Seventeen Democrat state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress Sunday urging federal lawmakers to drop national reciprocity for concealed carry because of the October 1 attack in Las Vegas.
California AG Xavier Becerra was among the signatories.
According to KPCC, the letter addressed current bills that would affect concealed carry reciprocity and said, “With the worst shooting in American history fresh in our memory, we urge you and your colleagues to reject these ill-conceived bills.”
National reciprocity for concealed carry was introduced to Congress on January 3, 2017. Breitbart News reported that the bill was sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and would make the concealed carry permit from any state valid in the other 49 states. In other words, it would treat a concealed carry permit like a driver’s license. Moreover, residents of the 12 states that require no permit would be able to carry in other states as long as they had government documentation proving their residency in one of those 12 states (Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and West Virginia).
Concealed carry had nothing to do with the October 1 Vegas attack. In fact, the only connection between mass public shootings and concealed carry is that mass public attackers repeatedly choose attack locations where concealed carry is prohibited—the Aurora movie theater, Orlando Pulse nightclub, Virginia Tech University, etc.—and this certainly does not lend itself to arguments making it harder for law-abiding citizens to be armed for self-defense.
Nevertheless, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stands with Xavier Becerra in arguing against concealed carry reciprocity. Schneiderman describes such reciprocity as a “loophole,” saying, “After each tragedy we lament the loopholes in our federal gun laws. It’s vital that we not create another one.”
The loophole Schneiderman, Becerra, and the other AGs are overlooking is the gun-free zone loophole. That is the one loophole that nearly every mass public shooting of recent memory has in common. National reciprocity goes a long way toward ending that loophole.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.