Senate to vote on interstate right-to-carry reciprocity amendment

From NRA-ILA:

U.S. Senate To Vote On National Right-To-Carry Reciprocity Amendment Early This Week

Monday, July 20, 2009

Contact Your U.S. Senators TODAY And Urge Them To Support Your Right To Self-Defense by voting YES on the Thune-Vitter Amendment!

The U.S. Senate is now considering the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390). As a part of the consideration of that legislation, Senators John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) will offer an amendment this week to provide for interstate recognition of Right-to-Carry permits. There is a very high likelihood of a Senate floor vote on this important and timely pro-gun reform between now and Wednesday.

Now is the time for Congress to recognize that the right to self-defense does not end at state lines. Under the Thune-Vitter amendment, an individual who has met the requirements for a carry permit, or who is otherwise allowed by his home state's state law to carry a firearm, would be authorized to carry a firearm for protection in any other state that issues such permits, subject to the laws of the state in which the firearm is carried.

Contrary to "states' rights" claims from opponents who usually favor sweeping federal gun control, the amendment is a legitimate exercise of Congress's constitutional power to protect the fundamental rights of citizens (including the right to keep and bear arms and the right of personal mobility). States would still have the authority to regulate the time, place and manner in which handguns are carried.

Expanding Right-to-Carry will enhance public safety, and certainly poses no threat to the public. Criminals are deterred from attempting crimes when they know or suspect that their prospective victims are armed. A study for the Department of Justice found that 40 percent of felons had not committed crimes because they feared the prospective victims were armed. The Thune-Vitter amendment recognizes that competent, responsible, law-abiding Americans still deserve our trust and confidence when they cross state lines. Passing interstate Right-to-Carry legislation will help further reduce crime by deterring criminals, and -- most important of all -- will protect the right of honest Americans to protect themselves if deterrence fails.

The Thune-Vitter Amendment represents a giant step forward in the protection of the basic right to self-defense. Its passage will recognize that the rights of law-abiding Right-to-Carry permit holders should be respected, even when they travel outside their home state.

Gun control groups, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" are running ads trying to scare your lawmakers and the American people into opposing this crucial Right-to-Carry reform. It is critical that your U.S. Senators hear from you immediately.

Please be sure to contact both of your U.S. Senators today, and urge them to cosponsor and support the Thune-Vitter interstate right to carry reciprocity amendment. E-mail and call them immediately!

To find contact information for your U.S. Senators, please click here, or call (202) 224-3121.

Please consider contacting your elected Senate servants today to have them support this amendment. You can use the link above, or go to the Senate website here (click on the "Senators" tab in the upper left corner) to contact your senators by email.

GOA: Right-to-carry vote coming up soon

From Gunowners of America:

A vote to protect your right to travel out-of-state with a firearm could come to a vote next week -- even as early as Monday!

Senators John Thune and David Vitter are the sponsors of S. 845 -- a bill that will establish concealed carry reciprocity amongst the several states.

Senators Thune and Vitter offered the bill as an amendment (#1618) to the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 2647).

This provision will use the constitutional authority allowing Congress to enforce "full faith and credit" across the country, so that each state respects the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings" of every other state (Article IV).

The benefit of the Thune/Vitter legislation is that -- unlike other, competing measures -- it would protect the right of any U.S. citizen to carry out of state (regardless of whether he possesses a permit), as long as he is authorized to carry in his home state. This is important because of states like Vermont and Alaska, where residents can carry concealed without prior approval or permission from the state... in other words, without a permit!

ACTION: Please urge your Senators to vote YES on the Thune/Vitter concealed carry reciprocity amendment that will be offered to the Department of Defense authorization bill and NO on any modifying amendments. This vote could come as early as Monday, so please act on this right away! ...

Read it here, with sample letter available at the link.

Flying with firearms

From LewRockwell.com, on the nitty-gritty of flying on commercial passenger aircraft with firearms:

... In 2007, I began attempting to fly to various destinations while in possession of firearms. I have faired rather better than Mr. Gilmore in terms of my encounters with government functionaries and am pleased to say that while many of our freedoms have suffered unconscionable assaults in recent history, the right to keep and bear arms has proven rather resilient… even when exercised in an environment that most people incorrectly consider to be the pinnacle of a "gun free" zone.

