For Immediate Release:
May 23, 2025
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
William Califf (334) 604-3230
(Montgomery, Ala) – Attorney General Steve Marshall sent a multi-state letter urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act and create a framework for lawful concealed carry across state lines. In a letter sent to House leadership about H.R. 38, Attorney General Marshall and 23 other state attorneys general emphasized that broad rights for concealed carry among law-abiding citizens promote public safety and respect gun owners’ fundamental liberties.
“Congress has the power to resolve this issue, and we are calling for immediate action on H.R. 38,” stated Attorney General Marshall. “Although Alabama no longer requires a permit to carry a concealed firearm, Alabamians traveling around our country might opt to purchase a permit to enjoy national reciprocity and would no longer face the risk of criminal penalties simply for exercising their constitutional rights in states with more restrictive laws.”
The measure would allow those who are lawfully cleared to carry a concealed firearm in their home state to enjoy the same privileges in any other state where concealed carry is legal. The letter refutes anti-gun critics, noting that anyone prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm is excluded. The attorneys general also cite to independent studies showing that concealed carry licensees are more law-abiding than the general population.
“Concealed carry is a constitutional right, and it can have substantial public safety benefits by allowing people the means to respond to emergent threats to themselves or others when police are not immediately available to intervene,” the letter states. “Yet our constituents are threatened with arrest, prosecution and mandatory prison time for technical violations of licensing or possession laws involving conduct that is perfectly legal in all but a handful of states, most of which have well-established history and practice of suppressing the right to keep and bear arms. This is unacceptable, and Congress has the authority and the duty to protect these rights.”
The Oklahoma and West Virginia-led letter also was signed by Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Read the full letter here.
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