Police chiefs against reciprocity for concealed carry wrote a letter to lawmakers opposing a bill that would allow gun owners with concealed-carry permits in one state to extend those rights to all 50 states.
Known as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, the measure passed the House in December and has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The International Association of Chiefs of Police wrote against the proposal in a letter, endorsed by 473 police officials from 39 states representing 18,000 police departments across the United States, The Washington Post reported.
"This legislation is a dangerous encroachment on individual state efforts to protect public safety, and it would effectively nullify duly enacted state laws and hamper law enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence," the letter says, per the Post.
The National Rifle Association called the bill its "highest legislative priority" and said its passage in the House was "a watershed moment for Second Amendment rights," according to the Post.
States have different requirements to receive a concealed-carry permit.
"Mandated reciprocity would effectively override the permitting requirements of individual states, such as requiring safety training or prohibiting permits for people with multiple convictions for violent misdemeanors or drug or alcohol abuse problems," the chiefs wrote, according to The Hill.
Kristen Roman, chief of UW-Madison Police, told WDJT-TV that reciprocity is "problematic because I think each state and each community has its own individual needs and concerns around this particular issue."
Pat Gerbensky, president of the Waukesha Gun Club, compared concealed-carry permits to drivers' licenses.
"It's the same thing with driver's licenses. In some states, it's going to be harder to get them than others and yet we let people go and there's more people killed with cars than are ever killed with guns," Gerbensky said, according to WDJT-TV.
Tatum Gibson, a spokeswoman for the bill's sponsor, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), said many states already practice concealed-carry reciprocity, with the average state honoring permits from 32 other states, the Post reported.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans credited Massachusetts' low gun death rate with its strict gun laws.
"I think we have great gun laws, but it does us no good if we have reciprocity and everybody can come to the Boston Marathon carrying," Evans said, according to the Post. "I can’t believe with all the tragedies we have in this country, we want to open up the floodgates to more guns."
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