House Approves Concealed Firearm Permit Bill

, D-Mineola, a vocal advocate for reducing gun violence, proposed two amendments in an effort to stop H.R. 822, the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act.

The House however, just passed a bill Wednesday night allowing those with concealed weapons permits to cross state lines.

Last week, McCarthy and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., wrote to President Obama urging him to issue a veto threat to H.R. 822, an action that could help stop the  bill in its tracks.

“We strongly urge you and your administration to make clear your opposition to, and issue a veto threat for H.R. 822,” McCarthy and Lautenberg wrote, according to a recent press release. “Passing H.R. 822 would jeopardize public safety and would be an insult to states like New Jersey and New York that purposefully have strong gun ownership laws.  In a country with almost 300 million guns, we need to be strengthening our gun safety laws, not weakening them.”

Under the House legislation, people with a concealed carry permit in one state could carry a concealed weapon in every other state that gives people the right to carry concealed weapons.

Last month, McCarthy wrote to every governor in the U.S. warning them of the threat to both public safety and states’ rights posed by H.R. 822.

“This policy removes the ability of your state to pass laws or regulations regarding armed visitors to your state and forces the citizens of your state to honor the policies of the government of another state over whom they have no electoral control or remedies for addressing ill-advised policies,” McCarthy wrote to the governors.