Police chiefs reject dangerous, NRA-backed GOP gun bill
Police chiefs are calling out Republicans for bowing down to the NRA.
Pushing yet another radical, NRA-backed gun bill that is wildly unpopular with voters in both parties, the GOP now finds itself under pressure from police chiefs nationwide, who are demanding the party walk away from its latest extremist initiative.
As the national gun-safety movement continues to swell, we’re seeing law enforcement calling out Republicans for its gun agenda more.
A bill that the Republican-controlled House passed late last year in the wake of the Las Vegas gun massacre, the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act,” would force all 50 states to acknowledge concealed carry permits, even if those states didn’t issue the permits.
In other words, someone with a concealed carry permit from Utah, which demands virtually no requirements for the license, could travel to Massachusetts and still legally carry that concealed weapon, even though the Bay State has some of the toughest gun laws in the country.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police, which represents 8,000 police departments across the U.S., sees this as madness.
“This legislation,” the group wrote in a letter to members of Congress, “is a dangerous encroachment on individual state efforts to protect public safety, and it would effectively nullify duly enacted state laws and hamper law enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence.”
The NRA cheered the bill’s House passage as the being its “highest legislative priority.” It also allows visitors to national parks and other federal lands to carry concealed weapons.
Yet like so many of the NRA’s radical gun initiatives the GOP supports, the latest runs counter to public opinion, even among Republican voters. Because instead of relaxing concealed-carry laws, most Americans want them tightened up.
When asked whether “a person who can legally carry a concealed gun should be required to pass a test demonstrating they can safely and lawfully handle a gun in common situations they might encounter,” a stunning 87 percent of Republicans, and 83 percent of gun owners, backed such a requirement.
Meanwhile, the issue of guns continues to create political problems for Republicans, especially during an election year. But the message from law enforcement is clear: The Republican Party won’t get a pass for its radical gun agenda.
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