The Second Amendment is the only constitutionally protected right that stops at the border of the state where you live. In Virginia, where I live, I don't need a government-issued permission slip to keep a gun in my home or in my glove box, but if I drive across the border into Maryland without first unloading and securing that handgun, I can be charged with a crime.
Even if I possess a valid carry Virginia carry license, states don't have to recognize it. That's the case in New Jersey, where no permits other than those issued by licensing authorities in the Garden State are accepted. Now an state appeals court has ruled that restriction is just fine, and a Pennsylvania woman can be charged for illegal gun possession even though she had a valid concealed carry permit from her home state when she was stopped for speeding.
Today's decision is hardly shocking, given how much hostility New Jersey politicians and judges have historically shown to the Second Amendment. It is, however, another reminder of why we need to pass a national right-to-carry reciprocity law to help guarantee that our Second Amendment rights do extend beyond the borders of our home state.
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The Second Amendment is the only constitutionally protected right that stops at the border of the state where you live. In Virginia, where I live, I don't need a government-issued permission slip to keep a gun in my home or in my glove box, but if I drive across the border into Maryland without first unloading and securing that handgun, I can be charged with a crime.
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Even if I possess a valid carry Virginia carry license, states don't have to recognize it. That's the case in New Jersey, where no permits other than those issued by licensing authorities in the Garden State are accepted. Now an state appeals court has ruled that restriction is just fine, and a Pennsylvania woman can be charged for illegal gun possession even though she had a valid concealed carry permit from her home state when she was stopped for speeding.
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Today's decision is hardly shocking, given how much hostility New Jersey politicians and judges have historically shown to the Second Amendment. It is, however, another reminder of why we need to pass a national right-to-carry reciprocity law to help guarantee that our Second Amendment rights do extend beyond the borders of our home state.
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