House To Vote On Allowing Concealed Weapon Transport Between States

Wednesday the House of Representatives is likely to pass legislation that would enable gun owners who have concealed-weapons permits from one state to carry their weapons to another state, regardless of the gun laws in that state.

Currently every state except Illinois issues some form of concealed weapons permit. Supporters of the bill say it creates a uniform standard; critics say it erodes state rights.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are considering a measure to tighten gun buyer background checks in the wake of January’s Tucson shooting rampage.

Politico: Packing Bags, Packing Heat

Guest:

Martin Kady, congressional editor for Politico.

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp

This is not a violation of the rights of states. The Second Amendment specifically ennumerates the right to keep and bear arms as belonging to the people. That right belongs to each of us individually. This is no different from forcing states to recognize our right to free speech.

It’s also no different from having marriage licenses valid in any state that issues such licenses. The argument in favor of allowing a person with a carry license to carry in any state that issues licenses is the same as the one in favor of having all states recognize the marriage of gay couples. I support both.
- Joe Soule
  
  If that is the case then there can be no laws on arms except for felons who have their rights taken away.
  - Peter Lake
    
    Why should the laws be any different state-to-state?
    If a person is investigated, fingerprinted and deemed safe to carry in Massachusetts then he or she ought to be able to carry in Connecticut.
    Constitutional rights shouldn’t stop at state borders.
    - Joe Soule
      
      The only place fed courts gave those rights is in DC … maybe because they don’t have a state legislature … just a thought …
      - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
        
        I take it that you haven’t heard about McDonald v. Chicago? The Court incorporated the Second Amendment against the states in that ruling.
      - Joe Soule
        
        Missed it. Thanks. I’ll check it out.
  - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
    
    Sounds good to me.
    - Joe Soule
      
      I guess that okays kids carrying in Jr High. Really good for their GPA’s!
      - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
        
        Why do you jump to the most extreme thing you can come up with? The courts have already said that the rights of minors are different from the rights of adults. Adults are responsible for regulating the behavior of minors. I promise not to commit the Straw Man fallacy if you promise to stop making yourself into a Straw Man.
        
        Now, if you meant to say that teachers who are licensed should be allowed to carry in schools, I’m all for that.
Robin

Greg good to hear from you as always.. what about if different states have different
laws regarding who gets permit?

Robin
- http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
  
  What if different states have laws regarding what speech I’m allowed to express? What if different states regulate religion differently?
  
  Rights are rights.
  - Joe Soule
    
    Being yelled at is a lot safer than being shot at.
    - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
      
      I take it that you haven’t been to the same churches that I have. . .
      
      I don’t recall reading in the Constitution that our rights are ours, unless they’re inconvenient. That’s the attitude that the Bush administration took, and it was just as wrong then as it’s wrong now to deny rights to citizens.
      - Joe Soule
        
        I think some court didn’t approve of yelling fire in a packed theater. No right is absolute, at least not according to our courts.
      - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
        
        Who said anything about absolute rights? That’s the line that gun grabbers trot out all the time, but look at this bill. It merely says that anyone who’s already gone through the process of getting a license will have that license respected by any state that issues licenses.
        
        Besides, you can’t have it both ways. I thought that being yelled at was safer, but apparently you don’t think so.
      - Joe Soule
        
        Someone yelling fire in a crowded theater is different than yelling it in the street. Being shot at in a theater is about the same as as in the street. Yelling, in general, isn’t very dangerous.
      - http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
        
        All right, why do you imagine that I will shoot at you, just because I have a handgun on my person? Unless you do something that justifies the use of lethal force, you won’t even see my weapon.
http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp

My Arkansas carry license is recognized by forty states.
http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp

Frank Lautenberg is from New Jersey, no?
Peter Lake

Heller led the way and McDonald settled the issue that the Second Amendment refers to an individual right to keep and bear arms, which are not limited to guns, by the way.

States will, of course, try to prohibit the right to carry from churches, bars, schools, malls…..but it will prove futile. The tide of gun ownership is one way.
I was lucky enough to be part of a successful NRA suit against the City of Los Angeles, just one pebble in the growing landslide of victories for gun owners.
- http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
  
  Good for you, and thank you for your help. What were the details of that case?
Dick Woodward

DC v Heller still leaves a lot of constitutional room for gun control. Per Scalia’s synopsis, prohibitions against concealed weapons, possession by felons or mentally ill, carrying near schools or government buildings, regulation of gun sales, carrying of unusual or dangerous weapons would all still be constitutionally permissible. According to Scalia, what’s off the table is an absolute prohibition. Otherwise, Heller changes nothing.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ET AL. v. HELLER
No. 07–290. Argued March 18, 2008—Decided June 26, 2008
…
2. Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues.
The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitionson the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, orlaws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, orlaws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
- http://gregorycamp.wordpress.com/ Greg Camp
  
  The Supreme Court usually tries to take a minimalist approach, leaving the details of regulation to the legislative branch. The rulings said that we have an individual right to keep and bear arms. Most states have already gone along with that principle, and the current Congress is doing the same. There may be room for gun control in the decisions, but I don’t see anyone using that room to pass any.
X-Ray

Can you imagine if a car legally registered in your state couldn’t be driven in any other state?