YES To Universal Gun Law

In case y'all didn't know, the National Rifle Association is here in our fine city of Indianapolis this weekend.  Mock and I have been talking them up for the past few weeks on our radio show, and we've had several guests on from the NRA telling us about what kind of activities will be going on, what kind of legislative stuff is happening, and what ex-Mayor Bloomberg is trying to do to stop the NRA.  You know, with his gobs and gobs of money.

Good luck wasting that, dude.   Because  if there's one thing that conservatives are united on, it's guns.  You might as well flush that money down the toilet and kiss it goodbye.

Anywho, back to Indy.

This weekend, the NRA's focus has turned to ensuring that permits that people have are applicable when gun owners travel across the country.  And I think that's crucial.  I mean, if I travel from Indiana to Illinois, for instance – with my firearm on me in the car – I become a felon when I cross the state line.  Even though I have a lifetime license to carry in the state of Indiana.  Illinois just sucks when it comes to gun laws, and so I somehow have to either make my gun disappear or not carry it.  And that's freaking bogus.  

These wonky differing state laws make it virtually impossible for law-abiding gun owners to keep track and stay, well, law abiding, for crying out loud.  

And this is where our go-to-gun guy, Guy Relford, is also stepping in.  Guy is basically THE Second Amendment lawyer here in the state of Indiana.  We talk to him all the time on our show, and he's basically the shiznit when it comes to this stuff.  He also has a place on the north side of town that does gun training and education for people of all ages, and we happen to think he's completely awesome.

"Right now it takes some legal research to find out where you are or are not legal depending on where you are," said Guy Relford, an attorney who has sued communities for violating an Indiana law that bars local gun regulation. "I don't think that's right."

It's NOT right.  And the "reciprocity effort on state concealed carry laws has strong support from Senate Republicans but narrowly missed being amended into last year's proposed expansion of gun sale background checks. Still, it faces long odds in Washington because Democrats control the Senate and White House."

Go figure.

And like my example above, "Illinois is among at least 10 states that currently don't recognize permits issued elsewhere, according to the NRA's website. Most others recognize permits from only a portion of the other states."

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam noted that gun laws vary widely, with some states requiring strict background checks and a handful not even requiring a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

What Democrats DON'T seem to understand – EVER – is that criminals don't just stop committing crimes based on what state line they happen to cross.

And the thing is, it's such a pain in the keester to KNOW what the specific rules are.  Thus, people just end up not carrying a lot of the time.  

Which, I suppose, is what Democrats want.

Universal gun law.  It's about time.