House Passes Disturbing Bill That Would Override Local Laws Against Concealed Carry

The House approved a bill on Wednesday that would allow gun owners with a concealed carry permit in one state to carry that weapon into another state, regardless of that state’s gun laws.

If the bill becomes law, states with very strict policies about who can carry a hidden gun in public would have to honor the policies of states with very weak requirements. It could also mean that, if you don’t meet the eligibility requirements in your own state, you could go somewhere else to get a permit and return home with the legal ability to conceal your weapon all the same.

As HuffPost reported on Wednesday, this is a particularly dangerous scenario for victims of domestic violence and stalking:

In 28 states, for example, individuals convicted of stalking are not allowed to carry in public. But, as Everytown for Gun Safety counsel Courtney Zale explained to HuffPost, under concealed carry reciprocity, a stalker in one of those states could obtain a permit from Florida, which does not prohibit stalkers and issues permits to nonresidents through the mail. He could then use that permit to carry throughout the country.

In another example, an abuser who is convicted of sexually assaulting his girlfriend cannot currently legally carry a concealed firearm in Massachusetts. But under this bill, he could obtain a permit from nearby New Hampshire―which issues permits to nonresidents and does not consider that offense prohibitory―and carry his firearm back into his home state.

According to a multi-state study published in the Journal of Public Health, the involvement of a gun in a domestic violence incident increases the likelihood of a homicide by 500 percent.

Most women killed in this country die in an incident related to intimate partner violence; more than 90 percent of those women are killed by a current or former intimate partner, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of those deaths, 54 percent, are gun deaths.

The measure passed the House by a vote of 231 to 198, according to Politico. It may fail in the Senate, but the gun lobby is always and forever playing offense when it comes to rolling back existing gun laws. This is your reminder for the week.