Mike Lee Introduces Constitutional Carry in U.S. Senate

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)) introduced on Thursday the National Constitutional Carry Act in the Senate to remove nationwide the need to get the government’s permission before carrying a handgun for self-defense.

Lee posted to X: “If you’re legally allowed to have a gun, you shouldn’t have to get any government’s permission to carry it any more than you should have to get permission to speak. My bill is necessary to protect Americans’ fundamental right to bear arms[.] Who’s with me?”

In another post he observed, “Freedom is the opposite of needing the government’s permission[.] My bill eliminates that requirement for lawful gun owners.”

FOX News pointed out that Lee’s legislation would not abolish certain prohibitions against carrying in various places state-to-state, but would ensure that the right to self-defense does not end at one’s state line: “Private properties and secure government buildings could still prohibit guns, and people who are not legally allowed to own a firearm would remain barred from carrying one.”

Gun Owners of America’s Erich Pratt praised Lee’s legislation, saying:

In a time of war, Americans cannot afford to have the right to bear arms delayed by arbitrary state permitting processes. Public safety is threatened not only by ordinary criminals, but also bad actors working for foreign adversaries, and Americans need to be armed for the security of our free state. That’s why Gun Owners of America is proud to endorse Senator Mike Lee’s National Constitutional Carry Act. Under this GOA-backed legislation, the right to carry a firearm without a government permission slip will be fully restored, and unconstitutional states regulations on firearms, ammunition, and magazine size will be preempted.

Lee said, “The Founders established a national right to keep and bear arms, not to ask for permission from hostile local officials or risk imprisonment for crossing the wrong state line.”