The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry trade group, got straight to the point in its report on the U.S. Supreme Court’s disappointing decision last week to brush aside a challenge to states’ unworkable reciprocity policies.
“Congress must act.”
On Monday, the high court denied hearing arguments in Johnson v. Jacobson, the strong legal challenge to Minnesota’s gun control regime. Officials will not recognize concealed carry permits held by upstanding Americans from several other states.
Constitutional rights should not evaporate when crossing state lines
Long-haul truck driver Jeffrey M. Johnson, Sr. frequently travels through the state. He holds valid permits from Florida and Georgia and carries a weapon because of the obvious dangers of the open road.
But not in Minnesota.
The state accepts concealed carry permits only from others that meet its controversial requirements. Neither Florida nor Georgia pass Minnesota’s muster.
Officials there claim that nonresidents such as Johnson may apply for a permit, but its demands are oppressive and expensive, effectively working as a concealed carry ban for out-of-state Americans.
Justices allowed the prior determination by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to stand. That ruling declared that the Second Amendment does not require reciprocity between states and that this widespread policy is merely an exemption.
Congress clearly needs to mend broken system
Existing federal law, to an extent, protects American travelers’ rights to legally keep and bear arms while moving to and from their destinations.
Several anti-gun jurisdictions widely misread this, and many law-abiding citizens have faced trouble due to state and local officials perceiving “loopholes” in the requirements.
The NSSF reported that ordinary citizens are often caught in a web of conflicting laws that restrict constitutional rights.
“Americans frequently cross state lines for work, while visiting family and during vacations,” the trade association noted. “Flights are diverted. Highways wind through multiple jurisdictions. Cars break down. A citizen who has lawfully qualified to carry a firearm at home should not need a law degree and a collection of several different state permits to determine whether crossing an invisible state boundary suddenly places him or her at risk of criminal liability.”
Because of these outliers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) proposed a new rule earlier this year. If adopted, it would protect domestic travelers’ carry rights during such ordinary activities as overnight stays in hotels, refueling, mechanical services, and other common occurrences.
The ATF proposal is a positive step, but rules can change easily when political tides shift, and they hardly provide the enduring protection law-abiding Americans deserve.
That’s where the NSSF’s strong recommendation comes in. The trade group urged lawmakers to replace the unworkable mess of state carry laws with a standard enforceable from sea to shining sea.
“Congress does not need to invent a solution,” the NSSF declared in a release. “The solution already exists; it’s the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025 that is pending in Congress. In fact, in the House, H.R. 38 was approved (18-9) by the House Judiciary Committee in March 2025. The amended bill was formally reported to the full House on Oct. 3, 2025, where it awaits further House action.”
In other words, the answer is already in the works.
The proposal in Congress “would establish federal reciprocity for individuals who are not federally prohibited from possessing firearms, have valid photo identification and either possess a qualifying state carry permit or are entitled to carry concealed in the state of their residence.”
Certain state and local restrictions would remain, but in states that allow their upstanding citizens to carry lawfully, reciprocity would apply. This needs to be done.
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