Maloney: Senate must beat back national concealed weapons standard

Jul 20, 2009 Issues: Gun Safety, Local Issues

WASHINGTON, DC –Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today called on the U.S. Senate to reject an amendment to this year’s Defense Authorization Act that would allow concealed firearms in New York State.

“The Thune amendment creates a national standard for concealed weapons—essentially requiring New York to operate under the same gun laws as Dodge City. It goes against any semblance of common sense, would endanger public safety and wipe out New York’s ability to place sensible restrictions on guns in densely populated urban areas,” said Maloney.

 

"It’s particularly ironic that the same extreme right wing forces
that are trying to dictate this kind of legislation are working to see
to it that marriage licenses issued by other states to same sex couples
in one state don't have to be recognized in other states. They seem to
see marriage as dangerous and guns as benign," Maloney continued.


“It’s
imperative that the Senate stand up to the National Rifle Association
and reject this far-reaching provision which would allow dangerous
individuals who obtain permits in states with little or no permit
requirements to come to New York and legally carry loaded concealed
weapons in public. It is outrageous and must be stopped,” Maloney said.


Amendment
No. 1618 to the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390), has been
introduced by Senator John Thune (R-SD) and the Senate will vote on it
as early as this evening, July 20.  Under this Amendment, an individual
who obtains a permit to carry a concealed weapon, commonly referred to
as CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) licenses, in any state would be
permitted to carry that weapon in effectively any state. The result
would be that a resident of a state, like New York, with tight
restrictions on concealed weapons who could not qualify for a concealed
weapons permit under their own state law, could now receive a
non-resident permit from another state with a lower threshold, and
police in their state of residence would be forced to honor that permit.

“I
don't want my family, my neighbors and my constituents to be exposed to
the risk this clearly creates.  The U.S. Senate urgently needs to do
the right thing and stand up to the N.R.A.,” Maloney concluded.

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