In 2005, a man named Marqus Hill had his concealed gun carry permit revoked by the Philadelphia Police Department after he had been charged with attempted murder. During the revocation hearing, he attacked an officer. Despite this record, Hill received a new permit from Florida, which he then used to carry a loaded gun in Philadelphia. He eventually shot a teenager 13 times in the chest, killing him in the street.
The U.S. House recently passed, and the Senate will soon consider, the National Right to Carry Act (H.R.822). This bill would require police departments across the country to honor every other state's permit to carry concealed, loaded guns - no matter how different their standards and criteria for securing a permit. As the mayor and police commissioner of a city that is grappling with gun violence, we oppose this proposed law. It would undermine the traditional authority of state and local governments to protect their citizens with reasonable, constitutional, and community-specific laws for carrying hidden, loaded guns.
Let's be clear about one thing: The proposed bill is not about whether or not a person has the right to carry a concealed and loaded gun. Rather, H.R.822 would nationalize the ill-conceived policy that put a gun in Marqus Hill's hands.
This bill would make it nearly impossible for police to know who has a legal permit to carry a gun because it neglects to create a national verification system. The bill doesn't require a national database, an electronic scanner, or a hotline for police to determine whether an out-of-state license is actually valid. Individuals would merely need a card or a typed-up piece of paper - easily forged and impossible to verify - claiming that another state says they can carry a gun. Without a national verification system, how will police know that Person A carrying the Glock 9mm has a valid Texas permit, or that Person B carrying the .45 has an expired Oregon permit?
As police and city leaders, we cannot leave our police officers and the community they protect without a mechanism to determine if a permit is real and valid.
This bill would also prevent the local community from deciding who it wants carrying a gun in its neighborhoods. It would undercut various requirements that many state legislatures have put in place for concealed-carry permit holders. For example, Pennsylvania requires local authorities to consider an applicant's "character and reputation" before issuing a permit. Other state requirements include disallowing permits for people who have been convicted of certain violent misdemeanors, like assault or sex crimes; setting age minimums for permits; and requiring gun safety or live-fire training. H.R.822 would let people circumvent their own state's laws.
It's not hard to figure out why law enforcement organizations, mayors, domestic violence advocates, and prosecutors across the country oppose this legislation.
Congress needs to listen for a moment to the people who have devoted their careers to ensuring public safety: We don't need or want a national right-to-carry law. Let us decide how to police and govern our own communities.
