...is there anything we can do to help this along?
Logically, it seems like we should concentrate on more immediate problems, like the capricious issuance criteria that varies from chief to chief, the AG's capricious "consumer protection" criteria as a thinly-veiled disincentive to lawful gun ownership (aside: "capricious" really does seem to apply to a lot of the gun-related policies around here, doesn't it?), etc.
Unfortunately, if we're consistently on defense, we'll never make any real progress because we'll always be working against strong anti-gun forces to keep the rights we still have.
Is there anything we can do to go on the offense? State initiatives seem to go nowhere because the legislature is basically single-party and profoundly anti-gun. I'm surprised we have even discretionary CCW!
The national CCW reciprocity issue seems like a logical one with at least some potential traction: after all, could you imagine a nation in which driver's licenses weren't respected universally by other states? Furthermore, given the proliferation of shall-issue CCW laws over the past ten years, this actually stands a chance of passing at the national level, which would then put states like MA, CA, RI, NY, NJ, MD, etc. on the defense... and make it difficult for them to sustain policies against shall-issue CCW given that non-residents would be entitled to carry regardless of the locals' opinions.
Thoughts?
My concerns about the proposed legislation are twofold: (a) it should contain some provision nullifying the "consumer protection" restrictions of idiots like Reilly that could effectively neuter the law; and (b) it absolutely must provide a minimum safe harbor standard for legal carry, so states like our beloved PRM can't simply make legal carry valid only in one's own home to skirt the safe harbor for states with no legal CCW.
BTW, great forum. This and THR are at the top of my bookmarks now.
Cheers,
Kyle