Rep. Rangel on why we don't need reciprocity for concealed handgun permits

Truckers push for national reciprocity for concealed handgun permits

Here is an interesting article from trucks.com:

While there is no national law prohibiting truckers from carrying properly permitted firearms, it’s still a questionable practice. Myriad city, county, state and trucking company policies make it nearly impossible for truckers to legally carry firearms in their trucks. 

That leaves drivers who choose to bring a firearm on the road caught between complicated state and local laws, and their fear of being attacked while alone and far from help. 

“You have a very deep need for national reciprocity so that our rights for self-defense get extended across the United States,” said Evan Nappen, an attorney in Eatontown, N.J., who concentrates on firearms and weapons law. “Most civilians are not as concerned with this issue, but this is drivers’ living.” . . .

If all the Democrats who previously voted for Concealed Carry Reciprocity vote for it again, it would be one vote short in the Senate

In 2013, Senator Cornyn's Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill received 57 votes, three short of the 60 it needed for passage.  Thirteen Democrats voted for it, though seven of them have been defeated.  With 53 Republican votes (assuming that all the new Republicans vote "yes" and Mark Kirk from Illinois continues to vote "no"), that would give 59 votes for the bill.  Can the bill pick up Kirk or one more Democrat? The only new Democrat is Gary Peters for Michigan, but he seems to be a very unlikely vote.

The votes in 2013 are shown below.

Associated Press piece sensationalizes Online concealed carry course

The Associated Press continues its tradition of misleading and highly sensationalistic gun pieces.  The problem is that this is not new.  There are lots of states that let out of state residents get permits and many of them don't require training.  The news story should have made two points: 1) that other states without any training at all such as Pennsylvania (the biggest state with 820,000 permits issued) and New Hampshire allow out of state permit holders and 2) there is no history of problems regarding permits from these states (the revocation rates are the same across states with and without training requirements).  This article, with all its implications about threats to safety, really should have provided some context.  The Associated Press piece starts this way:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia is issuing a rising number of concealed-carry gun permits to people who live in other states in a trend that may be helped along by online gun classes. 

The commercial courses allow applicants to seek a permit from Virginia that is valid in their state, but without having to meet tougher requirements their home states may impose, such as firing a gun with an instructor. 

Virginia State Police issued 1,632 concealed-carry permits to nonresidents through the first half of 2012, topping the previous year’s total of 1,321 nonresident permits. There was no corresponding increase in demand for resident permits, with just under half the previous year’s number reached by mid-2012. . . .

CNN discusses case where former Marine's arrest for carrying a concealed handgun in NYC

Some news coverage on Meredith Graves

From the New York Daily News:

A Tennessee lawmaker angry that a home state tourist was busted with a loaded gun at Ground Zero introduced is threatening to go after New Yorkers who speed in his state.

In a resolution, Tennessee state Rep. Frank Niceley asked New York to “use common sense” in the case of Meredith Graves, who had a .32 caliber pistol in her purse and says she didn’t know that wasn’t legal in the city.

Nicely concluded his motion: “Be it further resolved that we remind the citizens of New York, especially those residing in New York City, to drive carefully through the great State of Tennessee, paying extra attention to our speed limits.”

Niceley said his threat against New Yorkers, who he said tend to speed through Tennessee on their way to Florida, was meant lightheartedly. . . .

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna had a tart reply. “We agree, everyone should use common sense — which is what prosecutors in New York do,” he said. “Common sense also includes checking gun laws before traveling — something even the NRA tells people to do.” . . .

Mark Bederow, a lawyer representing other tourists arrested for carrying licensed guns in the city, said the Tennessee resolution is a symbolic gesture that highlights what a “grave miscarriage of justice” it would be to prosecute what is “clearly a misunderstanding.” . . .

The New York Post was less sympathetic:

Gun nuts in the Tennessee state legislature have declared civil war on New Yorkers — saying they will retaliate for the prosecution of a woman who was carrying an illegal pistol at the 9/11 Memorial.
A resolution winding its way through the Tennessee legislature warns New Yorkers not to drive through their state — because the Highway Patrol is “gunning” for us.. . . .

Graves faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 3 1/2 years if convicted of felony weapons possession; prosecutors have not said if they will seek an indictment on that or on a lesser charge. . . .

More individuals who unintentionally ran afoul of NYC gun laws

Here is the case of a president of a university in South Dakota.

The president of the University of Sioux Falls spent a night in a Queens, N.Y., jail after attempting to check a bag containing an unloaded handgun onto a return flight from LaGuardia Airport.

Mark Benedetto, 56, was detained on possession of a firearm when he declared the weapon to a Delta Airlines ticketing agent Oct. 2, his lawyer, Steven Sanford, said. He was released by a judge the next day on his own recognizance and has not been formally charged.

Sanford said the president, who has a concealed weapons permit from Minnehaha County, thought he was following the proper procedure. He had checked the bag without complications on his flight Sept. 28 to New York. . . .

And here is a permit holder from Indiana.

Ryan Jerome was enjoying his first trip to New York City on business when the former Marine Corps gunner walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun.

That was when Jerome’s nightmare began. The security officer called police and Jerome spent the next two days in jail.

The 28-year-old with no criminal history now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in prison. If convicted, his sentence could be as high as fifteen years.

Jerome has a valid concealed carry permit in Indiana and visited New York believing that it was legal to bring his firearm. He was traveling with $15,000 worth of jewelry that he planned to sell.

The online gun-law information Jerome read was inaccurate, however, and his late September arrest initiated what may become a protracted criminal saga. He hasn’t yet been indicted by a grand jury, but there may be little legal wiggle-room if he is. . . .

NY lawmakers want to rewrite law for gun-packing tourists

This is a pretty amazing story where even the very liberal anti-gun Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver thinks that tourists who accidentally break New York's carry laws shouldn't have their lives destroyed. From the New York Post:

. . . The Tennessee tourist arrested for bringing her home-state-registered handgun to the 9/11 Memorial has picked up some powerful allies in the capital — who plan to reassess the state’s stringent gun-possession laws.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), the state’s second-most powerful Democrat, said yesterday that he will have “a committee hold a hearing on this question, to see how exactly the law is being enforced and to look at the possibility that there should be changes in the law.’’
The changes could include tweaking the law to allow leniency for people with guns registered in other states who mistakenly bring their weapons to New York. . . .
“Her actions show a clear indication that she didn’t know she was breaking the law, and when she saw the sign, she said, ‘OK, I do have a gun. Take it from me,’ ” said Silver, whose district includes Ground Zero. “There was no criminal intent.”
Silver noted that under the current law, the Manhattan DA and a judge can show her leniency only before she is indicted by a grand jury. After that, they are bound by minimum-sentence guidelines.
“The judge can show flexibility, and I think it should be done here,” Silver said.
State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua) also backed leniency for Graves, a married medical student who drove to New York with her husband to look for work as a nurse on Long Island.
“That is so ridiculous,” Kolb said. “She had a legitimate permit for the gun in Tennessee. I just think that’s the wrong message to send to a law-abiding citizen.” . . .

For other information see this here.

For a breakdown on the vote on the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 see this.

The Nashville Tennessean describes the events of Graves' arrest here.

Why reciprocity for concealed carry would be beneficial

This poor woman didn't understand the laws, but she was trying to do the right thing. How can NYC go for such a high penalty against someone who sought out the police? This woman will be listed as someone who lost her ability to carry concealed because of a felony with a gun. From the New York Post:

A tourist from Tennessee waltzed into one of the most secure sites in the city — and politely asked a cop if she could check her weapon.
Instead, she was dragged out in cuffs.
Now, Meredith Graves, 39, is facing at least three years in prison for thinking New York’s gun laws are anything like those in the Bible Belt.
Graves, a fourth-year medical student, showed up at the memorial on Dec. 22 to pay her respects during a trip north for a job interview.
She didn’t realize that the loaded .32-caliber pistol in her purse would be a problem until she saw a sign at the site that read, “No guns allowed,” sources said.
“She remembered she had the gun on her,” a source said. She walked up to a security guard and said, “I have this gun. Where can I check it?”
The guard told her that she was in luck because of “law enforcement day” — and led her to another area.
When she got to that section, she asked another cop, “We have this gun — can we check it in here? We [my husband and I] are not law-enforcement.”
That’s when she was arrested.
Graves, who has a full legal carry permit in Tennessee, was locked up on a weapons-possession charge and held on $2,000 bond that she posted yesterday. She is due in court on March 19.
She’ll soon find out exactly how serious New York City is about illegal guns. The Manhattan DA’s Office is pursuing a conviction on felony gun possession — carrying a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years. . . .