House Passes Bill Allowing Concealed Carry Across State Lines

The House approved a bill Wednesday that would allow gun owners with concealed carry permits from one state to carry their firearm in another state where it is also legal.

• By Jessica Davis
• Dec 08, 2017

The House approved a bill Wednesday that would allow gun owners with concealed carry permits from one state to carry their firearm in another state where it is also legal. The action comes amid discussion of gun control after mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas earlier this year.

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would require that every state recognize a concealed-carry gun permit issued by any other state. While federal law establishes broad gun control policy, states set their own restrictions on concealed-carry permits.

Critics of the bill are concerned that requiring states with stronger standards for issuing permits to honor permits from states with less stringent standards could pose a danger to public safety. Proponents gave examples of instances in which armed citizens took down attackers as evidence more gun owners with concealed-carry licenses could make people safer.

Republican lawmakers added a measure to the House version that aims to strengthen tracking in the national background-check database of legal and mental health records that might prevent some gun purchases. This addition comes after it was discovered that the gunman who killed 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., should not have been able to legally purchase the firearms used in the attack due to a record of domestic assault in the Air Force that should have disqualified him.

The bill will now go to the Senate.