OH YES THEY DID: House Votes to Allow Concealed Carry Across State Lines

Kelly Cohen reports: The House passed legislation Wednesday that would allow concealed carry permit holders from one state to legally carry their guns in other states.

Lawmakers passed the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which also includes language aimed at improving the federal background check system more commonly known as NICS. The combined bill passed 231-198; six Democrats voted for it, and 14 Republicans voted against it.

The legislation is the first gun legislation to be passed by the House in the wake of major mass shootings in both Las Vegas and Texas. While Democrats argued the concealed carry legislation would only add to gun violence, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the legislation is the best way “not to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, but to enforce the laws against criminals.”

“This bill is about the simple proposition that law-abiding Americans should be able to exercise their right to self defense, even when they cross out of their states’ borders,” he said last week. “That is their constitutional right.”

But Democrats angrily opposed the bill, and said it makes no sense to consider legislation easing rules for gun owners after so many tragic shootings around the country. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., whose district includes Newtown, where 20 children were shot to death in 2012, called the bill an “outrage.”

“This will should be called the Act to Carry Any Gun, Anywhere, Any Time, by Anyone,” she said. “The Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill is an outrage and an insult to the families in Newtown and to the hundreds of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence who are gathered here today, at the Capitol, for the fifth annual vigil on gun violence.”

House Judiciary Chairman Ranking Member Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called the legislation “terrible public policy” this week when it was considered at the House Rules Committee, and argued that it would trample on states that oppose concealed carry … (read more)

Source: washingtonexaminer.com