Mayors group blast national concealed carry reciprocity bills

In their meeting in Miami this week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution opposing legislation to recognize concealed carry permits nationwide.

The group’s agenda going into the meeting included a pledge to develop a consensus around gun safety and gun violence initiatives and, in a move backed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel, called on Congress to protect cities from “the threat” of concealed carry reciprocity legislation.

“Such legislation is dangerous as it would damage state and local governments’ ability to craft gun laws appropriate to their needs; and…the goals of this legislation are completely antithetical to all of the efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence,” says the adopted resolution.

The conference, formed of 1,049 mayors of towns and cities with a population larger than 30,000, oppose House H.R. 38 and Senate S.446, which would essentially allow anyone with a valid carry permit to use it in any city, and potentially allowing some to carry that in some circumstance do not meet local requirements.

The resolution mirrors a warning issued earlier this month by a separate municipal group, the National League of Cities that argues: “There are many other reasons why this legislation is bad for cities — and when preemption of this magnitude poses a direct threat to cities and their residents, local elected officials should make their voices heard.”

Gun control advocates associated with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown organization welcomed the news from Miami, saying the legislation which now has 200 backers in the House would be a race to the bottom in terms of handgun carry licensing.

“Under ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity,’ Congress would gut local public safety laws and turn the weakest state’s laws effectively into nationwide laws, forcing states to allow domestic abusers, people with violent histories, and people who lack even the most basic gun safety training to carry concealed guns in public,” said Everytown President John Feinblatt in a statement.

The sponsor of the House measure, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC, pointed out in a statement issued by his office that his bill doesn’t change the fact that firearm purchasers still must undergo a background check when buying a gun from a dealer, or dictate gun free zones.

“Contrary to this resolution, my bill to provide law-abiding citizens the right to carry concealed across state lines will not increase crime or violence,” Hudson said. “It is unfortunate that this group of mayors has decided to parrot the talking points of anti-Second Amendment crusader Michael Bloomberg who has vowed to spend millions to stop my bill instead of working to uphold the Constitutional right of all Americans. Simply put, this resolution is a bridge too far.”

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