A Victory for Gun Rights as the House Passes the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2015 file photo, Scott Smith, a supporter of open carry gun laws, wears a pistol as he prepares for a rally in support of open carry gun laws at the Capitol, in Austin, Texas. Texas the second-most populous state, is joining 44 other states in allowing at least some firearm owners to carry handguns openly in public places. Under the Texas law, guns can be carried by those with licenses and only in holsters. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Gun rights supporters scored a victory today as House Republicans passed the national reciprocity bill that would allow gun owners to legally conceal carry their firearms across state lines if they have a license to do so.

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Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act passed 231-198 with all Republicans voting yes, and only six Democrats voting alongside, according to Fox News.

“For the millions of law-abiding citizens who lawfully carry concealed to protect themselves, for conservatives who want to strengthen our Second Amendment rights, and for the overwhelming majority of Americans who support concealed carry reciprocity, Christmas came early,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, (R-N.C.), the bill’s sponsor.

But now the bill will move onto the senate where it will merge with the controversial “Fix NICS” bill, which has been a point of contention between Republican politicians. “Fix NICS” was introduced by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, and co-sponsored by well known gun-control advocates Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer.

This inclusion of the bill raised alarm from politicians such as Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who made a video warning his colleagues against pairing “Fix NICS” with the reciprocity bill. Massie said that the bill includes almost $1 billion in order to expand NICS, and also pressures government agencies to include thousands of people into the database in order to deny them their rights.

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The National Rifle Association, however, disagrees with this assessment, and says the bill merely forces government agencies to report names that should already be included into the database by way of punishment if they don’t.

How Republicans will tackle the bill with Fix NICS included is yet to be seen, but internal conflicts aren’t the only thing that will plague reciprocity. According to Fox News, gun-control advocates are receiving some $25 million from ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, through his Everytown for Gun Safety group in order to help fight the reciprocity bill from going through.

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