Should a Concealed Carry Permit Allow a Person to Carry Their Gun In Other States Where It’s Allowed? (H.R. 402)

What is H.R. 402?

(Updated June 5, 2019)

This bill would allow individuals who have a concealed carry license to carry a concealed weapon in other states that grant concealed carry licenses as long as they abide by that state’s laws. Concealed carry license holders would still not be able to carry their weapons in states that don’t grant concealed carry licenses.

Concealed carry permit holders would be required to have their license or permit with them, in addition to a government-issued photo ID card, and be in compliance with the gun laws of the state they are in.

Argument in favor

This bill resolves a problem that many states and concealed carry permit holders had encountered and allows permit holders to abide by state laws without fear of prosecution.

Argument opposed

States have differing requirements for concealed carry permit holders to obtain their licenses, and traveling permit holders may not bother to comply with the law of states they visit.

Impact

People with concealed carry permits; states that allow concealed carry; and law enforcement.

Cost of H.R. 402

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL) introduced this bill to ensure that people who wish to obtain concealed carry permits can retain the ability to carry in other states as long as they comply with the laws of the state they’re in (as he did in the last session of Congress too):

“If a lawful and duly licensed person travels from one state into another, whether accidentally or on purpose, they can be in violation of serious gun control laws. The goal with this legislation isn’t to tell states what their laws have to be. In fact, a concealed carry license holder from Florida is still required to obey the concealed carry laws of the particular state that he or she is entering. The goal with this legislation is to create some common-sense capability for law-abiding citizens to move about a free country without a patchwork of conflicting statutes”

This legislation has the support of 103 cosponsors, including 100 Republicans and three Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL) Press Release (Previous Version)
• Huffington Post (Opposed)
• National Review (In Favor)
• NRA (In Favor)