Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL) introduces national concealed carry reciprocity law
There are over one million Florida concealed carry permit holders. Many live in other states or travel across America conducting business, visiting family and friends or to vacation. Many bring along their firearm and their state issued concealed carry permit for personal protection when on the road in a strange place.
Currently not all states recognize Florida’s, or one anothers, concealed carry permits. Herein lies the problem for law abiding citizens. For a list of the 34 states that recognize a Florida concealed carry permit click here.
Few Americans are aware that just because they may have a concealed weapons license in the respective state they live in, concealed weapons license reciprocity does not exist throughout the United States, as it does for state issued driver’s licenses.
Former Sheriff and current Congressman Rich Nugent (R-FL) wants to change that, filing a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would recognized concealed weapons licenses across the country, and “create some common-sense capability for law-abiding citizens to move about a free country without a patchwork of conflicting statutes.”
Following introduction of his legislation to provide reciprocity for individuals holding concealed-carry licenses, Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL District 11) issued the following statement:
“If I have a driver’s license issued by the state of Florida and I drive all the way across the country to California, my driver’s license is valid the entire way. Even though the requirements for obtaining a driver’s license may vary from state to state, we have a system that recognizes the need for reciprocity.
Currently, that sort of reciprocity does not extend to concealed carry licenses for firearms.
If a lawful and duly licensed person travels from one state into another, whether accidentally or on purpose, they can be in violation of serious gun control laws. The goal with this legislation isn’t to tell states what their laws have to be. In fact, a concealed carry license holder from Florida is still required to obey the concealed carry laws of the particular state that he or she is entering.
The goal with this legislation is to create some common-sense capability for law-abiding citizens to move about a free country without a patchwork of conflicting statutes.
“The Second Amendment states that the right to keep and bear arms ‘shall not be infringed’. This legislation is a common sense measure that will ensure that as free Americans travel from one state to another, their Constitutional rights are not infringed. “I am proud to be the leader on this issue and this legislation. As a former law enforcement official with the proper credential, I am permitted to carry a firearm in all 50 states. I can certainly understand the practical frustration that many law-abiding gun owners feel with our current patchwork system.
The previous version of this legislation passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in 2011 and I look forward to seeing it pass again during this Congress.”
