Pro-Trump law enforcement unions are at odds with gun rights groups over a Republican proposal to make it easier for people to carry hidden weapons nationwide.
House Resolution 38, a bill introduced earlier this year by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., proposes what’s called concealed carry “reciprocity” laws, which would allow gun owners from states that license gun owners to carry concealed weapons to do so in other states. Republicans have pressed for such a law for years, and Trump supported a national concealed carry reciprocity law while campaigning after an earlier proposal failed during his first term.
Pro-Trump gun groups, such as the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, back Hudson’s bill, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in March. A similar concealed carry reciprocity bill has support among Senate Republicans.
Gun safety groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety oppose Hudson’s bill and others like it, with Everytown saying it could allow many people to carry concealed weapons without having to pass a background check, or going through safety training, or having any experience whatsoever handling a gun. And they’re even getting support from groups that have backed the president in the past.
The Fraternal Order of Police, the openly pro-Trump police organization, is one of the bill’s biggest opponents. As Congress moved on to other priorities after reopening the government, the FOP released a joint statement with the International Association of Chiefs of Police urging lawmakers to block HR 38.
They write:
The legislation exempts any person with a valid photographic identification from state or local firearms law who asserts that they are lawfully carrying a firearm under the laws of their own state of residence. This is problematic, but the most concerning provision of H.R. 38 is that it prohibits law enforcement officers from making any arrest or detaining a suspect for any violation of state or local law pertaining to the possession, transportation, or carriage of a firearm. This also includes several Federal laws such as carriage in school zones and Federally managed lands.
Their letter also raises concerns about the obstacles and risks it creates for law enforcement officers investigating a person’s possession of a firearm.
Gun Owners of America didn’t take the letter too kindly. While previous Republican efforts have failed, every branch of government presently controlled by Trump’s GOP has revived conservative hopes of passing the reciprocity law — which Josh Horwitz, co-director of Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, characterized to The Trace as “the absolute prize” for Republicans. The MAGA movement, however, isn’t in total agreement on this. And it’s noteworthy that pro-Trump police groups, whose members would enforce such a law, are sounding the alarm.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
