U.S. Conference of Mayors Voted To Formally Oppose “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” Legislation During Annual Conference In Miami
Last Week’s Pew Survey Found 81 Percent of Americans Oppose Allowing People To Carry Concealed Weapons Without a Permit
WASHINGTON – Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statement today from President John Feinblatt to applaud the U.S. Conference of Mayors for passing a resolution to oppose “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” legislation — the gun lobby’s top legislative priority — during its 85th annual meeting this weekend in Miami. The resolution, which passed this morning, “calls on Congress to oppose policies and legislation, including but not limited to H.R. 38 the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 and S.446 the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, that would otherwise circumvent policies that cities have established to protect their residents.”
A Pew survey released last week found that 81 percent of Americans oppose allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit — a consequence that would result from passage of “Concealed Carry Reciprocity”.
And just yesterday, New York County District Attorney Cy Vance “‘warned lawmakers [backing “Concealed Carry Reciprocity”] that they were playing into the hand’ of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorists, pointing to ISIS publications describing the ease of buying guns in some American states.”
STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“Everytown applauds the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors for coming together to oppose ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity’ legislation, the gun lobby’s dream, which would make Americans less safe by forcing each state to recognize the concealed carry standards of every other state, no matter how weak or nonexistent those standards may be. Some states don’t require any training in order to get a concealed carry permit, while a dozen states don’t even require a permit to carry hidden, loaded guns in public. Under ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity,’ Congress would gut local public safety laws and turn the weakest state’s laws effectively into nationwide laws, forcing states to allow domestic abusers, people with violent histories, and people who lack even the most basic gun safety training to carry concealed guns in public.”
STATEMENT FROM GARY, INDIANA, MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON:
“I’m proud to stand alongside mayors in all 50 states to oppose federal ‘concealed carry reciprocity’ legislation, a chaotic proposal that would override states’ gun laws and make our communities less safe. ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity’ does not create a national standard for who can carry guns in public across the country. Instead, it gets rid of basic standards by forcing every state to accept anyone who can carry a hidden, loaded gun in another state, even if that state has much weaker or no standards at all.”
STATEMENT FROM SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, MAYOR JAVIER GONZALES:
“Federal ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity’ legislation would override the hard-fought decisions we made locally about our public safety and force New Mexico to recognize concealed carry standards from every other state – even though requirements for carrying a gun in public very drastically across the country, and many states standards are lower than New Mexico’s. It would allow some people from neighboring states who have no permit whatsoever and may never have passed a background check to carry hidden, loaded guns across our state. It would create chaos for law enforcement and make New Mexico less safe. I’m proud to stand alongside so many mayors in opposing this reckless legislation.”