The new Congress is still weeks away from being sworn in, but one Republican congressman has already written a national concealed carry reciprocity bill to submit to it.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Richard Hudson on Monday released the details of the bill he plans to introduce in the next session. The bill would allow anybody with a valid concealed carry permit from the state they live in to carry a gun in any other state.
"Our Second Amendment right doesn't disappear when we cross state lines, and I plan to introduce legislation in the first days of the 115th Congress to guarantee that," Hudson told the Daily Caller. "The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 is a common sense bill to provide law-abiding citizens the right to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits."
"As a member of President-elect [Donald] Trump's Second Amendment Coalition," Hudson continued, "I look forward to working with the administration to advance policies that support and protect our right to keep and bear arms."
The text of the proposal, first reported by the Caller, would prevent more restrictive states from prohibiting those from out of state from legally carrying a gun. It would require those carrying a gun to also carry the permit from their state and government-issued picture ID. They would also be required to follow the state's laws on concealed carry.
The law would also allow anybody who is wrongfully prosecuted for carrying in a neighboring state to seek lawyers fees from that state.
A national reciprocity bill is at the top of gun rights activists' wish lists for the coming Republican administration. Along with a pro-gun Supreme Court nominee and reform of silencer laws, sources within the major Second Amendment advocacy groups said national reciprocity is likely to be what they push for in the new year. Nobody is positive about how the timing will shake out, but activists remain excited about the prospects of all three policies.