When President Trump recently spoke at the Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, gun owners were encouraged to hear him call for national concealed carry reciprocity.
He’s right. Constitutional rights shouldn’t end at a state line.
And the need for reciprocity isn’t theoretical. Armed citizens save lives every year.
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Just recently, a Marine veteran carrying a concealed firearm helped police in Massachusetts stop and apprehend a convicted felon who had illegally obtained a firearm and was randomly shooting at motorists.
In Missouri, two armed citizens confronted and stopped an active shooter in a parking lot. According to police, their actions prevented even greater bloodshed.
Stories like these happen all across America. Yet millions of law-abiding gun owners still risk becoming criminals simply by crossing an invisible state line.
You can drive your car across all 50 states. You can take your family, your luggage â even your dog. But in many states, you can’t bring the firearm you legally carry for self-defense back home.
That makes no sense.
There is legislation in Congress that would establish national concealed carry reciprocity. Unfortunately, the Senate has become the graveyard for too many pro-gun reforms.
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The last time the Senate voted on reciprocity â in 2013 â the measure actually received 57 votes. A majority of senators supported it, but not enough to overcome the filibuster. Back then, there were still a handful of Democrats willing to vote for legislation protecting the Second Amendment. Those days are largely behind us.
Fortunately, Congress isn’t the only battlefield.
While politicians argue, Gun Owners of America has been building a nationwide patchwork that allows law-abiding Americans to carry in more and more places.
It started with Constitutional Carry.
GOA was the first national organization to make permitless carry a legislative priority. Today, thanks to years of relentless work by GOA and our allies, 29 states recognize Constitutional Carry. In well over half the country, law-abiding citizens no longer need a government-issued permit to exercise a constitutional right.
But GOA didn’t stop there. We also turned to the courts.
For decades, anti-gun states like New York and California refused to recognize the rights of visitors. If you lived somewhere else, they simply denied you any meaningful opportunity to carry legally.
GOA challenged those policies â and won. As a result, both New York and California must now provide a pathway for qualified, law-abiding Americans from other states to obtain concealed carry permits. It’s not full reciprocity, because applicants still hav
