Thank you for taking the time to contact me about proposals related to state reciprocity with respect to the lawful carrying of concealed firearms. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.
Currently, states have varying laws and processes to allow certain individuals to carry a concealed firearm. Many states also have reciprocity agreements with other states, allowing a permit from one state to be recognized in another. In 1995, the Pennsylvania General Assembly gave the Attorney General the authority to enter into reciprocity agreements with other states. Pennsylvania currently has formal or informal reciprocity agreements with 27 states.
On April 17, 2013, Senator John Cornyn of Texas proposed Senate Amendment 719 to S. 649, the Safe Schools, Safe Communities Act of 2013. This amendment would allow individuals with a concealed carry permit lawfully issued by a state to carry a concealed handgun (other than a machine gun or destructive device) in any other state that permits the carrying of concealed firearms by its residents. It would not affect the ability of a state to regulate carrying of concealed weapons by its residents within the state. On April 17, 2013, I joined 42 of my colleagues in voting against adopting this amendment, which did not receive the 60 votes required for passage.
On February 27, 2017, Senator Cornyn introduced S. 446, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which, like Senate Amendment 719, would allow individuals with lawful concealed carry permits to carry a handgun in other states that permit concealed carrying. This legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am not a member.
Pennsylvania has a rich tradition of hunting, and I support the Second Amendment right of law-abiding Americans to own guns for protection, sporting and collection. But, like many Americans, I believe we need commonsense gun legislation that will help to prevent tragic mass shootings as well as the daily gun violence that takes the lives of approximately 33,000 Americans each year.
The Sandy Hook massacre affected me deeply. The shooter used a military-style assault weapon with magazines containing up to 30 rounds of ammunition. Realizing that he chose this weapon because he wanted to inflict the most damage in the shortest amount of time, and that he would have tried to kill hundreds of children if he could have, led me to reevaluate how we approach gun violence as a Nation. After careful study, I decided to support legislation to close loopholes in the existing background check system, as well as legislation to institute a federal ban on military-style assault weapons and to restrict high-capacity magazines. I voted in favor of these measures, as well as efforts to close a loophole allowing known and suspected terrorists on the Terrorist Watchlist to purchase firearms, when they came before the Senate for consideration in 2013, 2015 and 2016. None of these measures gained enough support to pass the Senate.
Since Sandy Hook, thousands of Americans have lost their lives to gun violence. We have witnessed some of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history at Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Thousand Oaks, and Santa Fe, Texas. Gun violence recently took a toll on our own Commonwealth. On the morning of Saturday, October 27, 2018, we witnessed the most deadly act of violence against the Jewish community in American history. As congregants of the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh were holding Shabbat morning services, including a bris to welcome a newborn child into their community, they became targets of horrific violence because of their religious beliefs. Eleven congregants were taken from their families and six other individuals were wounded, including four police officers who responded to the scene. The suspect was armed with three handguns and one AR-15 assault rifle. My deepest condolences are with the families of the victims, and my prayers are with the survivors, Tree of Life congregants and members of both the Squirrel Hill and Pittsburgh Jewish communities, whose lives were forever changed by a hateful act of terror.
As a public official, I believe my colleagues and I have an obligation to enact commonsense reforms that will keep Americans safe and reduce the likelihood of gun violence incidents. We are a Nation of people who come together, roll up our sleeves and solve difficult problems. We can pass smart measures to reduce gun violence while fully respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. Please be assured that should the Senate consider legislation affecting firearm regulation, I will have your views in mind.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator
Response from Sen. Casey (HE IS ANTI GUN)
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