Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, S. 3207

[mrreynolds]

Dear Mr. Reynolds:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Respecting States’ Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, S. 3207. Like you, I believe the right to bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution.

While I have long been a proponent of keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, you may be pleased to know that I have successfully fought to create new opportunities for law abiding citizens to exercise their right to use guns. For example in November 2007, I secured federal money to expand the scarce hunting grounds in New York State by creating a financial incentive for private landowners to allow hunters access to their property.

While I respect the Second Amendment to the Constitution, I believe that we have a collective interest in keeping guns out of the hands of those who want to harm the innocent. I believe we can strike a reasonable balance. However, the appropriate balance may not be the same in every part of the country, where different communities face different law enforcement realities or challenges. Regulations that are sensible in Brooklyn may be overly restrictive in Buffalo, and vice-versa.

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would require any state that issues a concealed carry permit to recognize permits issued by other states. In other words, an individual from a state with more permissive concealed carry laws than New York could bring their firearm into our state with no restrictions. The bill has not yet come up for consideration in the Senate, but when it does I will work with my colleagues to protect the rights of gun owners while respecting the rights of each state to determine how best to protect its citizens.

Thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can ever be of assistance to you on this, or any other matter.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

S. 3207: Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2008

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[raevan]

Amazing how they can claim one thing while they do another. Forked toung reality.

[GWRedDragon]

Forcing people who do not agree with carry to accept permits from states that do will not help the cause.

Anyway, I doubt that the founders would consider that a valid use of either the 'full faith and credit' power or the 'interstate commerce' power of the Congress.


Bottom line: not only does Congress lack the authority to do this but it is also a bad idea.

[mi2az]

So let say of NY can restrict my drivers license since they did not issue it and they may have a different/tougher level of requirements to obtain drivers licenses in their state. Sounds logical to me.

[walvord]

I wouldn't trust Charles Schumer as far as I can spit and I can't spit over my chin.

[goawayfarm]

Can you imagine Chuckie's reaction if it came up for a vote?

Quotes from Chuckie:

We're here to tell the NRA their nightmare is true! We're going to hammer guns on the anvil of relentless legislative strategy. We're going to beat guns into submission!-Charles Schumer

Like flat earth fanatics, Second Amendment fanatics just don't get it. Facts are facts. The earth is not flat. And Constitutional law is Constitutional law. The Second Amendment is not absolute. It does not guarantee the mythical individual right to bear arms we will hear argued for today. The gun lobby and its friends in Congress can line up professors of history and law from here to NRA headquarters and back. They can all swear what they think the Second Amendment means, and how many angels can dance on a pinhead. But the settled law is flatly against them.-Charles Schumer

Gun traffickers have found a new avenue for dealing guns to criminals, to the mentally ill, and the under-aged--the Internet. The firepower available on the Internet is chilling. Machine guns, assault weapons and cheaply made pistols are available in cyberspace for the taking. And they are available to those who could never buy a gun under the Brady law.-Charles Schumer

...the NRA, which is an extremist organization...believe people should be allowed to have bazookas and tanks...-Charles Schumer

...the only people who use them [so-called assault weapons] are mass murderers...-Charles Schumer

[rolyat63]

I wouldn't trust Charles Schumer as far as I can spit and I can't spit over my chin.

I don't believe he will support the act. The language in his reply said as much. He's just politic-in in that reply.

[tinkerinWstuff]

It's a thin wire and I'm really on the fence whether it should be a State's Rights issue or having the Fed step in.

[500Mag]

The bill has not yet come up for consideration in the Senate, but when it does I will work with my colleagues to protect the rights of gun owners while respecting the rights of each state to determine how best to protect its citizens.

In plain speak. "so when it does I'll do my best to defeat this bill in all its glory by grandstanding for states rights and crime prevention and 'cop killer' bullets, all the while performing the magic that is talking out my posterior."

[jonesy_26]

Regulations that are sensible in Brooklyn may be overly restrictive in Buffalo, and vice-versa.

Right out of Obama's mouth. So your rights vary just based on where you live.....imagine if that was applied to free speech or to your right to due process.

Idiots

[JOHNSMITH]

It's a thin wire and I'm really on the fence whether it should be a State's Rights issue or having the Fed step in.

I agree, it is a bit of a touchy issue.

[press1280]

Right out of Obama's mouth. So your rights vary just based on where you live.....imagine if that was applied to free speech or to your right to due process.

Idiots

Agreed, while the state has leeway in its carry permit process, it shouldn't be an arbitrary process, which is what happens in many NY counties. NY can require a training class and fingerprints if it wants and PA doesn't have to require either.
Bottom line: there should be a reasonable way to get a CCW in ANY state, whether through reciprocity or direct resident/non-resident permit.
I posted a while ago about a VA man suing NY in the 2nd Circuit about being disqualified for a NY CCW since he didn't live or work in NY. Part of his case was based on inhibiting his right to travel(which the court dismissed).
However, if you are denied full welfare benefits by a state, THEN you're right to travel is burdened.

[ChiWeiSz]

Makes me REAL glad I'm not from the East Coast, most especially NY. Sorry for all you who do - you must really like it to stay. Having said that...

Seems the good Senator should rethink our great constitution, and the laws that derive from that...

Can the states really impose a law that supercedes the constitution?
I understand states can set laws that cover things the constitution doesn't, or to protect the constitution - but to supercede?

However, as to a forced law whereby a state MUST recognize another state's law - hmmm, seems on shaky ground.

That would mean every state MUST recognize marriages of gays froom one state to another.

Other than that I agree with the consensus - the senator is blowing beans out his rear.

[500Mag]

However, as to a forced law whereby a state MUST recognize another state's law - hmmm, seems on shaky ground.

That would mean every state MUST recognize marriages of gays froom one state to another.

IIRC the Full Faith and Credit Clause says Congress has the right to regulate which laws other states must recognize from each other, marriage, DL's etc. It also works the other way where they can specifiy what they don't need to recognize. As the case of gay marriage where The Defense of Marriage Act from the Clinton era said states do not need to recognize other states gay marriages. And the federal gov't would never recognize it, regardless of states' actions.

[GWRedDragon]

IIRC the Full Faith and Credit Clause says Congress has the right to regulate which laws other states must recognize from each other, marriage, DL's etc. It also works the other way where they can specifiy what they don't need to recognize. As the case of gay marriage where The Defense of Marriage Act from the Clinton era said states do not need to recognize other states gay marriages. And the federal gov't would never recognize it, regardless of states' actions.

The full faith and credit clause was never intended to force the laws of one state to apply in another state. Instead the point is that each state's legal system should accept the proceedings of another state's legal system as genuine.