Posted on 07/04/2026 8:40:19 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Imagine a woman driving across state lines alone at night, fearful that her car might break down and leave her vulnerable. Or picture a truck driver hauling valuable cargo across the country. In states such as California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Oregon – five of the ten states that refuse to recognize concealed handgun permits from other states – these travelers can find themselves defenseless. Nine states also either deny non-residents permits altogether or make them extremely difficult to obtain.
Last week, President Trump again called for passage of national concealed carry reciprocity. The legislation would allow anyone legally permitted to carry a concealed handgun in their home state to carry across state lines, much as Americans use their driver’s licenses nationwide. The legislation would affect millions of law-abiding Americans.
Much of the gun-control debate centers on hypothetical risks. With reciprocity, however, we don’t have to speculate. With 21.5 million concealed handgun permit holders in the United States, we already know how they behave. In addition, most Americans already benefit from reciprocity. The average state recognizes permits from 30 other states, allowing permit holders to travel legally with their firearms.
Last year, when House Judiciary Committee passed national reciprocity along party lines, Democrats also opposed legislation that would allow current and retired law enforcement officers with at least ten years of service to carry firearms in facilities open to the public – including schools – while traveling across the country. Given their fear that allowing experienced current or retired law enforcement officers to carry would endanger public safety, it comes as no surprise that they also oppose allowing civilians to carry across state lines.
Congressional opponents of reciprocity warned that permit holders would commit crimes but cited no evidence to support that claim. The facts point in the
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
The democRATs protect their constituents even when involved in nefarious tradecraft. I think the democRATs identify with these constituents.
Trump’s working on it...
My concealed carry permit is my Idaho Driver’s license.
It’s no fun having to ask for permission to protect one’s self.
.
Head on a Swivel and
The Good Lord in My Heart ❤️
Big Blue City-States are where freedom goes to die.
Florida has a Constitutional Carry law too. Many states have reciprocity for Florida CCW permits, but they don’t have Constitutional Carry. Having reciprocity when travelling is why I maintain my CCW permit.
If my state issued driver's license is good enough in blue states, then the Second Amendment should be good enough in blue states.
That won’t fly if you conceal carry into Washington
You need an actual CCW, and I believe it is the enhanced CCW from Idaho.
The point of this article is CCW across state lines.
To CCW from CA to ID, going up US 97, you need to get permits from CA(which is only doable if you live there) Oregon(which requires you live in Oregon or an adjacent state and submit enough evidence that you are in Oregon enough to justify a CCW), and Washington, which requires either their permit or Idaho’s enhanced CCW. Idaho allows permitless CCW for all residents over the age of 18, which implies out of state people are not allowed to permitless carry, but as far as I know ID accepts all other state’s CCWs as valid.
My marriage license and my driver’s license is valid in all states. Commercial Driver’s licenses are valid in all states. I should not need 3 state permits to Carry through 4 states.
SHOULD be, but we are not there yet. I remember when FL became the first state with CCW permits. Today there are numerous states with Constitutional carry. We are slowly clawing back our rights.
It’s all about control.
My Texas DL is mine. However, I still have a Texas LTC, so I get reciprocity in many states I travel to.
It is the United States of America’s Constitution and it needs to apply equally in every state. Individual states should have no authority to tweak or pick and choose and disqualify any part of our Constitution that they don’t agree with. It is either the law of the land or it isn’t law at all. End of story.
So is my Georgia drivers license. 😊
True enough. And rights should never be downgraded and treated as privileges.
Conservatives also believe in Tenth Amendment state's rights.
Which presents a conundrum.
One advantage in living close to the center of Texas is that it is a six hour drive in any direction just to leave the state.
Obergefell should have reinforced that; if a marriage license is valid in all 50 states per SCOTUS proclamation, then a concealed weapons permit (government permission slip for a natural right) should be as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.