It is January 30, 2018, and that means Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has ignored national reciprocity legislation for 47 weeks.
Reciprocity was introduced in the House on January 3, 2017, and passed 48 weeks later, on December 6, by conservatives who rallied to overcome Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) stonewalling of the measure. But the waiting game continues in Senate.
Breitbart News reported that national reciprocity for concealed carry was introduced in the Senate on March 1, 2017. Since that date, McConnell has not uttered a public word in support of the legislation.
A lack of national reciprocity does not impact Mitch McConnell, as he has 24/7 taxpayer funded armed security. He is never in a place where he lacks the protection of a good guy with a gun. However, average Americans are impacted because their security resides in their own hands.
Foe example, a blue collar father of four driving through numerous states for vacation does not have the benefit of taxpayer funded armed security, rather, he has the Second Amendment. But that Second Amendment has been restricted to a point of near nullification in many states–think California, Illinois, and New York–and national reciprocity is needed to repair this.
So, on the one hand it makes sense that McConnell and other members of the ruling class do not feel the need for national reciprocity. Their armed protection keeps them secure. Yet on the other hand, it is shameful that McConnell and other members of the ruling class ignore national reciprocity because in so doing, they are turning their backs on the safety and well-being of the average Americans who fund the ruling class’s 24/7 armed protection.
Ultimately, the ruling class’s indifference to national reciprocity makes it look like some lives are worthier of protection than others.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.