Skip to main content
Image
Photo of Meadville sign

Rep. Kelly Supports Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act

December 6, 2017

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued the following statement today in support of H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which would allow law-abiding citizens with a state-issued concealed carry license or permit to carry a handgun in any other state that also has concealed carry laws as long as the individual follows the laws of that state. The legislation was passed this afternoon by a bipartisan vote of 231-198.

“If law-abiding Americans have already earned a permit to carry their concealed firearms in their own home state, then there is no good reason why reciprocity shouldn’t be granted to them in another state. It’s what we do with driver’s licenses and, as a matter of personal rights and safety, it just makes good sense to do it with gun licensing as well. This bill will prevent the burden of bureaucracy from getting in the way of gun-owning citizens freely and responsibly exercising their rights as Americans.

“The Second Amendment is not an abstraction or an exception. The Bill of Rights means what it says as much today as when it was written. The right to bear arms is a fundamental part of our identity as a free people and an indispensable pillar of our free society. I am proud to support the passage of this bill to reinforce our Second Amendment rights and tear down the lingering obstacles that prevent the American people from fully realizing them.”

NOTE: This bill categorically excludes from its protections anyone who is “prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm.” This includes anyone who:

  • Has been “convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” (this category includes misdemeanors punishable by more than two years in prison – e.g., second degree assault in Maryland – as well as felonies – e.g., armed robbery – and applies even if the individual never served any prison time at all)
  • Is “a fugitive from justice”
  • Is “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance”
  • Has been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution”
  • Is an alien who is “illegally or unlawfully in the United States” or who was “admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa”
  • Has been “discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions”
  • Has “renounced his [United States] citizenship”
  • Is subject to certain restraining orders concerning an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner (e.g., restraining orders issued after a hearing alleging spousal or child abuse)
  • Has been “convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence”
  • Is possessing the firearm in the course of employment for any of the preceding categories of persons
  • Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year
  • Is under age 18 in the case of a handgun

H.R. 38 is supported by the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

###