Ever notice that sometimes a politician will drop a political proposal, in the form of a bill or other idea, that would just be pure wonderful to see happen, and then to feel that little bit of disappointment, knowing it probably won’t go anywhere?
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced his National Constitutional Carry Act, and sadly, it probably won’t pass – but what a great idea.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is pushing nationwide constitutional carry for firearms, a move that would eliminate concealed carry permits, fees and criminal penalties for people who want to carry a firearm in public.
Lee’s National Constitutional Carry Act, first obtained by Fox News Digital, would eliminate several hurdles Americans face with concealed carry across the country.
“The Founders established a national right to keep and bear arms, not to ask for permission from hostile local officials or risk imprisonment for crossing the wrong state line,” Lee said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
That last statement seems like a no-brainer, at least if you are – like me – a Second Amendment absolutist. At present, 29 states already have constitutional carry, including my old home state of Iowa and my current home state of Alaska. Senator Lee’s bill would extend that to all 50 states.
“Many states already protect the right to carry without a permit, and it’s time to reaffirm this right for all law-abiding Americans,” he continued. “The National Constitutional Carry Act will establish nationwide permitless carry to keep America safe and her people free.”
Currently, 29 states allow some form of constitutional carry, meaning residents can carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
Lee’s legislation, which he plans to introduce Thursday, would eliminate concealed carry permit requirements nationwide for eligible U.S. citizens — those already legally allowed to own a firearm.
The bill goes a step further: It would prohibit any state or local government from implementing any permitting, fee-based licensing process, or any other rule or regulation on the concealed carry of a sidearm. This will no doubt set off a storm of vile “shootouts over parking spaces” whining from the left, but they have a long track record of such panic-mongering where concealed carry is concerned, ever since Florida passed the first shall-issue permitting law back in the 1980s. It didn’t happen then, and the records of the 29 states with constitutional carry laws indicate it wouldn’t happen now.
This bill, should it become law, would mean anyone who can legally own a handgun can carry it, concealed, for the defense of self, home, property, and community. That’s a plain reading of the Second Amendment, which in a sane world would be the only permitting required. But that’s not the world we live in, unfortunately.
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Also, unfortunately, Senator Lee’s bill, while being something that pro-Second Amendment politicians have been vocal about, probably won’t go anywhere. It would be lovely to be wrong about that, but I’m guessing I’m not. This would be subject to the 60-vote minimum in the Senate, which would in itself be enough to scupper Senator Lee’s noble effort. And in the House, only a handful of Republican defections would defeat this.
Good ideas, all too often, seem not to make it through to fruition.
To anyone who understands the plain language of the Second Amendment, this is what going to the gun store should look like:
