Exclusives

EXCLUSIVE: John Cornyn Introduces Bill Allowing Concealed Carry Permits To Work In All 50 States

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Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill Thursday to allow concealed carry license holders to carry their guns in any state.

The bill, titled the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, will compel states to recognize concealed carry permits from all states as a valid certification to carry a concealed firearm, according to the bill text. A similar bill was proposed in the House in 2023 by Republican North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson with widespread Republican support, with a Republican majority in both chambers only bolstering the law’s likelihood to pass.

President-elect Donald Trump has also voiced support for the law on the campaign trail.

“The Lone Star State has long championed our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and gun owners in Texas and across the country should not have that fundamental right violated when they cross state lines,” Cornyn said in statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This legislation would reduce unnecessary burdens for law-abiding citizens and allow them to carry a concealed firearm in every state that permits it, and I’m grateful for the overwhelming support from my fellow Republican colleagues on this commonsense bill.”

Hudson also introduced his own bill in the new House on Wednesday, according to Fox News. He first introduced a bill in 2017, and has proposed the bill now five times, according to congressional records.

Nearly 20 gun advocacy organizations have supported the bill, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), Gun Owners of America (GOA), and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Other Republicans also joined Cornyn in endorsing the bill, including Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassely and Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and 40 other Republican senators.

Critics of concealed carry reciprocity have said that the law would force states to potentially allow carry from gun owners who aren’t qualified to carry in their states, as well as problems with states affirming the authenticity of out-of-state permits, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

“With the tragic rate of gun violence today, I simply cannot support efforts to further weaken our nation’s gun laws,” Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said according to Politico when Hudson proposed concealed carry reciprocity in 2017. “That includes renewed efforts this Congress to relax the standards for issuing concealed carry permits or to establish a national system that would further erode state-level concealed carry standards.”

Cornyn was key in the passing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which increased background checks for firearms purchases for people under 21 and funded state enforcement of red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from those who are deemed either by law enforcement or citizens as a threat to themselves and others.

“On behalf of the millions of NRA members and law-abiding gun owners across the country, the National Rifle Association thanks Senator Cornyn for re-introducing the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act,” John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “This common-sense solution remedies a confusing patchwork of state laws and ensures that your right to self-defense does not stop at the state line.”