Considering so many states have liberalized (the old fashioned meaning) their gun laws, with some not even requiring its citizens to have permit in order to carry a concealed firearm (my home state is one of them), I can see the wisdom of passing legislation to make reciprocity – a CCW permit in one state would be honored by all other states – a reality. It's something that should have been done years ago. It already exists in regards to driver's licenses, so why not permits to carry?
While some will make the argument that the two are not the same thing, one has to remember that driving is not a right, but a privilege. Bearing arms is a right. We've certainly seen enough US Supreme Court decisions in the past decade or so that have certainly proved that the Second Amendment means what it says. So why shouldn't there be reciprocity for something that is a constitutional right?
Some may bring up the point about the Constitutional Carry states not having permits and how to handle reciprocity, but even my home state still issues concealed carry permits just for that reason as some states have reciprocity agreements with their neighbors. New Hampshire has reciprocity with 28 other states.
Should Congress pass such legislation and the president signs it, I expect the howling from the anti-gun lobbies and organizations will be deafening. They will trot out the usual “Shootout at the OK Corral” scenario and the use “rivers of blood in our streets” ploy in an effort to misinform the public. In every state that has changed from 'may issue' states to 'shall issue' states those same claims have been made. Yet those scenarios have never materialized. The same claims, though much louder and more forceful, were also used in those states where constitutional carry was made the law. Again, nothing happened...except that the violent crime rates went down.
It's time to make concealed carry reciprocity a reality.
