Time for National Concealed-Carry Reciprocity

Last year Philadelphia resident Shaneen Allen purchased a handgun and obtained a license to carry concealed. Having been robbed twice, the single mother of two wanted to protect herself and her children.

Unfortunately, Allen did not fully understand the law. When pulled over for a minor traffic violation in nearby New Jersey she was too cooperative, volunteering to the police officer that she was currently carrying her handgun. He arrested her for illegally carrying a firearm.

Facing a possible ten year prison sentence, Allen’s freedom was now under threat.

The Virginia-based gun-rights group Gun Owners of America stepped up to help Allen, and to defend all Americans’ right to keep and bear arms – in or out of their state of residence.

GOA members flooded Governor Christ Christie’s office with post cards and phone calls, demanding that he urge prosecutors to drop the case, or use his pardoning power to protect Allen from a travesty of justice.

It seems to have worked. According to an update on the case at NationalReviewOnline, Allen “will be admitted into a pre-trial intervention (PTI) program. In consequence, she will avoid jail time, a felony conviction, and the destruction of her life.”

That’s good news. No one’s life should be turned upside down for simply exercising, in good faith, a freedom protected by the Second Amendment. National concealed-carry reciprocity would protect others from the legal nightmare Shaneen Allen had to face.

For several years pro-freedom members of congress have been introducing national “right to carry” legislation to protect concealed-carry license holders from prosecution when traveling outside of their state of residence. One such bill, H.R. 578, introduced by Indiana Republican Marlin Stutzman, is currently working its way through US House of Representatives.

Its counterpart in the US Senate, introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, uses the same language. Sadly, a hostile Majority Leader will not allow a vote on that bill. Perhaps that position will change after the upcoming election.

Armed citizens can help keep all Americans safer, but a great deal less if they’re disarmed at the state line.

Obstructing the ability of decent people to protect themselves and those around them only benefits the bad guys. Last July, a madman gunned down a case worker at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania. Thankfully Dr. Lee Silverman was present, and armed with a handgun – in defiance of the hospital’s “gun free” policy. Firing three shots, Silverman brought the madman’s shooting spree to an end. Police Chief Donald Molineaux said his actions unquestionably saved lives.

Would anyone be better off if Silverman had left his gun at home?

Chief Molineaux’s opinion reflects police officers’ views in general. A March 2013 survey of more than fifteen thousand law-enforcement officers in the United States revealed that over 90 percent support civilians’ right to carry a concealed handgun, with fifty-five percent of them further stating that private citizens carrying handguns reduces crime.

When asked, “What would help most in preventing large scale shootings in public,” the most popular answer by far was: “More permissive concealed carry policies for civilians.”

A recent study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that the number of Americans with a concealed carry license has more than doubled in the past seven years, to over 11 million people. During that same period, gun-related homicides have dropped by 12 percent.

People like Shaneen Allen and Lee Silverman make the country a safer place. Punishing them for wanting to protect themselves, their families, and innocents around them – even when crossing a state line – perverts our Constitution, and the right of self-defense, and emboldens thugs and madmen who don’t care about the law. National reciprocity would help to address an imbalance that favors the wicked over the good.