I have read the argument below that National Reciprocity is better for Responsible gun owners, can't say I agree with it.
Battle over concealed-gun law grows
Thursday, December 8, 2011
By DANIELLE LYNCH
dlynch@journalregister.com
An organization that advocates for handgun control kicked off a statewide advertisement campaign Wednesday to raise awareness about legislation that would require states to accept concealed carry gun permits granted by almost every other state.
Max Nacheman, director of CeaseFirePA, said the ads are meant to inform the public about the U.S. House’s recent vote and also put pressure on the Senate.
“We want this Congress to know they can’t just vote and no one will know about it,” said Nacheman.
The U.S. House passed the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 on Nov. 16 in a 272-154 vote, with only seven Republicans voting against it and 43 Democrats supporting it. Nacheman said 15 of the 19 members of Congress from Pennsylvania, including U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, of Upper Darby, voted in favor of the bill.
Nacheman said he believes the members of Congress who voted in favor of the bill folded to pressure from the National Rifle Association. The NRA backed the bill.
One of CeaseFirePA’s advertisements featured a letter to Meehan, a former U.S. attorney and Delaware County district attorney. The letter in the ad was written by Mike Carroll, former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
“This fall, I joined dozens of Pa. Police Chiefs and thousands of law enforcement leaders nationally asking you to oppose H.R. 822 — a bill that would force Pennsylvania to accept concealed carry permits from every other state, even if the carrier is too dangerous to be granted a permit under our own laws,” wrote Carroll, who recently retired as police chief from West Goshen Police Department in Chester County, in the letter to Meehan.
In a phone interview, Carroll noted that the law enforcement officials are not against Second Amendment rights. Rather, they want to make sure guns don’t fall into the hands of the wrong people.
In response to the ad, Meehan’s spokeswoman, Maureen Keith, noted that Pennsylvania already has right-to-carry reciprocity agreements with 26 other states.
“This was a vote to protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional rights,” Keith said. “Crossing state lines does not mean law-abiding Pennsylvanians lose their constitutionally protected right to self-defense.”
Newtown resident Dan McMonigle, an active member of the NRA, said he supported Meehan’s decision.
“I recognize the decision for him is a tough one, but I support what he did,” said McMonigle, also a member of the Firearms Owners Against Crime. “Pat Meehan understands that the Second Amendment supports law abiding citizens having the right to arm themselves. Pat Meehan also understands that right doesn’t stop at state borders. I’m still a law abiding citizen in the United States of America.”
But Nacheman and some law enforcement officers have cited examples for why this legislation should be opposed. Nacheman pointed to the case of a 28-year-old Philadelphia man accused of killing a teenager after his car was broken into last year. The man, Marqus Hill, reportedly had a Florida license to carry a concealed weapon even though his Philadelphia license to carry had been revoked.
Nacheman said the advertisements are currently running in seven newspapers across the state and that number might be expanded at a later date.
Attempts to reach U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., for comment on what they will do when the bill reaches the Senate were unsuccessful. Casey previously voted in favor of a similar piece of legislation in 2009.
It was unclear Wednesday when the bill will be before the Senate for a vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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