National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Laws -- Not Worth The Risk

Sen. John Cornyn’s Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has gotten strong support from Republicans in Washington. The bill has twenty-three co-sponsors in the Senate, and a companion bill has seventeen co-sponsors in the House.

None of them have acknowledged that the bill could end up hurting gun owners.

National reciprocity would allow law abiding gun owners to travel to different states without having to worry about the local permit requirements, which is something that nearly every gun owner supports.  But it would do so by relying on the authority of the federal government, which would give future politicians a legal framework to expand federal gun control.

Considering that all but a handful of highly liberal states already recognize out of state gun permits, why take the risk of passing this law?

Think of what would happen if, with a national reciprocity law in place, someone with an out-of-state carry permit committed a mass shooting. The left wouldn’t hesitate to load up the law with new requirements and restrictions. The law would become a vehicle for any number of gun control measures from universal background checks to gun registration.

History tells us that the federal government will use any law as an excuse to give itself more power. The Common Core education initiative was started by Republicans, but ended up as a tool for Obama and his cronies to impose their agenda in the classroom.

Couldn’t the same thing happen with guns?  

Nearly every state has chosen to recognize out of state permits without any help from the federal government. Adding the federal government into the mix simply isn’t worth the risk.