Attorney General Alan Wilson asks Congress to pass concealed carry reciprocity resolution

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a multi-state effort to encourage the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act and create a framework for lawful concealed carry across state lines. 

In a letter sent today to House leadership about H.R. 38, Attorney General Wilson and other state attorneys general emphasized that broad rights for concealed carry among law-abiding citizens promote public safety and respect gun owners’ fundamental liberties. 

“It is outrageous that law-abiding Americans can face felony charges and prison time for exercising a constitutional right simply because they cross into a different state,” said Attorney General Wilson. “The Second Amendment right now is subject to a patchwork of inconsistent state laws; this is why Congress must end this injustice and pass concealed carry reciprocity now. Every day they delay, they allow constitutional rights to be trampled and responsible citizens to be treated like criminals.”

The measure would allow those who are lawfully cleared to carry a concealed firearm in their home state to enjoy the same privileges in any other state where concealed carry is legal. The letter refutes anti-gun critics, noting that anyone prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm is excluded. The attorneys general also cite to independent studies showing that concealed carry licensees are more law-abiding than the general population.

“Concealed carry is a constitutional right, and it can have substantial public safety benefits by allowing people the means to respond to emergent threats to themselves or others when police are not immediately available to intervene,” the letter states. “Yet our constituents are threatened with arrest, prosecution and mandatory prison time for technical violations of licensing or possession laws involving conduct that is perfectly legal in all but a handful of states, most of which have well-established history and practice of suppressing the right to keep and bear arms. This is unacceptable, and Congress has the authority and the duty to protect these rights.”

In addition to South Carolina, the letter was also signed by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

You can read the letter here.