The plain fact is, in the United States of America we have the right not only to possess firearms but also the right to travel with them to any destination we see fit. The Firearm Owner’s Protection Act of 1986 contains the Safe Passage provision, which explicitly elucidates that citizens have the right to journey state to state with firearms as long as they are locked and unloaded. This freedom of travel is unquestionable… even in instances where a party may cross borders and pass through jurisdictions with varied rules and regulations. As many of us who live along or near the Eastern seaboard know, we can drive through a state like New York with firearms even if they are not legal in the state of New York… the jumble of incongruous and sometimes draconian local laws is not a concern for the people who are merely passing by.

Air travel is accorded the same treatment under Federal Law, with the national carriers being treated more or less like interstate highways. No matter where the on-ramps and off-ramps are located, as long as gun owners have their steel locked and unloaded, nothing is off-limits. There are some tips and pointers, however, of which one should be aware in order to make the process and painless and straightforward as possible.

Federal Standards

The Federal Government, primarily in the form of the Transportation Security Administration, sets forth a series of guidelines and policies concerning how passengers my fly with firearms. For the most part, these standards are rather loose. The government leaves it up to the airlines to specify any additional considerations that they see fit. That can sometimes be an issue (that is a topic which we will cover shortly) and while I’m never a champion of government interference with private entities, I wouldn’t be averse to one single "armed passenger’s rights" standard imposed across all airlines. As common carriers, they are subject to some regulation. Keeping all parties in line with the bare minimum of rules as specified by the TSA would be a fine thing, in this author’s opinion.

According to federal policy, passengers may travel with firearms as long as they are unloaded and packed in a fully hard-sided case that is locked and cannot be accessed by anyone except the passenger who is checking said bag. Federal law also allows for eleven pounds of ammunition. The TSA policies do not say much about how your ordinance is to be packed, save for a prohibition of any "exposure" of the rounds. Ammunition is a key sticking point with many of the airlines, however, and we will cover this shortly. ...

Article here. Worth a read, especially if you've never flown with firearms before.

Weapons charges dropped, federal "traveler's defense" law cited

A press release issued by the attorneys representing a man charged with felony firearms offenses while traveling through New York City appears to cite the protections for interstate travelers embodied in the 1986 Firearms Owners' Protection Act (FOPA):

New York criminal defense law firm Tilem & Campbell (www.tilemandcampbell.com) announced today that all charges were dismissed against a client charged with possessing a loaded firearm in Bronx County, New York. The firm relied on the largely unknown federal travelers' defense which grants a defense to state gun charges for those traveling interstate with their firearms. The client was originally charged with a class "C" violent felony and was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in state prison and up to fifteen years in state prison if convicted; he was needless to say ecstatic with the outcome.

The Federal Travelers' Defense permits a citizen who is not barred from possessing guns to legally transport one or more guns from one state where he legally possesses that gun to another state where he may lawfully possess that gun, without regard to the gun laws in every state he passes through on the trip. The defense is only available if the gun is unloaded, and if neither the gun nor ammunition is accessible from the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

In 2006, New York State amended its gun laws, increasing the penalties for possessing a loaded firearm outside a person's home or place of business to a minimum sentence of three and one-half years and a maximum sentence of fifteen years.

Read the press release here. Another reminder to those traveling cross-country with firearms to avoid jurisdictions unfriendly to gun owners, when possible. And when such avoidance is not possible, to transit the unfriendly jurisdiction unobtrusively, i.e., fastidiously obeying speed limits and traffic regulations, not stopping to "sightsee" (thereby potentially negating the FOPA travelers protections), etc.

Even through charges against the citizen were ultimately dismissed, the citizen had to go through being arrested, and the stress of facing felony charges and a mandatory minimum three and a half year prison sentence if convicted. If convicted, he would have additionally been penalized with the loss of firearms and other rights due to his status as a convicted felon. In the end, he's probably "only" facing a hefty lawyer's bill. He's a free man, but a lot poorer.