I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 645
To enforce the rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments
against the States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY23, 2025
Mr. M
ASSIE(for himself, Ms. BOEBERT, Mr. BIGGSof Arizona, Mr.
B
RECHEEN, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. CLINE, Mr. CLOUD,
Mr. C
OLLINS, Mr. CRANE, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. GREENEof Georgia, Mr.
H
ARRISof Maryland, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mrs.
L
UNA, Mrs. MILLERof Illinois, Mr. MOOREof Alabama, Mr. MORAN, Mr.
O
GLES, Mr. ROSE, Mr. ROY, Mr. SELF, Mrs. SPARTZ, Ms. TENNEY, Mr.
T
IFFANY, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr. WIED, Mr. GILLof Texas, and Mr.
H
ARRIGAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To enforce the rights protected by the Second and
Fourteenth Amendments against the States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Constitu-4
tional Carry Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) Recognizing the preexisting right to self-de-1
fense, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of 2
the United States guarantees individually to Amer-3
ican citizens the right ‘‘to keep and bear arms’’, in-4
cluding the right to bear arms in public. 5
(2) The Second Amendment decrees that these 6
rights to keep and bear arms ‘‘shall not be in-7
fringed’’, and was enumerated in order to preserve 8
‘‘the security of a free State’’. 9
(3) In District of Columbia v. Heller (554 U.S. 10
570, 595 (2008)), the Supreme Court confirmed 11
that ‘‘[t]here seems to us no doubt, on the basis of 12
both text and history, that the Second Amendment 13
conferred an individual right to keep and bear 14
arms’’. 15
(4) In McDonald v. City of Chicago (561 U.S. 16
742, 791 (2010)), the Supreme Court ruled that the 17
Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amend-18
ment fully applicable to the States. Four Justices 19
concluded that the rights protected by the Second 20
Amendment are fundamental to the Nation’s scheme 21
of ordered liberty and deeply rooted in this Nation’s 22
‘‘history and tradition’’, and therefore incorporated 23
to the States through the Due Process Clause of the 24
Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Thomas agreed 25
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that the rights protected by the Second Amendment 1
are both ‘‘fundamental’’ and ‘‘deeply rooted’’ and, as 2
such, are enforceable against the States under the 3
Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities 4
Clause. 5
(5) Recently, the Supreme Court acknowledged 6
in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen 7
(142 S. Ct. 2111, 2156 (2022)), that the Second 8
and Fourteenth Amendments protect the individual 9
right to carry arms outside the home for self-de-10
fense. Further, the Court reiterated that the Second 11
Amendment’s otherwise ‘‘unqualified command’’ only 12
accommodates laws that are ‘‘consistent with this 13
Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation’’ 14
(Id. at 2126). 15
(6) Certain States and localities have enacted 16
gun control laws that are not consistent with the 17
text of the Second Amendment or this Nation’s his-18
torical tradition of firearm regulation. The criminal-19
ization of peaceable, public firearms carry is repug-20
nant to the original meaning of the Second Amend-21
ment. 22
(7) Any State or local restriction on the right 23
of American citizens to keep and bear arms impairs 24
the ability of the Second Amendment to achieve its 25
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textually specified purpose, ‘‘the security of a free 1
State’’. 2
SEC. 3. THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 927 of title 18, United 4
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 5
‘‘§ 927. The right to keep and bear arms 6
‘‘(a) No State or political subdivision of a State may 7
impose a criminal or civil penalty on, or otherwise indi-8
rectly limit the carrying of firearms (including by imposing 9
a financial or other barrier to entry) in public by residents 10
or nonresidents of that State who are citizens of the 11
United States and otherwise eligible to possess firearms 12
under State and Federal law. 13
‘‘(b) Any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or 14
usage of a State or a political subdivision of a State that 15
criminalizes, penalizes, or otherwise indirectly dissuades 16
the carrying of firearms (including by imposing a financial 17
or other barrier to entry) in public by any resident or non-18
resident who is a United States citizen and otherwise eligi-19
ble to possess firearms under State and Federal law, shall 20
have no force or effect. 21
‘‘(c) The term ‘State’ as used in this section includes 22
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 23
Rico, and the possessions of the United States (not includ-24
ing the Canal Zone). 25
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‘‘(d) The term ‘public’ as used in this section— 1
‘‘(1) includes any place held open to the public, 2
regardless of ownership, but in the case of a pri-3
vately-owned location held open to the public, does 4
not include a place where the owner communicates 5
clearly and conspicuously a prohibition of firearms 6
on the premises; and 7
‘‘(2) does not include a place where screening 8
for firearms is conducted under State law.’’. 9
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 10
for such chapter is amended by striking the item relating 11
to section 927 and inserting the following: 12
‘‘927. The right to keep and bear arms.’’.
Æ
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