In the wake of reports that a large number of U.S. House and Senate members cosponsored a bill to extend concealed carry reciprocity to any locale in the United States, Yucel Ors, Program Director of Public Safety and Crime Prevention at the National League of Cities, released a public statement coming out strongly against the legislation.
Currently, the House-led Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has 189 Republicans and three Democrats signing on as cosponsors, while the Senate-led Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has 36 cosponsors, all of which are Republicans.
If enacted, the legislation would effectively preempt any state or local laws restricting an individual’s ability to conceal carry weapons, including gun-free school zones.
“This legislation sets a dangerous precedent that would allow Congress to choose which state laws trump other state laws,” Ors said. “The legislation would erode the principles of federalism and would give some states power over the laws of other states.”
Ors said that while states may have to give “full faith and credit” to other state laws, the [supremacy clause of federal rule over states] did not mean state and local government must have to relinquish their authority to pass laws which protected their residents.
“While supporters of this legislation believe it protects Second Amendment rights, the legislation violates the Tenth Amendment that establishes the principles of federalism,” Ors said. “There are many other reasons why this legislation is bad for cities — and when preemption of this magnitude poses a direct threat to cities and their residents, local elected officials should make their voices heard.”
While the two bills have been introduced, neither bill has passed through its respective committees, nor are they currently scheduled for a floor vote at this time.