SACRAMENTO, Calif. -(Ammoland.com)- Yesterday, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) sent a second letter regarding H.R.38 (the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017) to bill sponsor Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and House co-sponsors.
The letter says the pro-gun bill could potentially “leave law-abiding people exposed” because of “a byzantine patchwork of state and local prohibitions” and suggested solutions to 6 individual legal problems in the bill’s text.
The group’s concerns also include “vague and undefined terms,” an exemption to the federal Gun Free School Zone Act they say is “of limited utility,” and the bill’s total reliance on “constitutionally-antagonistic Commerce Clause doctrine.”
FPC also suggests that the measure’s scope be extended to include protections for people in places that are not a “State or political subdivision thereof,” like Washington, D.C. (a federal district), as well as commonwealths, republics, and territories “administered or controlled by the United States (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).”
FPC’s letter says that, if H.R38 is passed without some important changes, it “may very well indirectly cause people to be prosecuted and lose their Second Amendment rights over harmless mistakes.” And, if “H.R.38 is not amended to address our concerns,” they “predict that this well-intentioned measure would leave millions of peaceful and law-abiding people exposed to serious criminal liability.”
“As we said in March, H.R.38 is a significant piece of legislation that—properly amended to address the issues discussed above—would establish one of the greatest, if not the greatest, legislative advancements of Second Amendment rights so far in the history of our federal government,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in the letter. “And with just a few simple but important changes, H.R.38 could unlock and protect the Second Amendment right to bear arms for all law-abiding people—especially where it is denied today.”
Explained FPC Spokesperson Craig DeLuz, “Any bill that seeks to expand the right to keep and bear arms must be carefully crafted to ensure protection for all law-abiding people, but especially for those in ‘battleground states’ and cities hostile to Second Amendment rights.”
“If a bill doesn’t protect people in places like California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, then it doesn’t really get the job done,” DeLuz concluded. “Our reasonable suggested amendments would help ensure that people in anti-gun jurisdictions can exercise their fundamental, individual right to bear arms.”
A copy of FPC’s letters supporting H.R.38 can be viewed or downloaded at https://bit.ly/support-hr-38. Gun owners who wish to send letters supporting H.R.38 may use FPC’s free Grassroots Action Tools at https://bit.ly/support-hr-38.
FPC has also established #OurGunVote, a grassroots campaign to urge pro-gun bill passage in the House and Senate, available at https://www.ourgunvote.com/.
H.R.38 is scheduled to be next heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 29.
About Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC):
Firearms Policy Coalition is a grassroots 501(c)4 nonprofit public benefit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
More information about FPC can be found on their website.
@yzman Clark, if you want an all or nothing be my guest, you’ll get nothing and there will be absolutely zero repercussions, not one single ripple. Want to know why? Because in my more than 40 years of fighting for RKBA Rights I’ve discovered that gun owners rank among the laziest when it comes to activism and, not only that, they are, to an extent, the least cohesive. If you believe that false let’s just look at the facts: how many millions of gun owners are there in the United States? I can’t even begin to guess but it’s a… Read more »
The problem here isn’t only the Federal Government who has no delegated power over firearms, CCW’s included. FedGov is not superior to the States. That being said, the States with their gun laws also violate our natural rights and the 2nd Amendment protections. Asking for permission (CCW, Background Checks) of your overlords in your State or FedGov means you are a subject not a free person. The best solution (and an uphill battle all the way) is getting pro-liberty candidates elected in your State and start repealing laws which violate our rights. We need to start sending pro-liberty folks to… Read more »
Let’s not kid ourselves, this bill in any form other than another back door gun control bill will never pass. The 2nd Amendment is and should be the only measure for law abiding citizens to carry in this country. But the Supreme Court refuses to address and rule based on law. Rather, they either refuse to hear any pro-gun cases, or in favor of watering down the 2nd Amendment.
President Bush, before leaving office, signed into law the Law Enforcement concealed carry bill that allowed certified LE and Retired LE officers the ability to carry in all states. The restriction was they had to qualify annually in their state that they had worked or the state they currently resided in and they could not carry in Federal facilities. This got watered down in the Obama era when the Democrats altered that law to allow states to put restrictions on it. This in effect nullified the entire law and its purposes. If this new law is not made air tight… Read more »
HR 38 needs to be crystal clear that a CCP issued in any state is valid beyond reproach in all 50. If it allows in any way individual states to impose further restrictions as they see fit the bill is useless. Every libtard state will create a border to border gun free zone and we will have moved no further forward at all.