U.S. Senator John Thune Thune (South Dakota) Offers Concealed Carry (CCW) Amendment to Federal Defense Authorization Bill

The following is a press release from the office of U.S. Senator John Thune, South Dakota:

July 20th, 2009 - Washington, D.C. - Senator John Thune has offered a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Authorization bill (S. 1390) that would help in reducing crime by providing reciprocity for the carrying of concealed firearms. The Thune amendment (#1618) would allow individuals to carry lawfully concealed firearms across state lines, while at the same time respecting the laws of the host state.

“South Dakota is one of many states with reasonable measures in place allowing citizens to protect themselves with concealed weapons,” said Thune. “Law-abiding South Dakotans should be able to exercise the right to bear arms in states with similar regulations on concealed firearms. My legislation enables citizens to protect themselves while respecting individual state firearms laws.”

Currently, some states with concealed carry laws grant reciprocity to permit-holders from other select states. Senator Thune’s bill strikes the appropriate balance between individual and states’ rights by allowing an individual to carry a concealed firearm across state lines if they either have a valid permit or if, under their state of residence, they are entitled to do so.

Reliable, empirical research shows that states with concealed carry laws enjoy significantly lower violent crimes rates than those states that do not. For example, for every year a state has a concealed carry law, the murder rate declines by three percent, rape by two percent, and robberies by over two percent. The benefits of conceal and carry extend to more than just the individuals that actually carry a firearm. Since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they are less likely to commit crimes when they fear that they may come in direct contact with an individual who is armed. This deterrent is so strong that a Department of Justice study found that 40 percent of felons had not committed crimes because they feared the prospective victims were armed.

Under the Thune Amendment, individuals who travel to other states would be required to follow the laws of the host state, including laws concerning specific types of locations in which firearms may or may not be carried.

The Thune Amendment is the pending amendment in the Senate and debate on the proposal is expected to resume on Monday afternoon. The amendment is cosponsored by Senators John Barasso (R-WY), Mark Begich (D-AK), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Tom Coburn (R-OK), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Ensign (R-NV), Michael Enzi (R-WY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and David Vitter (R-LA).

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tomsorensen

I do support this amendment.

Cordelia

This is awful, we need to be putting in stricter gun laws to prevent handgun violence, not encourage it!

colin317

Your reasoning is flawed. Stricter gun control laws only help criminals. Criminals who plan on murdering someone by use of a firearm of some kind probably aren't too worried whether or not they can legally use the gun in question, and will go places other than legal gun shops to get it if they are determined enough. Meanwhile, law abiding citizens who should have means to help defend themselves against such individuals, will have a harder time carrying firearms if they hope to stay law abiding. Violence doesn't go down if you make gun laws stricter, it goes up because it takes gun power away from people who are more likely to use it for the correct reasons, and places it into the hands of people who don't respect such laws.

jameseagleman

i feel that thumb print and bar coded identification cards are need in order to determine who is law abiding from criminal, i feel this measure would "weed out" individuals who have a history or a record of violence to include those who have served within the penal system in order to prevent weapons such as "guns" into the wrong hands...i am a a abiding citizen and would endorse reporting my weapons to the state on a bi-monthly basis...it does fall within the second amendment and for those law abiding citizens..the (law abiding citizen) i feel would have no problem doing the same...lets stop guns from falling into the wrong hands and help the second amendment work for us...what do we "law abiding citizens" have to hide? if you were (at one time in the wrong) with a gun...why should you be hiding your past? after all...it's your right isn't it??

james E...

DanielMN

reply to jameseagleman: so you feel we should have identification cards to identify who is criminal and who is not? And you suppose criminals would walk around with these cards, just like they will not bring a weapon into a business or school because a sign says they are banned? Being required to report the guns you have on a bi-monthly bases is in the spirit of the second amendment? What country are you from originally? All schemes to keep exact tabs on who-has-what-guns-where have historically been used to ban and collect them. For obvious reasons (to sensible people) criminals do not bother to register their guns. Early on in the NAZI consolidation of power over Germany they used lists of gun owners- everyone was required to register as you suggest- to round up guns from the populace, ensuring no one could act effectively against them. Canadian, English, and Australian anti-gun nuts more recently swore up and down registration lists would not be used to ban guns- oops, did not turn out to be quite true... If you think the second amendment (and the innate right to self defense) is an anachronism, and that laws "protect" you without a real freedom to defend yourself check today's St. Paul. MN paper (October 03, 2009) a women who was killed by her abusive husband. She had gone to the police, had a restraining order from the courts, but sadly did not take real action to defend HERSELF, like buy a handgun and / or hide. She is dead.