House takes up bill allowing concealed carry across state lines

The House this week will push ahead with legislation allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns to other states.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled on Tuesday to consider the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. The legislation was introduced in January by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and followed reports of gun owners getting arrested for traveling through states with stricter gun laws.

In 2014, a single mother and concealed carry permit holder from Philadelphia was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon when she was stopped by the police while driving through New Jersey.

“Currently, the patchwork of reciprocity laws and agreements between states is confusing and has caused law-abiding citizens to unwittingly break the law and suffer arrest and detention,” Hudson said. All 50 states allow concealed carry, but with different standards and requirements.

The legislation would also permit concealed carry in national parks and other federally-owned land.

But the bill has attracted staunch opposition from states with strict gun laws. Attorneys general from 16 states sent a letter in October to congressional leaders urging them to reject the legislation, arguing that states shouldn't have t honor concealed carry permits issued by more permissive states.

“Rather than creating a new national standard for who may carry concealed firearms, these bills would elevate the lowest state standard over higher ones and force some States to allow concealed carry by people who do not qualify under their laws,” they wrote.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, has introduced a similar reciprocity bill.