September 21, 2011

A bill in Congress, called the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, has performed a strange reversal: Conservatives who usually advocate for states’ rights, reject them in this instance, while liberal opponents of states’ rights are embracing them.

The Reciprocity Act would require every state to accept the concealed-carry permits of every other state, regardless of differences in the laws. That means New York, which sets more limits on who can obtained a concealed-carry permit than many states, would have to accept the much less restrictive permits issued by Utah.

This goes too far. The Daily Sentinel has long supported the development of reasonable concealed-carry laws, even before Colorado passed its law. But we also believe it should be up to each state and its elected representatives to determine who can obtain permits, under what conditions and where they may carry. Congress should reject the Reciprocity Act.