Concealed Carry Gun Bill Blasted By NYC Pols

NEW YORK, NY — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would let people carry dangerous weapons into crowded landmarks like Times Square, New York City officials said. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would let anyone bring a concealed weapon into any state so long as they have a valid license

That would undermine New York's tough gun laws, which law enforcement officials say have helped drive down crime in the city.

"Republicans and gun advocates refuse to acknowledge our successes," City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn), the co-chair of a City Council gun violence task force, said in a statement Thursday. "They refuse to listen to the people, and even to the police departments, who know that what we are doing is working."

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would force every state to recognize concealed-carry gun licenses from other states. The bill was attached to bipartisan proposals that would close loopholes in the national gun background check database and require a federal study of gun crimes, according to CNN.

The bill passed the Republican-controlled House 231-198 with six Democrats supporting it and 14 Republicans opposing it, including Staten Island's Dan Donovan and Long Island's Peter King.

Democratic lawmakers worry other states' lax permit requirements would allow potentially dangerous people to carry guns across state lines. Some 31 states don't give such permits to people who "pose a danger to the public" — but some states don't have any permit or background check requirements, according to the pro-gun control organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

Several New York City-area district attorneys and police officials gathered before Wednesday's House vote to denounce the bill as dangerous to New York City. The state and city should be allowed to decide who gets to carry guns, they argued, not federal lawmakers. And police worry traffic stops could get more dangerous if police don't know whether out-of-state visitors are carrying a concealed gun.

"New York City’s well-recognized success in the continued decrease in shootings and murder is in no small part a result of effective control of guns on our streets," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said in a statement. "Any measures that would contribute to the increase of firearms in New York could only jeopardize the level of safety that New Yorkers have benefited from through effective gun control."

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act is unlikely to pass the Senate, given Democrats' opposition and ability to filibuster the bill, according to CNN.

(Lead image: A man wears a holster during a 2015 concealed-carry permit class in Utah. Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)