Sponsors (3)
The bill expands and nationalizes the right of eligible individuals to carry firearms in public—providing clarity and uniformity for carriers and travelers—while removing local control and raising substantial public-safety, enforcement, and fiscal risks.
Eligible gun owners (including middle-class families and young adults) can carry firearms in public nationwide without state or local criminal or civil penalties.
The bill creates a uniform national rule and reduces conflicting local laws, cutting legal uncertainty for lawful carriers and for law enforcement about when public carry is allowed.
Clarifies that nonresident U.S. citizens who are otherwise eligible may carry in public across States, reducing uncertainty for travelers and visitors.
Residents (especially in cities and other higher-risk areas) may face increased public-safety risks because a broader protected right to public carry is likely to increase the number of armed people in public, raising risks of accidental injury or escalation of disputes.
States and local governments lose authority to restrict public carrying of firearms, reducing local control over public-safety rules and the ability to tailor policies to community needs.
Police and other law-enforcement agencies may face operational and enforcement challenges—screening, policing, and crime-prevention could become more complicated where local 'gun-free' policies are undercut.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Preempts state and local laws to prohibit criminal or civil penalties for eligible U.S. citizens carrying firearms in public and defines related terms like "public" and "firearm."
Introduced March 5, 2026 by Mike Lee · Last progress March 5, 2026
Prohibits States and local governments from making it a crime or imposing civil penalties for U.S. citizens (residents or nonresidents) who are otherwise eligible under federal and state law to carry firearms in public. Replaces the existing federal provision with a broad federal preemption that invalidates state or local rules that criminalize, penalize, or indirectly dissuade public carry, and defines key terms such as “firearm,” “public,” and “State.”