On Wednesday, September 11, Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky introduced HR 9534 which would create the National Constitutional Carry Act. The bill would remove permitting requirements and allow Americans to lawfully carry firearms throughout the nation.
“Today, I introduce HR 9534, the National Constitutional Carry Act,” Massie posted on Twitter, adding “No one should have to beg the government to exercise a Constitutionally protected right anywhere in the country.”
Today, 29 states recognize some form of Constitutional Carry and the remaining 21 states do not support it. More than 147 million Americans live in a Constitutional Carry state, nearly half the country. America has a population of more than 330 million, and approximately 100,000,000 are gun owners by our calculations.
Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights, signaled his support for the bill in a statement posted on the NAGR website:
This is the ONLY bill that will ensure all law-abiding Americans can enjoy Real Constitutional Carry without being subjected to outrageous New York-style permit regulations, expensive fees, or ATF intervention on the right to carry. Thomas Massie is a gun rights champion, and we support the Real Constitutional Carry bill 100 percent. The right of law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm to protect themselves and their families has been chipped away by gun control zealots for decades. But just in the last ten years, grassroots efforts by NAGR members have gotten Constitutional Carry passed in over two dozen states, and it’s time all 50 states enjoy the same freedoms.
The bill cites pro-Second Amendment precedent set by the Supreme court in Heller, McDonald and Bruen, and makes the observation that:
Certain States and localities have enacted gun control laws that are not consistent with the text of the Second Amendment or this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The criminalization of peaceable, public firearms carry is repugnant to the original meaning of the Second Amendment.
Although anti-gun states like New Jersey now issue Permits to Carry to non-residents (after being forced to comply via the 2022 Bruen decision), they don’t recognize carry permits from other states. This bill would remove a significant layer of bureaucratic and permitting burdens from citizens who often spend thousands of dollars getting permits in states they frequently travel to.
Co-sponsors of the bill were all Republicans, including two from the state of Tennessee: Rep. Tim Burchett and Rep. Andy Ogles.
The bill is unlikely to move forward unless there is a Republican winner in the general election in November.
NAGR has created a petition to help further the bill, which you can sign by clicking here.
