2 Dozen AGs Urge Congress to Adopt Constitutional Concealed Carry Bill

‘It is for honest and law-abiding citizens who deserve to have the means to protect themselves,’ the officials say.

An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at a gun shop in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 13, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Two dozen Republican attorneys general called on Congress in a letter to pass a House bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to carry firearms in all states that allow the practice.

“Concealed carry is a constitutional right, and it can have substantial public safety benefits by allowing people the means to respond to emergent threats to themselves or others when police are not immediately available to intervene,” wrote 24 state attorneys general in a May 21 letter that was sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

“Our constituents are threatened with arrest, prosecution, and mandatory prison time for technical violations of licensing or possession laws involving conduct that is perfectly legal in all but a handful of states, most of which have well-established history and practice of suppressing the right to keep and bear arms,” they added, describing the situation as unacceptable.

Earlier this year, HR 38, or the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.).

In urging the bill’s passage, the state officials said that “criminals ... do not wait for permission to carry guns,” meaning that HR 38 would not be for them. “It is for honest and law-abiding citizens who deserve to have the means to protect themselves, should they have the misfortune of needing to use a firearm in self-defense or the defense of their loved ones,” they wrote.

Johnson, who was a co-sponsor of the bill when it was introduced in the 117th Congress, has not made any public comments on the measure. The Epoch Times has contacted his office for comment.

Groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety have been critical of Republican-backed congressional measures that would expand concealed carry reciprocity in states.

In a March article that appeared to oppose HR 38, Everytown said that such a measure would serve as “a federal mandate that would override carefully crafted gun safety laws” and would tell “states to ignore their own laws and instead allow people from across the country to carry loaded, hidden handguns in public without even so much as a permit or background check.” The group didn’t mention the bill by name or any of its co-sponsors.

But by adopting such a measure, the group argued, it “would jeopardize public safety and tourism” in places such as New York City as well as “in cities and towns across the country by undermining the permitting systems that keep people safe and that reflect the will of local voters.”

The letter comes about a month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case that had challenged gun laws in New York that ban firearms from certain locations and require that handgun owners be of “good moral character.” The high court did not give an explanation on why it chose not to hear the case.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, applauded the high court’s decision at the time not to hear a challenge to the law on Monday, saying that “New York’s strong gun safety laws save lives.”

In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in a separate case involving New York that people have a right to carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home and that a state law that required a person show “proper cause” or a “special need” to obtain a license to carry a pistol was unlawful.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.