Senate bill would expand concealed carry reciprocity

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Updated Mar 14, 2019
A new bill introduced this month by Sen. John Cornyn would expand concealed carry reciprocity to all states that allow concealed carry.A new bill introduced this month by Sen. John Cornyn would expand concealed carry reciprocity to all states that allow concealed carry.

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this month would allow citizens with concealed carry permits in their home state to legally carry a concealed gun in all states with concealed carry laws, so long as the individual abides by that state’s laws.

For truck drivers with concealed carry permits, the bill would make it easier to determine which states would or would not honor their permits.

The bill, titled the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2019” and introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), is co-sponsored by 33 other Republican senators.

In a press release announcing the legislation, Cornyn said the bill would treat state-issued concealed carry permits like driver’s licenses where an individual can use their license to drive in other states, but still must abide by that state’s speed limit and road laws.

Cornyn noted that the bill would not establish national standards for concealed carry and still gives states the right to allow concealed carry permits or not. The bill would only allow concealed carry permit holders to carry concealed firearms in other states that allow it.

In the last Congress, the same legislation had 40 co-sponsors, and in the 113th Congress from 2013-2015, a nearly identical amendment received 57 votes in the Senate, including 13 Democrats, Cornyn said. Neither of the previous attempts to expand reciprocity were successful.

The bill was introduced in the Senate Jan. 9 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will have to approve the bill before it goes before the full Senate for a vote. If the bill gets through the Senate, it will be sent to the House.