Washington, DC

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Video Clip: Click to Watch

"There now are 200 Members of Congress cosponsoring a bipartisan national CCW reciprocity bill offered by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Heath Shuler (D-NC)," gun rights expert John M. Snyder said here today.

"It's time for Congress to move forward on H.R. 822, the proposed National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011," he added. "It would provide a national standard with which nonresidents of a state may carry concealed firearms in the state."

"An individual who has a state-issued permit to carry a concealed firearm ought to be able to carry in any state in accordance with the law," Snyder said. "This would be similar to the way an individual with a driver's license issued by a state can drive in other states."

"Such a law would benefit society as well as the individual," he said. "As John R. Lott, Jr. has pointed out in his study More Guns Less Crime, rates of violent crime drop precipitously in jurisdictions adopting CCW laws.

"The states recognize this. At least eighty percent of them have such laws on the books. Members of Congress know this. Several have indicated the personal possibility of utilizing the benefits of CCW laws. In addition to Shuler, these include Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Allen West (R-FL), and Renee Ellmers (R-NC)."

Snyder said "gun-grabbing politicians and media extremists try to manipulate the criminal use of firearms by a few into a platform. They try to use this platform to generate public support for limits on the gun rights of all law-abiding citizens. They appear practically to salivate when an individual misuses a gun in a particularly heinous manner. They're bent on undermining the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms.

"The people aren't buying their junk. Polls show declining support for gun control laws and increasing support for the gun rights of all Americans. Legal purchases of guns and ammunition are at record levels. About 100 million Americans own over 200 million rifles, shotguns and handguns."

Snyder said "what's missing is a law enabling citizens with state-issued CCW permits to carry guns throughout the United States. It's time to close this loophole in the right to self-defense."

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John M. Snyder

Director

Telum Associates, LLC

Arlington, VA

202-239-8005