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Major Gun Rights Victory, But It’s Not Good Enough!
Fellow Conservative,
Last year, I told you the tragic story of Shaneen Allen, the single mother from Pennsylvania who unknowingly broke New Jersey law by bringing her concealed weapon across the border with her.
She was pulled over for a traffic stop and voluntarily admitted to the police officer that she was armed. She believed that her concealed weapons permit would be valid in New Jersey just like it was in Pennsylvania. She was wrong.
Even though she was trained and licensed to carry a gun in Pennsylvania, the local prosecutors threw the book at her.
Well, this week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie granted Shaneen Allen a full pardon.
The arrest was stricken from her record. This is a huge success! But the fact is, no one should be forced into a situation like this. If a man or woman is trained to carry a gun in one state, he or she should be allowed to carry a gun in ALL 50 states!
Here’s an example. Right now, there are 1.3 million Floridians who are licensed to carry concealed handguns. They have been fingerprinted, subjected to rigorous background checks, tested on self-defense laws, and forced to qualify with a marksmanship test.
But even with that, their permits are only valid in 34 states.
On the opposite end of the spectrum there is Illinois, which was forced to start issuing concealed weapons permits a little over a year ago. Illinois doesn’t honor ANY out-of-state concealed weapons permits.
Shaneen Allen was a single mother who had been victimized multiple times in the past. Like so many Americans today, she took it upon herself to get the training so she would never be a victim again. But because of our countries patchwork system of gun laws, she almost got sent to state prison because she crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey with her firearm.
This isn’t what the Founding Fathers intended when they wrote that the right to bear arms “shall not be infringed.”
We have a chance to change this. The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has a simple premise: concealed weapons permits have the same reciprocity as driver’s licenses and be valid everywhere.
Just because you’re allowed to drive across the country with your state’s driver’s license doesn’t mean you’re allowed to ignore local laws. The same would be true for the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Gun owners would have to obey all local gun regulations and carry according to the law.
No one is saying that we should go back to the Wild West. We are talking about allowing trained and licensed citizens to carry their weapons outside their state of residence.
Concealed carriers are some of the most law-abiding citizens in society. In Texas, for example, a Concealed Handgun License holder is only 1/12th as likely to commit a crime as an average citizen is.
These statistics are echoed across the country.
Criminals don’t ask for permission before they carry a weapon. The only thing that this patchwork system of gun laws accomplishes is making it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and those around them!
So here is what we’re going to do… We are going to continue to pressure the GOP to pass this law and tack it onto a “must pass” piece of legislation to ensure that Obama signs it.
This legislation will pass, but we also need to make sure that enough Democrats are on board to get this bill passed.
The only way this happens is if you raise your voice and demand that Congress act now!
Right now, there are 53 GOP Senators who are likely on board. That means we need SEVEN Democrats to get the bill passed and twice as many to overturn a Presidential veto.
Here are seven Democrat Senators who have voted in favor of concealed carry legislation in the past: Senators Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Martin Heinrich (NM), Joe Manchin (WV), Jon Tester (MT), Tom Udall (NM) and Mark Warner (VA).
There are other Democrat Senators who are ripe for the picking: Senators Claire McCaskill (MO), Michael Bennet (CO), Bill Nelson (FL) and Tim Kaine (VA), as well as independent Sen. Angus King (ME).
This is more than enough to get this law passed!
I need you to raise your voice and DEMAND that this bill be prioritized! Cases like Shaneen Allen’s are becoming far too common. Law abiding citizens are being trapped and turned into felons because a minority of states don’t believe in the Second Amendment. It is up to YOU to change this!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
Source: http://conservative-daily.com/2015/04/04/major-gun-rights-victory-but-its-not-good-enough/
