Hagerty And Senate GOP Colleagues Introduce Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill

Photo Credit: courtesy of the National Rifle Association / NRA

Published May 3, 2021

Washington, D.C. – United States Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and several other Senate GOP colleagues have introduced the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.  

“Law-abiding Tennesseans who are permitted to carry a firearm should be able to exercise that constitutional right in other states, consistent with those state’s laws, without having to obtain a separate permit,” said Senator Hagerty. 

If passed, this new legislation would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state with concealed carry laws, while still abiding by that state’s laws. 

“The constitutional right of self-defense should not disappear while traveling or temporarily living away from home, which is why I’ve joined Senator John Cornyn in introducing this legislation that respects constitutional rights and individual state laws while eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy,” said Hagerty. 

Senator Coryn states the bill “focuses on two of our country’s most fundamental constitutional protections– the Second Amendment’s right of citizens to keep and bear arms and the Tenth Amendment’s right of states to make laws best-suited for their residents.”  

According to Senator Grassley, the bill will reduce confusion and legal inconsistencies for responsible gun owners when they travel outside of their home state, while also respecting states’ rights to set their own laws.  

“The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act is common-sense legislation that protects law-abiding citizens’ right to self-defense and to keep and bear arms when traveling between states that allow concealed carry,” said Senator Inhofe.   

Background on the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act: 

Protecting Fundamental Constitutional Rights: 

·       Allows law-abiding citizens to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense while they are traveling or temporarily living away from home. 

·       Allows individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to conceal carry in any other states that also allow concealed carry. 

·       Treats state-issued concealed carry permits like drivers’ licenses where an individual can use their home-state license to drive in another state, but must abide by that other state’s speed limit or road laws. 

Respecting State Sovereignty: 

·       Does not establish national standards for concealed carry. 

·       Does not provide for a national concealed carry permit. 

·       Does not allow a resident to circumvent their home state’s concealed carry permit laws. If under current law an individual is prohibited by federal law from carrying a firearm, they will continue to be prohibited from doing so under our bill. 

·       Respects state laws concerning specific types of locations in which firearms may not be carried and types of firearms which may not be carried by the visiting individual. 

·       Protects states’ rights by not mandating the right to concealed carry in places that do not allow the practice.