The House passes a bill that would let people with concealed carry permits take their guns into states where it’s currently illegal.

"I believe concealed carry reciprocity would make it harder for law enforcement officers to do their jobs."

Lois Beckett, a reporter for The Guardian, says the bill doesn't have much of a chance of passing the U.S. Senate, even though it passed the House of Representatives. Still, she says, it's been a National Rifle Association priority.

Robert Spitzer, a professor at SUNY Cortland, says the bill is part of a broader effort by gun rights activists and manufacturers to "normalize" gun ownership as demographic change works against them (most gun owners are older).

"This is one step to try to make the idea of having guns, getting guns, carrying guns to be sort of a normal or a more normal thing," Spitzer tells us.

John Lott, a gun rights proponent, says people who carry guns are by and large even more law-abiding than police officers themselves, and says that if staffers of a congressman shot at a softball game had been able to carry weapons in Virginia, the situation would have been over even sooner.

And finally, Major Sabrina Tapp-Harper of the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office tells us that she doesn't support this proposal: "I believe concealed carry reciprocity would make it harder for law enforcement officers to do their jobs."

Guests:

Lois Beckett, senior reporter for The Guardian covering gun policy, politics and criminal justice. (@loisbeckett)

Robert Spitzer, chair of the political science department at the State University of New York, Cortland. (@spitzerb)

John Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. (@crimeresearch1)

Major Sabrina Tapp-Harper, Domestic Violence Unit commander in the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office.

From Anthony's Reading List:

The Guardian: House Passes 'Unthinkable' NRA-Backed Bill Lifting Local Gun Restrictions — "On the day of an annual vigil in Washington DC that honors the victims of American gun violence, congressional Republicans passed a Trump-endorsed bill that would eviscerate local gun restrictions, removing states’ power to control who is allowed to carry a concealed, loaded handgun in their streets."