Sponsors (75)
The bill expands and clarifies individuals' public-carry rights and protects some private-property rules, trading increased individual freedom to carry in public for reduced local control and likely higher public-safety, enforcement, and litigation costs.
Eligible U.S. citizens (residents and nonresidents who qualify) who lawfully possess firearms can carry in public without fear of state or local criminal penalties, clarifying and protecting public-carry rights (including protections for people with disabilities who rely on self-defense in public).
Private businesses retain the ability to prohibit firearms on their premises if they clearly post a prohibition, preserving property-owners' control over their locations.
Congressional findings in the bill align federal law with recent Supreme Court precedent (Heller/McDonald/Bruen), which could reduce some legal uncertainty for gun owners and courts about the scope of individual gun rights.
Law enforcement, urban and rural communities, hospitals, and taxpayers could face higher public-safety harms and medical costs because broader public carry may increase accidental shootings, escalated confrontations, and firearm injuries.
State and local governments lose significant authority to regulate public carry, reducing local control to tailor public-safety policies to community conditions.
Law enforcement may face greater operational challenges distinguishing prohibited carriers and enforcing public-safety measures, complicating policing and potentially increasing risks to officers and the public.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Preempts state and local laws to prohibit criminal or civil penalties for public carrying of firearms by otherwise-eligible U.S. citizens, broadly protecting public carry.
Official title: To enforce the rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments against the States.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Thomas Massie · Last progress January 23, 2025
Makes it illegal for states, territories, and local governments to impose criminal or civil penalties or otherwise restrict the public carrying of firearms by U.S. citizens who may lawfully possess firearms under federal and state law. It declares existing state or local laws that criminalize, penalize, or indirectly dissuade peaceful public carry to be without force or effect and defines "public" to mean places held open to the public (with narrow private-property and screening exceptions).