The House has approved a GOP bill making it easier for gun owners to legally carry concealed weapons across state lines — a move hailed by the NRA even as a similar Senate bill faces an uncertain future.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act passed Wednesday 231-198 — the measure expanding gun owners’ rights in the wake of recent mass shootings in Nevada and Texas.
A similar bill, with 38 Republican co-sponsors, is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Fox News reports reciprocity doesn’t change the already restrictive laws on the books for concealed carry in seven states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The remaining states take a less restrictive approach to applications for a concealed-carry gun permit, Fox New reported.
But Mark Bederow told Fox News he hopes the bill will force authorities in New York to rethink the criminal prosecution of gun owners who make an “honest mistake” about the state’s restrictions.
"If it doesn't go through, I hope the Act’s support will lead New York prosecutors to re-evaluate the usefulness of criminally prosecuting honest, law-abiding firearms owners,” he told Fox News.
Meanwhile, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused Republicans of doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association, “brazenly moving to hand the NRA the biggest item on its Christmas wish list.”
The bill comes as the latest polling shows the majority of Americans support stricter gun laws in the wake of several mass shootings, including America's deadliest mass-shooting to date in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.
A Gallup poll released in November found that a majority of Americans now favor passing new gun laws — a first since Gallup began asking the question in 2000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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