From the NRAHQ
Today, by a margin of 58-39, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted in favor of an amendment offered by Senator John Thune to provide interstate recognition of right-to-carry permits. The amendment to S.1390, the National Defense Authorization Act, would acknowledge that the right to self-defense extends across state lines. Under this provision, individuals with carry permits from their home state, or who are otherwise allowed to carry a firearm in their home state, could carry in any other state that issues permits.
Oh goodness, it’ll be hard to sleep today thinking of all the new laws I’m not going to have to learn before I travel.
I wonder if they’ll have this in place before the GBR? (WA doesn’t have reciprocity with NV at this time) Doubt it.
Speaking of WA CPL’s, here is an update from the Legal Advisor of an unnamed local county Sheriff Dept. my fellow Washingtonians might want to know about
DOL is severely behind in entering valid CPL permits into the DOL system. Until the backlog is cleared, a DOL computer check may fail to show a permit is valid even when it appears current and valid on its face.
The department is advising its deputies that if the permit was issued within their county and it is during normal business hours (0800 thru 1700) they can call their records division to check on the permit’s status. Otherwise, unless they have “other reasons to seize the firearm or book the person” they are to let the citizen go on their merry way.
There was no estimate from WADOL as to when they will have the database up to date. However, I have heard from a couple reliable sources that until requests for new permits stop coming in at their record pace, the foreseeable future is looking bleak. I renewed mine in March and it is still not updated.
Lastly, because Sebastian and Bitter had a whole list of links showing the PSH from leftist media and their political bosses, I just thought I’d offer this one up from the leftosphere.
There goes the steadfast and dripping-with-integrity GOP and Blue Dog Dems once again. Tomorrow at noon, we get the Thune Amendment–as in John Thune from South Dakota–which assaults both the federalism they cherish in rhetoric and the common sense we cherish post-Enlightenment. The Thune Amendment would make it so a concealed-carry permit handed out in any state would be good in any state that has concealed carry.
So Texas will determine your gun laws. Next up, Utah decides who you can marry, Mississippi decides whether or not you have the death penalty and Kansas decides where church stops and state begins.
Does anybody have a wetnap? Cliff Schecter of the C&L blog is going to need one (or one hundred).
UPDATE: It seems that someone at the C&L blog tapped Schecter on the shoulder and mentioned that “full disclosure” is a good thing in the blogosphere.
It turns out that he works for the insipid “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” group, who I’m sure wet themselves in delight at the lack of two votes.
Amendment rejected because it needed a majority of 60. Thanks to Specter and Lugar and Voinovich.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00237
I think Thune has another one making its way through the grinder though. When I was looking it up I found two with his name on it. I doubt it’ll be the last one.
btw, the whole “States rights” aspect of these licenses is a joke to begin with. Seriously, we let the States decide they can license hairdressers on a state by state basis, but we acknowledge all drivers licenses. We don’t let Realtors (and others)practice in every state, but we accept any state’s marriage license, except when it’s a same sex one.
Now, if they could figure out how to generate a little revenue, I’m sure they’d get this sorted out in a hurry.
Incidentally, even if the Thune Amendment had passed the Senate, it would certainly have died in the House. But it had all sorts of fun effects anyway. Got some folks on record (like, say, Lugar) who maybe need to be booted.
BillH – the only problem with your comment is that ONLY the right to keep AND BEAR arms is expressly protected in the Constitution. That a citizen in one state has more rights than another standing 5 feet away, on the other side of an arbitrary line, is abhorrent to the concept of liberty and citizenship.
If Thune can’t pass this thing in this session, he’ll do it in the next – Spector is going to be booted by Toomey, and at least another couple of Dim Senators will be promoted to the private sector.