Thune Would Make Carry Permits Valid Across the Nation --- UPDATED/BUMPED

Update -- this was defeated in the Senate today (predictable reactions --- Chuck the Schmuck: the most dangerous piece of legislation to the safety of Americans when it comes to guns since the repeal of the assault weapons ban -- Dianne WhineStein: This is no minor shift in policy. It in fact would be a sweeping change and I think with some deadly consequences.) (both neglect to mention the deadly consequences to unarmed citizens when attacked by some piece of shit with a stolen Saturday Nigth Special or Cheap Chinese knock off knife).

But it was defeated 58-39 which means an awful lot of Democrats must have jumped and voted for it. A reflection on changing attitudes toward gun rights? Or cynical I wanna keep my job voting?

MSNBC:

Senate rejects concealed weapons measure

WASHINGTON - In a rare win for gun control advocates, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a measure allowing a person with a concealed weapon permit in one state to also hide (nice spin, guys. the only reason we have to hide it is because of gun fearing weenies who are afraid they will go boom just by looking at them) his firearm when visiting another state.

The vote was 58-39 in favor of the provision establishing concealed carry permit reciprocity in the 48 states that have concealed weapons laws. That fell two votes short of the 60 needed to approve the measure, offered as an amendment to a defense spending bill.

Opponents prevailed in their argument that the measure violated states rights by forcing states with stringent requirements for permits to recognize concealed weapons carriers from states that give out permits to almost any gun owner.

"This is no minor shift in policy," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whose state requires people to be fingerprinted, get gun training and to undergo a federal background check before issuing permits. "It in fact would be a sweeping change and I think with some deadly consequences."

The vote reversed recent trends where Republicans and gun rights Democrats from rural states joined to push pro-gun rights issues and block gun control legislation.

Congress this year voted to restore the rights of people to carry loaded weapons into national parks and the Senate moved to effectively eviscerate the tough gun control laws of the District of Columbia.

Congress has also ignored urgings from President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to revive a ban on military-style weapons that expired in 2004.

The rest here

END UPDATE

Update the Second
The Yeas and Nays
(of course I waited until Dr Bulldog did all the work. Ya think I got time for that??? :)

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Alaska: Begich (D-AK), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Colorado: Bennet (D-CO), Yea Udall (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Nay Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Delaware: Carper (D-DE), Nay Kaufman (D-DE), Nay
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho: Crapo (R-ID), Yea Risch (R-ID), Yea
Illinois: Burris (D-IL), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Yea McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), N/ V*
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), N/V* Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Nay Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Minnesota: Franken (D-MN), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Yea Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska: Johanns (R-NE), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Yea Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Udall (D-NM), Yea
New York: Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Yea Hagan (D-NC), Yea
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Oregon: Merkley (D-OR), Nay Wyden (D-OR), Nay
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Yea Specter (D-PA), Nay
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Yea Corker (R-TN), Yea
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Nay Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia: Warner (D-VA), Yea Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Murray (D-WA), Nay
West Virginia: Byrd (D-WV), N/ V* Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Wyoming: Barrasso (R-WY), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea

* – N/V = Not Voting

There you have it. Who to vote out (EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM!)

End Update the Second

I first heard about this at my gun club last week. Didn't realize the vote was coming so fast on it.

This needs to pass in a big way.

And the chances of that are. . .

Human Events:

Thune Would Make Carry Permits Valid Across the Nation

by Kathryn Gaines
07/22/2009

Senator John Thune (R – S.D.) added an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill which would permit citizens with a concealed-carry permit to travel across state lines with their weapons, so long as they follow the laws of that state. It can be equated to having a driver’s license for guns. Your permit would continue to be issued by your state, and it would be accepted by the other 49 states.

Essentially, this amendment would remove bans states have on concealed weapons, yet the visitor would still be required to follow the laws of the state, concerning where weapons can be carried and what type of weapon can be carried.

Thune told HUMAN EVENTS that the amendment was “a common sense piece of legislation that is clearly designed to protect our second amendment right to this country and people’s ability to defend themselves.” Thune cited the needs of people who travel regularly, such as interstate truck drivers, who feel they are being deprived of the ability to defend themselves by inconsistent treatment of carry permits across the states.

Thune’s press release stated, “Reliable, empirical research shows that states with concealed carry laws enjoy significantly lower violent crimes rates than those states that do not. For example, for every year a state has a concealed-carry law, the murder rate declines by three percent, rape by two percent, and robberies by over two percent. Since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they are less likely to commit crimes when they fear that they may come in direct contact with an individual who is armed. This deterrent is so strong that a Department of Justice study found that 40 percent of felons had not committed crimes because they feared the prospective victims were armed.”

Thune stressed that “states that have enacted concealed-carry permits laws have found that it has made people safer, and it’s a deterrent to crime. That is something that law abiding criticizes, when they travel from state to state, ought to be able to continue to exercise.”

Thune’s timing and choice of the Defense Authorization Bill as a vehicle for the amendment puts a lot of pressure on Democrats who had already chosen to complicate the bill with the non-germane Hate Crimes bill added as an amendment earlier.

It could create the same kind of problem for supposedly pro-gun Democrats that resulted from Sen. John Ensign’s (R - Nv) amendment on the bill to give the District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress. Ensign’s amendment, which would have overturned Washington, DC’s gun laws, sank the voting bill.

If Thune’s amendment passes, it’s probably not going to sink the Defense Authorization bill, but it could force the Dems to strip out the Hate Crimes bill as the price for removing Thune’s addition.

For this Amendment to be passed it needs 60 votes, and to lessen the chance that it will be stripped out in conference it needs more than 60 votes. Thune said that currently they believe to have 55 solid votes and 10 votes, mostly democrats, who are on the fence. Thune believes “This is a painful vote for a lot of democrats… There are still a lot of moving parts with this, but we think we have a shot at getting it passed out here.”

On Monday the Washington Post had an article blasting this amendment as a “frightening prospect.” Thune is calling for grassroots organizations to embrace this “frightening prospect”, of self defense and do what they can to show their support for this amendment.