Opinion: Law-abiding gun carriers who cross state lines should not be treated like criminals

To the editor: Say I am a doctor, lawyer, professor or businessman living in Arizona, Nevada or Oregon, who is driving to California to visit my family and grandchildren for the holidays. I have never even received a parking ticket, but I have a permitted carry handgun in my car like I have every day in my home state. (“No matter how they dress it up, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act is really bad policy,” editorial, Dec. 6)

In California, I risk facing charges the minute I cross into the state under current law even if I have done nothing wrong. There are many people that fit this profile. If for any reason the weapon is discovered, someone can go to jail, pay thousands to a lawyer and even lose his or her job.

The proposed federal law requiring states to honor concealed carry permits issued in other states will prevent this from happening to law-abiding citizens. If there is something wrong with this argument, I don’t see what it is.

Michael L. Friedman, Torrance

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To the editor: Don’t call it reciprocity when it comes to gun laws.

It is reciprocity when each state recognizes the driver’s licenses of every other state. It is not reciprocity when states with lax concealed-carry laws can contaminate other states through portability while the protections I enjoy as a California citizen are not portable into such states.

Hence reciprocity is not at issue here, but rather an undermining of federalism.

Siegfried Othmer, Woodland Hills

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To the editor: Could you explain your statement, “What’s more, [the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017] will put guns into the hands of more people who shouldn’t have them”?

How would the bill, which applies to law-abiding gun owners who already own their guns and have legally issued permits, put more guns into the hands of people who should not have them?

Ed Arzouian, Susquehanna, Pa.

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