The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 822) to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
* Mr. HURT. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act offered by my colleagues, Representatives Stearns and Shuler. I want to thank them for their leadership on this legislation, which protects the basic second amendment freedoms that are so important to central and southside Virginians.
* This bipartisan bill would allow valid state-issued concealed firearm carry permits to be honored by any state or U.S. territory that allows concealed carry, requiring that each state recognize another's carry permits, just as they recognize each other's drivers' licenses.
* Currently, 49 of 50 states, including the Commonwealth of Virginia, have laws permitting concealed carry in some fashion. Additionally, over half of those states--25 of those 49--already honor the Virginia concealed carry permit.
* This legislation, which has overwhelming support in the House--from representatives from 48 states and both sides of the aisle--would allow central and southside Virginians to utilize their carry permits in all of the 49 states that allow concealed carry.
* The constitutional right to keep and bear arms and the ability to defend one's self are fundamental liberties which were protected by our founding fathers. H.R. 822 recognizes that these basic liberties should not be constrained by borders or boundaries, and does so without hindering states' authority to set criteria for their own residents, and without affecting state laws that regulate how concealed firearms are carried.
* I am proud to cosponsor this legislation as I continue to work to protect our second amendment freedoms for those in Virginia's 5th District and across the country, and I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting passage of this bill.