By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
President Donald Trump dropped a strong hint that his administration is “working on” legislation aimed at securing national right-to-carry, during an event at the Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Penn.
Almost immediately, Newsweek swung into action raising alarms about the notion, pointing to six states which would face the “biggest impact” because of their strict gun control laws: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
Five of those states suffered a major setback when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Hawaii’s concealed carry law requiring legally-armed citizens to get permission from business owners before entering their premises with firearms. See Related Story.
A possible mechanism to make this happen is Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) National Constitutional Carry Act, introduced in March. The legislation got quick endorsement from Gun Owners of America and the National Association for Gun Rights.
When Trump mentioned national concealed carry, his audience erupted with enthusiasm. Gun rights organizations including the National Rifle Association, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, GOA and NAGR have all favored national reciprocity.
Currently, 29 states have so-called “Constitutional carry” laws allowing citizens to carry firearms for personal protection without licenses or permits. Those states still issue licenses/permits for the purpose of allowing their citizens to carry in other states with reciprocity agreements, or which recognize carry permits from other states.
Newsweek quoted White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, who stated, “President Trump has been consistent for many years: he is an unapologetic supporter of Second Amendment rights for law‑abiding citizens.”
As reported by Fox News, Sen. Lee’s bill “would…prohibit states and local governments from imposing licensing requirements, fees or criminal penalties on otherwise lawful public carry while preserving restrictions in certain secured locations and on private property where firearms are prohibited.”
There have been other efforts to create a national carry standard, including H.R. 38, Congressman Richard Hudson’s bill, introduced early in 2025. The bill has drawn dozens of co-sponsors but it is languishing.
When he announced his carry legislation, Lee stated, “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. Many states already protect the right to carry without a permit, and it’s time to reaffirm this right for all law-abiding Americans. The National Constitutional Carry Act will establish nationwide permitless carry to keep America safe and her people free.”
But such language makes anti-gunners in restrictive states cringe. Over several decades, Democrat-controlled legislatures in a handful of states have repeatedly passed increasingly restrictive gun control laws, limiting the right to carry. In 2022, however, the Supreme Court declared “may issue” carry laws violate the Second Amendment in the case known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Restrictive states scrambled to get around that ruling, adopting laws establishing so-called “sensitive area” restrictions and other roadblocks.
But Trump’s remarks in Pennsylvania have re-kindled hopes that further restoration of the Second Amendment is looming.
