On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., House Judiciary Committee Will Markup “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017” and Legislation to Improve Reporting into Background Check System
Concealed Carry Reciprocity Is a Ploy to Gut State Gun Laws, Allow Untrained People and Those with Dangerous Histories to Carry Hidden, Loaded Handguns in Public
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown, today released the following statement as the House Judiciary Committee scheduled markups for H.R. 38, the dangerous “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.”
The committee will also markup a positive bill that would improve submission of records into the background check system and help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and convicted felons. The legislation is similar to the bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) earlier this month.
STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“After two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, Americans expect Congress to work in a bipartisan way to strengthen – not weaken – our gun laws. The gun lobby’s number one priority of ‘concealed carry reciprocity’ is a ploy to weaken state gun laws and allow untrained people and people with dangerous histories to carry hidden, loaded handguns across the country. Congress should listen to the American public by rejecting the NRA’s dangerous priorities and instead, move forward on legislation that will help improve the background check system, and make Americans safer.”
Right now, every state sets different standards for who can carry a hidden, loaded handgun in public. Concealed carry reciprocity would not create a national standard for who can carry a concealed handgun in public. Instead, it would force every state to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state, even states that have weaker standards, or, worse, no standards at all. This isn’t hypothetical: 19 states don’t require any gun safety training in order to carry a concealed handgun in public; 12 states don’t require a permit or background check; and other states allow domestic abusers, stalkers or people convicted of violent misdemeanors to carry concealed handguns in public. Concealed carry reciprocity would make communities less safe by forcing every state to allow untrained people and people with dangerous histories to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public.
A bill similar to the Senate Cornyn/Murphy bill will also be marked up on Wednesday. The bipartisan Cornyn/Murphy bill is an important first step to improve submission of records into the background check system and keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and convicted felons. It would add accountability measures to help ensure that federal agencies submit records of convicted criminals, domestic abusers and other people prohibited from possessing guns into the National Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and give states incentives to submit their records into the system, including by rewarding states that comply with preference for Department of Justice grants.