GOA Action Alert

GOA Urges U.S. House to Toughen its Stance on Concealed Carry Reciprocity

You already know the good news! Senators John Thune and David Vitter just introduced the Constitutional Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012 – and they already have 30 sponsors and cosponsors.

The Thune-Vitter bill, S. 2213, is important because it would give full reciprocity to all law-abiding gun owners in “constitutional carry” states.

Equally important is the fact that a compromise bill, introduced by anti-gun Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Max Baucus (D-MT) primarily for the purpose of maintaining Democratic control of the Senate, has only four sponsors and cosponsors.

But here’s the problem: The House already passed legislation similar to the compromise Begich-Manchin bill.

This should not be a huge problem. The Republican House would accept the pro-gun Thune-Vitter language in a heartbeat.

But it does allow Senators Mark Begich and Joe Manchin to argue for their watered-down bill by pointing to its similarity to the House-passed legislation.

The solution?

House Republicans need to cosponsor the House counterpart to the Thune-Vitter bill, introduced by Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia.

The Broun bill, H.R. 2900, would recognize full reciprocity rights to “constitutional carry” states. Unlike Begich-Manchin, it would not require pro-gun states like Vermont to change their laws in order to take advantage of reciprocity.

A strong show of support for the House bill will let congressional leaders know that grassroots gun owners will not settle for a watered down, compromise bill that will actually undermine efforts at the state level to pass constitutional carry legislation.

ACTION: Contact your Congressman. Ask him or her to cosponsor the Constitutional Carry Reciprocity bill in the House, H.R. 2900.

Click here to send your Representative a pre-written letter.