The Second Amendment Should Trump State Lines

Photo Credit: TownHallI have two state-issued permits in my wallet.

My state-issued driver’s license allows me to get into a car and drive to visit friends in other states. If I decide to drive to visit my friend Pablo in Arizona, or Jacqueline in New York, my North Carolina-issued license will be honored by every law enforcement agency I may encounter along the way.

If I were to visit Pablo, I would not need to obtain additional driver’s licenses to drive through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. If I were to visit Jacqueline, I would not need to obtain additional licenses for Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. No matter where I drive in the United States, I have reciprocity with my driver’s license, under the presumption that if I am deemed competent to drive in one state, then I am competent enough to drive in every state.

If I even brought up the idea that I might need a driver’s license in each individual state, reasonable people would look at me as if I might need my current license revoked, at least until I’m checked over thoroughly by mental health professionals.

The other kind of state-issued permit that I have in my wallet is my North Carolina concealed carry permit, which enables me to carry a concealed handgun in the state of North Carolina, and a number of other states, but not all of them. While North Carolina has logically and automatically recognized the concealed carry permits of every other state issuing a concealed carry permit since 2011, only 36 states have reciprocity with North Carolina.

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