Bill Forces States To Accept Concealed Gun Permits

[NineseveN]

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/20...dcgunrecip.prt

The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Bill Forces States To Accept Concealed Gun Permits
By Aaron Sadler
THE MORNING NEWS

WASHINGTON -- Americans with state-issued concealed weapons permits would be allowed to carry guns wherever they travel in the country under a bill introduced Monday by 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers.

The measure would eliminate a mishmash of concealed weapons regulations that vary from state to state, Boozman contends. All states would be forced to recognize concealed handgun permits from elsewhere.

Gun control advocates oppose the bill. They say that gun permit standards in some states are so weak that other jurisdictions deserve the right to refuse those license holders.

Boozman said the bill ensures Second Amendment rights.

"I've always felt like you can have a gun, openly display it, and there not be a problem," he said. That some states reject licensed permits from other states "infringes on the Constitution."

Nearly 62,000 Arkansans have concealed gun permits.

Arkansas permit holders are allowed to carry a concealed weapon in 27 states, including every neighboring state.

Arkansas recognizes permits issued in 30 states.

Fourteen states do not recognize permits issued elsewhere.

"You have friends who are used to having a gun in their car and things like that, then inadvertently being over the state line or out of state and being concerned they were running afoul of state law," Boozman said.

Boozman's bill would require even Illinois and Wisconsin, which do not have right-to-carry laws, to recognize licenses issued in other states.

A bipartisan group of 33 House members are co-sponsors of the bill, Boozman said.

He acknowledged that it may be difficult to gain enough support for the legislation, and said there is anti-gun sentiment in the Democratic-led Congress. But he cited statistics that indicate crime decreases in states with concealed guns laws.

According to a study cited by the National Rifle Association, violent crime declined each year from 1977 to 1994 in jurisdictions where a concealed gun law was in effect.

Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said his organization is not anti-gun, but it opposes the bill because of its impact on states.

"There are already too many states that have too weak a system of approving people for concealed-carry permits," Hamm said. "I don't think the majority of states want to rely on the systems of other states to let someone carry a loaded, concealed handgun across state borders."

For instance, Florida's standards are so low that some death-row inmates there have permits, he said.

Arkansas at one time had minimum reciprocity requirements, said state police spokesman Bill Sadler. Those regulations mandated that other states' training standards must be equal to or stronger than Arkansas' minimum requirements for a permit holder.

The General Assembly since has stripped those requirements, Sadler said.

Sadler said he would not comment on the merits of Boozman's bill until he had seen the proposed legislation.

Boozman said he feels strongly that Americans should be allowed to carry guns.

"I grew up in Arkansas, and it was not uncommon to see people in high school with gun racks in the back of their trucks, who would go squirrel hunting after school was over," Boozman said. "To be honest, it's something I always felt like there wasn't any question we could do these things."

His 26-year-old daughter, Kristen Boozman, has an Arkansas concealed weapons permit, as do other family members, he said. The congressman himself does not.

[CHAUKA]

It would be great if it passes? Might be wishful thinking?

[imashooter2]

I agree that it's wishful thinking, but so was the AWB the first time it was introduced. Let's take a page from the antis and put the bill up every Congress until it gets passed.

Savor the sweet thought of carry into Trenton or NYC...

[schr8er2000]

wont get past the gun hating Democrats in congress.... just hope that they dont get THEIR laws passed or we will be fighting the criminals with slingshots... it they dont take them away too....

[pex]

States certainly ought not have rights when it comes to the Supreme Law of the Land.

However, it is important to realize that a federal recognition of the various states' ability to privilegize the right to carry sets a bad precedent!

[awkx]

I do not believe that this bill is constitutional. For states with compatible requirements, perhaps an argument could be made under the Full Faith And Credit clause. But if one state has stricter requirements than another, then I don't think the stricter state can be forced to recognize the other state's permit. IIRC, same-sex marriages performed in states that allow them are not necessarily recognized in other states; if this is true, then I don't see how CCW recognition would be any different.

Also, if citizens have a right to carry concealed under the Second Amendment, then no permit should be required.

[mpi]

if works for drivers licenses, and that's not even a right.

[headcase]

I think that there are at least two things that may move this from pipe dream to passable.

1.) The SCOTUS decision forthcoming on the D.C. case. Depending on how the majority decision is worded, there may be an attitude shift in congress by fence sitters and fringe anti's.

2.)How and if the bill makes it into committee. If it is not outright killed, there may be some substantial debate on it. If that debate happens, I don't think it is too far fetched to see a compromise reached establishing a federal standard to issue a carry permit. In my semi clouded crystal ball, I see it possible that a mandatory safety class and N.I.C.S. may be enough to bring a majority of yes votes on board.

[headcase]

I do not believe that this bill is constitutional. For states with compatible requirements, perhaps an argument could be made under the Full Faith And Credit clause. But if one state has stricter requirements than another, then I don't think the stricter state can be forced to recognize the other state's permit. IIRC, same-sex marriages performed in states that allow them are not necessarily recognized in other states; if this is true, then I don't see how CCW recognition would be any different.

Also, if citizens have a right to carry concealed under the Second Amendment, then no permit should be required.

Sorry to use you awkx, but I was waiting for this type of post. I think that if it gets passed, the first state to deny someone's right to carry under the new law, would wind up in court. If it winds up in court, I have no doubt it will eventually be ruled that if a citizen's constitutional right is recognized by one state, it may not be infringed by another. Finally having a federal mandate to back up the notion that the 2nd Amendment is protected on a nationwide level, will be a powerful thing for the states to overcome in federal court. Same sex marriages are not specifically addressed in the bill of rights, that is a huge difference.
The fact that the SCOTUS decided to address the issue of firearms, coupled with the apparent readiness of the majority to interpret the 2A as an individual right, seems to be causing a ton of formerly quiet pro gunners to finally stand up to the ridiculousness of the anti's arguments. In finally doing so, the anti's are being made to look more and more like the morons they are. There appears to be a groundswell of pro gun attitudes, not only in the government, but in the media as well....and it seems to be gaining momentum...

[awkx]

If it winds up in court, I have no doubt it will eventually be ruled that if a citizen's constitutional right is recognized by one state, it may not be infringed by another.

I don't follow. Interpretations of Constitutional law by one state have no binding effect on any other state.

Finally having a federal mandate to back up the notion that the 2nd Amendment is protected on a nationwide level, will be a powerful thing for the states to overcome in federal court. Same sex marriages are not specifically addressed in the bill of rights, that is a huge difference.

But if a permit is required to CC, then CC is a privilege, not a right. If the Second Amendment protects CC at all, then it protects unlicensed CC. The Second Amendment speaks to the right of the people, not the right of only those persons who have met certain training or qualification criteria.