Outspoken gun control advocate, Mark Kelly, has vowed to fight efforts to bring national reciprocity to the nation’s capitol.
Following he recent shooting in Washington D.C. that left Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) critically wounded and wounded four others, many GOP lawmakers responded by stressing a renewed focus on national reciprocity, with some saying that they have a concealed carry permit, but cannot keep a gun on them in D.C. because of the district’s strict carry laws, according to this story from breitbart.com.
On Thursday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced legislation that would force the district to recognize the carry permit of every state.
On Friday, Kelly, a former astronaut and retired U.S. Navy Captain, said he is pledged to stop any effort to pass legislation that would allow law-abiding citizens to be armed.
Kelly is the husband of Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in 2012 in an attempted assassination attempt. Every since, she and Kelly have been outspoken gun control advocates.
“Speaking to NPR, Kelly said he and his wife are fighting against ‘concealed carry reciprocity.’ He also vowed to fight efforts to remove ‘gun-free zones in schools.’ He couched these statements amid a larger discussion of creating a ‘safer society.’ But the problem–as Wednesday’s attack showed–is that barring law-abiding citizens from having guns with them for self-defense only makes them vulnerable. Congressional baseball practice attendee Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) said it made them ‘sitting ducks.’”
Kelly also advocated the passage of “universal background checks” claiming that they lower crime—despite the fact that the Alexandria shooter bought his guns legally from an FFL, meaning he passed a NICS check. The man who shot Giffords also passed a background check to purchase the gun he used in the attempted assassination, the story says.