Reporting from Washington— The House gave gun rights advocates their first legislative win of the year in a move that some saw as a Republican back flip on protecting states’ rights: Approval of a federal regulation that would require states that issue concealed-weapons permits to honor such permits from other states.
This actually happened yesterday. Now, it may surprise you that I am in favor of this legislation, but I am. Here is some more on what it says:
The GOP-led chamber approved the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, intended to allow gun owners to travel more easily from state to state without worrying about whether their permit to carry a concealed weapon is valid.
In order to have a UNITED States, it becomes necessary that many of the actions of one State are recognized in another State. Oddly enough, the same thing is true in the European Union. So, if you get a license to drive in one state, you have a license to drive in all states. If you have a corporation in one state it is recognized as a corporation in all states. If you have an accredited high school diploma from one state, it is recognized in all states. The very nature of what it means to be a UNITED States is that it requires that many of the actions of one state are recognized in another state. To go to an odd extreme, a criminal in one state is almost always recognized as a criminal in other states.
So, yes, it makes sense that the general actions of one state should be considered legitimate in another state. If that principle is not honored, it can certainly lead to some horrendous consequences. Which of us today would wish to say that a state who is against miscegenation should have the right to deny married status to a black and white couple? I do not believe that this is a GOP backflip on states’ right. Rather, it is an affirmation on the right of various states to have differing regulations, yet to have those very rights honored by other states. It affirms that a citizen of one state has rights that are recognized by the rest of the states as a consequence of being in “union” with the other states. In fact the reciprocity law for guns is a strong affirmation of the right of states to govern their internal affairs with the exception that their union requires mutual recognition of the actions of other almost-sovereign states.
I realize that the Second Amendment says what it says, but didn’t Someone greater than any blogger say, “Those who take up the gun shall die by the gun,” or something like that?