Congress Is Trying to Pass a Dangerous Federal Concealed Carry Mandate. Here’s How We Can Stop It.

A federal concealed carry mandate, sometimes called “concealed carry reciprocity,” is proposed legislation that would force each state to allow people from all other states to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public—even in states that wouldn’t otherwise let them. The Concealed Carry Mandate guts our gun laws and tramples on states’ rights, putting everyone at risk.

What is the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025?

In all 50 states, people are allowed to carry hidden, loaded guns in public, and states have long had the power to make their own decisions about who can and cannot do so. Additionally, every state can also choose which out-of-state carriers, if any, to carry a concealed firearm within its own state borders.

Currently, states have different requirements and standards for who can carry a concealed gun in public. Some states require permits, while others do not. Some states have standards that block certain categories of people from concealed carrying, like:

• Those who have been convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes, 
• Abusive dating partners (beyond those prohibited under federal law), and 
• Individuals under the age of 21. 

The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025 (H.R. 38 and S. 65) is proposed legislation that would create a federal concealed carry mandate. That mandate would require each state to recognize every other state’s concealed carry requirements and standards, even from states that don’t require a permit to carry—or have no standards at all. 

What would a federal concealed carry mandate look like?

Our country doesn’t look the same everywhere you go. We have crowded cities, small towns, farm communities, and everything in between. That’s why states have long had the power to decide for themselves who can carry a hidden, loaded gun in public and where. 

A federal concealed carry mandate would erase that.

This extremist mandate would force each state to allow individuals from other states to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public places—even in states that wouldn’t otherwise allow them to. This includes people from states that do not require a permit and from states that have few, if any, concealed carry standards in place. That means that many people could do so:

• Without passing a background check
• Without any safety training
• Without ever handling a firearm before

This also means people with dangerous histories, like violent criminals, domestic abusers (beyond those prohibited under federal law), and convicted stalkers, would be able to carry a concealed gun in states that wouldn’t otherwise let them. 

How would a federal concealed carry mandate change anything?

Right now, 29 states allow some form of permitless carry. However, the remaining states still require permits to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public, and the requirements for these permits differ widely.

States have different requirements for who can carry a concealed and loaded gun in public—which is a huge responsibility. While some states require permits, there are others that do not. 

To get a permit, a person must:

1. Pass a background check and
2. Meet other standards that are set out in state law, including standards that block certain people from carrying and standards that require people who want to carry to take certain steps.¹Standards that may block certain categories of people from carrying include:
   – Convicted of a Misdemeanor Violent Crime
   – Convicted of Stalking
   – Convicted of Multiple Recent DUIs
   – Abusive Dating Partners (beyond the federal floor)
   – Under 21
   – Danger to Public
   Safety Standards that require people who want to carry to:
   – Complete Firearms Safety Training
   – Have Live-Fire Shooting Experience

These are standards that help protect public safety and promote responsible gun ownership. States with stronger permitting requirements see less gun violence.

But a federal concealed carry mandate would force each state to let people from other states, including those that don’t require permits and those that lack standards, to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public in states that wouldn’t otherwise let them. It’s the gun industry’s dream and a nightmare for public safety.

It’s important to note that there is no nationwide system for verifying out-of-state carry permits. That’s a significant challenge for law enforcement when they encounter someone from out of state who is carrying a hidden, loaded gun in public. Police wouldn’t be able to quickly verify if someone has a valid permit or is even allowed to carry—and, under H.R. 38, could be sued for even trying. 

These complexities jeopardize both public and officer safety. They also make it more difficult for police to enforce state and local gun safety laws. And if a person is from a permitless state, there’s even more uncertainty, as there’s no permit for law enforcement to check in the first place. 

How would a federal concealed carry mandate, aka concealed carry reciprocity, “override states’ rights”? That feels like a stretch.

Right now, every state has the right to choose the rules that its own residents must follow to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public within its own borders. And every state can also choose how and if it wants to allow out-of-state carriers to carry a concealed firearm within its own state borders. 

States fall into three broad categories:

1. No reciprocity: Many states do not recognize concealed carriers from other states—whether such people have been issued an out-of-state permit or not.
2. Selective reciprocity: Other states have made determinations to allow out-of-state concealed carriers from some states and not others, often based on the strength of other states’ standards, and sometimes subject to certain conditions.
3. Full reciprocity: Some states voluntarily recognize out-of-state permits and concealed carriers from permitless states.

I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around what a Concealed Carry Mandate means. Can you give me an example?

You know when you’re driving and someone cuts you off, so you look at their license plate and see that they’re from another state? And you think, “Oh, yeah, that makes sense, people from that state drive so differently than I do?”

Well, imagine if that state didn’t require people to take driver’s ed or pass the test to get a driver’s license, even though your state still does. And imagine that there’s a federal law mandating that we still have to let people from these other states drive on our roads. (Even though—again—they don’t have to do the same thing we do to drive.)

That’s essentially what Congress is trying to do with H.R. 38 and S. 65, aka the House and Senate versions of the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025.”

You wouldn’t want an out-of-state driver who doesn’t have a license driving on the roads in your state. And you wouldn’t want an out-of-stater who doesn’t have a permit carrying a hidden, loaded gun in public in your state either.

Strong concealed carry requirements help protect public safety and promote responsible gun ownership. For example, New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the country—like requiring gun owners to get a permit to carry a concealed gun in public, plus strict standards for who can get one. And as a result, New York City has a gun homicide rate four times lower than the average large U.S. city.

But if Congress’ Concealed Carry Mandate becomes law, New York would be forced to let people from other states carry a concealed gun in New York—whether or not that person meets New York’s standards. 

Here’s what this mandate could mean in real life: Under the Concealed Carry Mandate, if a man from South Carolina with a history of domestic violence were going after his estranged girlfriend in New York City, police officers couldn’t stop him from carrying his loaded gun in public. That’s because South Carolina doesn’t block abusers from carrying concealed guns. In fact, under H.R. 38, New York police officers could even be sued for stopping him and asking questions. 

Whose rights is Congress trying to protect? Not states’ rights to decide their laws or law enforcement’s ability to enforce them. And certainly not our right to exist in public without being shot.

Most Americans support concealed carry permitting systems that help ensure that only responsible gun owners can carry concealed, loaded guns in public. A federal concealed carry mandate forces extreme, unpopular permitless carry onto more Americans than ever before.

We’re up against a Congressional majority and an administration that wants nothing more than to line the gun industry’s pockets and protect their special interests. But we stopped this dangerous bill in its tracks during the last Trump Administration—and we can do it again.

Take action

It’s time to tell Congress to vote NO on the Concealed Carry Mandate.