H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), advanced out of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Tuesday by a vote of 18-9 along party lines.
John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA), said this bill is the NRA’s “top legislative priority” this year and added that “it’s time to get this bill enacted into law.”
“Our First Amendment rights do not change from one state to another, and our Second Amendment rights should not either,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the committee. “Law-abiding citizens should be able to carry a concealed firearm between states without worrying about conflicting state criminal laws or onerous civil suits.”
The bill will now advance for consideration before the full U.S. House of Representatives in a major step forward in the fight to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
“Our Second Amendment right does not disappear when we cross invisible state lines, and this commonsense legislation guarantees that,” said Rep. Hudson upon introducing the bill. “The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act will protect law-abiding citizens’ rights to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits. I am proud to see such strong and widespread support, and I will not stop fighting to get this legislation signed into law.”
It is worth noting that 29 states now have some form of constitutional carry on the books, with over a dozen states joining the ranks in just the past few years.
“Concealed-carry reciprocity is now the clear majority practice among the states themselves, and even gun-control advocates have been unable to concoct a story about how this is problematic,” wrote Commerford of the legislation in a feature for America’s 1st Freedom.
In addition to H.R. 38, The Firearm Due Process Protection Act (H.R. 2184), sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), was also reported out of the committee by voice vote. This bill provides a legal recourse for law-abiding Americans who were improperly denied the ability to legally purchase a firearm due to administrative errors during a background check.
We will keep you updated on the status of these important bills as they head before the entire membership of the U.S. House of Representatives and beyond.
