Firearms Policy Coalition Seeks Improvements In HR 38

The Firearms Policy Coalition is headquartered in Sacramento, California. Being as they are in one of the bluest states with some of the worst gun laws, they are hoping for passage of HR 38. However, they want to make it better for those who live in states like California, New York, New Jersey, etc. They also want the bill to include those living in Federal districts like DC, commonwealths like Puerto Rico, and other territories like the Northern Mariana Islands.

Many legal scholars agree with the FPC that the bill would be on stronger Constitutional grounds if it was based not on the commerce clause. The FPC would like to see the right to carry nationally be based upon the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms. They hold that this would reinforce the rulings in Heller and McDonald.

Their full release with embedded links to their proposed changes is below:

SACRAMENTO, CA (November 28, 2017) — Yesterday, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) sent a second letter regarding H.R.38 (the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017) to bill sponsor Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and House co-sponsors. The letter says the pro-gun bill could potentially “leave law-abiding people exposed” because of “a byzantine patchwork of state and local prohibitions” and suggested solutions to 6 individual legal problems in the bill’s text.

The group’s concerns also include “vague and undefined terms,” an exemption to the federal Gun Free School Zone Act they say is “of limited utility,” and the bill’s total reliance on “constitutionally-antagonistic Commerce Clause doctrine.” FPC also suggests that the measure’s scope be extended to include protections for people in places that are not a “State or political subdivision thereof,” like Washington, D.C. (a federal district), as well as commonwealths, republics, and territories “administered or controlled by the United States (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).”

FPC’s letter says that, if H.R38 is passed without some important changes, it “may very well indirectly cause people to be prosecuted and lose their Second Amendment rights over harmless mistakes.” And, if “H.R.38 is not amended to address our concerns,” they “predict that this well-intentioned measure would leave millions of peaceful and law-abiding people exposed to serious criminal liability.”

“As we said in March, H.R.38 is a significant piece of legislation that—properly amended to address the issues discussed above—would establish one of the greatest, if not the greatest, legislative advancements of Second Amendment rights so far in the history of our federal government,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in the letter. “And with just a few simple but important changes, H.R.38 could unlock and protect the Second Amendment right to bear arms for all law-abiding people—especially where it is denied today.”

Explained FPC Spokesperson Craig DeLuz, “Any bill that seeks to expand the right to keep and bear arms must be carefully crafted to ensure protection for all law-abiding people, but especially for those in ‘battleground states’ and cities hostile to Second Amendment rights.”

“If a bill doesn’t protect people in places like California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, then it doesn’t really get the job done,” DeLuz concluded. “Our reasonable suggested amendments would help ensure that people in anti-gun jurisdictions can exercise their fundamental, individual right to bear arms.” 

A copy of FPC’s letters supporting H.R.38 can be viewed or downloaded at http://bit.ly/support-hr-38. Gun owners who wish to send letters supporting H.R.38 may use FPC’s free Grassroots Action Tools at http://bit.ly/support-hr-38.

FPC has also established #OurGunVote, a grassroots campaign to urge pro-gun bill passage in the House and Senate, available at http://www.ourgunvote.com/.

H.R.38 is scheduled to be next heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 29.

Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.