U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on Wednesday introduced his version of interstate carry legislation, titled the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.” Cornyn’s bill follows an earlier release in the House by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) of the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.”
Both bills seek to address the problem of law-abiding concealed carry permit holders having to negotiate a confusing maze of laws, reciprocity agreements, and recognition statutes when they travel out of state.
Currently, every state has a legal mechanism for the concealed carry of handguns for self-defense. And while reciprocity or recognition of non-resident permits is the norm between states, a handful of states that receive travelers from all over the country don’t recognize permits from other states. This leads to otherwise law-abiding people getting crossways with the law, having their valuable firearms seized, and even facing felony prosecution and mandatory prison time.