For years, Democrats have pressed their gun control agenda using a very simple message: Americans should not be armed and should rely on police to protect them.
In 2004, Congress passed the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act. The bill, signed into law by George W. Bush, grants police officers nationwide concealed carry reciprocity. Instead of having to navigate the patchwork system of state-level concealed carry reciprocity agreements, the Federal law grants law enforcement officers with the authority to carry nationwide.
This is the only way for an American to carry a firearm in all 50 states. If you live in a state that allows you to carry a firearm in public (25% of Americans still live in states that prohibit it), that permit doesn't automatically apply once you cross the state line. Even if you hold multiple state carry permits, even the best case scenario for reciprocity is around 35 states. Unless someone is a police officer, it is impossible for a civilian to exercise their right to bear arms in every state.
Congress' reasoning in passing LEOSA was simple: since police officers protect society, there is a compelling government interest to make it as easy as possible for them to carry their concealed weapon across state lines.
But today, that narrative is changing. Instead of empowering law enforcement to protect civilians, Democrats across this country are now trying to "defund the police." In the case of cities like Minneapolis, it means literally disbanding the police department. In cities like New York and Los Angeles, it means cutting hundreds of millions from police budgets, forcing them to shut down entire divisions to stay afloat.
The decades-old Democrat argument that 'you don't need a gun because police will protect you' has proven to be a complete lie. Not only do they not want you to be able to defend yourself, but they want police to be blocked from defending you too. No joke, a Democrat city councilwoman in Minneapolis actually went on CNN and said it is "white privilege" to be able to get a police officer to respond to a violent crime taking place.
The far left doesn't care about this issue because, as is always the case, they won't be affected by it. While the Minneapolis city council voted to disband the police, they decided to keep the private security in place for themselves. Limousine liberals living in gated communities know they will never have to live with the consequences of disarming Americans and defunding the police.
But for the rest of us, this is a truly life and death moment in our country's history...
For years, we have pressured Congress to pass the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. The bill would grant nationwide reciprocity to anyone who has a valid concealed carry permit that has been issued by a state. It would essentially grant the same reciprocity to civilians that police officers have enjoyed for 16 years.
We came close to passing this bill in 2017. It passed the House as a standalone bill, but when it came time to attach it to the annual spending package, both Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell determined that the 'timing wasn't right' to defend Americans' right to bear arms. Instead of pushing it through, the GOPers left it on the cutting room floor.
Again, we were told that we didn't need concealed carry reciprocity because police are there to protect us.
New York has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. They refuse to honor ANY other state's carry permits. Even if you are licensed to carry, states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, and California refuse to honor any out-of-state permit. No surprise, these also happen to be the states openly considering defunding the police.
Take New York as an example. This month, NYC disbanded their plainclothes anti-crime division within the NYPD. We have also seen a record number of officers quitting and putting in early retirement because to get away from the liberal policies now infecting the department.
The result has been completely predictable. Murders are now up 25 percent and shootings are up 24 percent. There are now days where more people are shot and killed than die from the coronavirus in New York City. Thanks to the riots and the looting, commercial burglaries are now also up 169 percent. And remarkably, arrests are actually down overall...
We are seeing this across the country: liberal mayors and governors are forcing law enforcement to stand down. But these radical politicians are also the ones who say civilians cannot be trusted with defending themselves...
Here at Conservative Daily, we support law enforcement. Always have, and we always will. But we also understand that when seconds count, the police are minutes away.
It has never been more important for Americans to be allowed to defend themselves. As I mentioned, 1 in 4 Americans live in what are known as "may-issue" states. What that means is if they meet all the statutory requirements and apply for a concealed carry permit, their government is not required to grant it. In practice, these may-issue states refuse to issue practically any permits.
Most importantly, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act also includes a provision to tear down these gun control schemes and restore the right to carry to the law-abiding Americans living these Democrat-run cities and states.
This has truly become a life and death issue and we are running out of time to pass this bill into law!
As I said, Paul Ryan was the one who scuttled this legislation in 2017 and 2018. If it wasn't for him, this would likely already be the law of the land right now.
The good news is that he is gone. We have another chance to push this through. But the window is closing fast...
If we want to secure concealed carry reciprocity for all law abiding citizens and restore the right to carry to the 25% of Americans living in anti-gun states, we need to act right now.
This is our last, best chance to force Congress to pass this bill into law.
But the only way that happens is if you demand it right now!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
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