gracey is a 59-year-old Florida resident. She has a lawful Florida-issued concealed handgun permit that gives her the ability to exercise her 2nd Amendment right to bear arms in 37 states.
She was pulled over last month in Frenchtown, New Jersey because police officers believed her windows were too tinted. As she was fumbling for her license, the police officer briefly noticed she had a Florida carry permit. He used that as an excuse to search her car and ended up finding a legally owned pistol in her purse.
I used to live in New Jersey. Frenchtown is literally right on the Delaware River. From the outskirts of the town, it is a mile to the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border. From downtown, you can hit a golfball and have it land in Pennsylvania.
Her Florida carry permit was valid in Pennsylvania. Had she been pulled over just a mile to the east, she would have gotten off with nothing but a fine for her tinted window. But because she was pulled over in New Jersey, she is now facing multiple felony charges and the new Democrat governor is promising to fully prosecute visitors who bring guns into the state.
This is an abomination.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would have protected this woman. It would have protected hundreds of people who have been arrested on similar charges. The legislation is one vote away from reaching President Trump's desk.
However, the GOP leadership wants nothing to do with it. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act may have passed the House, but Paul Ryan had to be forced -- literally forced -- to schedule the vote. He is also refusing to do anything else to help put it on Trump's desk.
In the Senate, the bill has been sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk for 47-straight weeks. This is shameful. Mitch McConnell has the power to decide what bills receive a vote and for almost eleven months, he has refused to move the bill.
Here's the good news: Conservatives in Congress are starting to get fed up. The bill's author -- Rep. Richard Hudson -- secretly met with White House officials to push the bill along. Gun rights organizations are putting more pressure on Congress to send the bill to Trump's desk and brave Patriots like you are refusing to let up!
Don't let them block this common-sense bill any longer!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Director
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