North Dakota Will Debate "Constitutional Carry" Legislation In 2017

Last week the State of Mississippi became the 9th state in the union to embrace what gun rights proponents call “constitutional carry,” or the right to carry lawfully-owned guns concealed without a permit.

North Dakota lawmakers are already talking about following suit ahead of their 2017 session which will begin in January after the November elections.

On Twitter, State Rep. Roscoe Streyle, a Republican from Minot, applauded Mississippi’s move and said North Dakota should do the same:

Responding to Streyle, state Rep. Rick Becker – who will represent his Bismarck-area district in the Legislature after losing his gubernatorial bid at the NDGOP state convention earlier this month – said he’s already got legislation in the works with Legislative Council.

Legislative Council are the attorneys for the Legislature, and they typically draft the bills lawmakers introduce.

I spoke with Becker about the legislation last night, and he said it’s an important issue for our state.

“A Constitutional Carry law removes the restrictions that are an impediment to ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’ clearly stated in the Second Amendment,” he told me.

During the 2015 session lawmakers expanded where concealed carry permit holders could bear their arms. HB1241, introduced by Streyle, removed political rallies or functions, musical concerts, publicly owned parks and publicly owned rest areas or restrooms from the list of places where guns are prohibited. Also the ban on guns in churches was dropped, giving the churches themselves the ability to set their own policy regarding guns.

It passed in the state Senate on a 45-2 vote and in the state House on a 74-19 vote.