Second Amendment supports won big on Tuesday, but the election of Donald Trump and a Senate majority (and almost certainly control of the House as well) doesn’t guarantee that we’ll see things like a national right-to-carry reciprocity law or the de-regulation of suppressors, much less the repeal of the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act. 

Republicans will have 53 seats in the Senate, but unless the filibuster disappears it’s still going to take 60 votes to pass most legislation (budget bills are a notable exception). That alone is going to make it challenging to adopt measures to protect and strengthen our Second Amendment rights, no matter how reasonable they might be. 

Next year, Congress should pass what I will call the Carry Rights Protection Act (CRPA).

It should have three broad components:

1. If you have a valid CCW permit from any state, it is now valid in all of the United States.

2. State-level “sensitive places” laws are invalid…

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) November 7, 2024

Even if the Senate does nuke the filibuster (which would be a short-sighted mistake, in my opinion), gun owners can’t take it for granted that every Republican is going to sign on to a pro-2A bill. 

Take Rep. Richard Hudson’s bill establishing national right-to-carry reciprocity, for instance. When H.R. 38 was first introduced in January 2023, 118 Republicans signed on as co-sponsors. Today that number has grown to 170 members of the House; a good chunk of the lower chamber, but still 47 votes shy of a majority. 

Now, it’s true that congresscritters don’t have to co-sponsor a bill to vote in favor of it, but the fact that dozens of Republicans are non-commital on Hudson’s reasonable legislation is an indication that Second Amendment supporters can’t just assume that a Republican majority is going to automatically translate to legislative victories.  

If Hudson can’t get to 217 for right-to-carry reciprocity, how many votes do you think there are in the House to repeal the NFA, the Gun Control Act, or the Hughes Amendment? Rep. Jeff Duncan’s Hearing Protection Act, which would remove suppressors from the list of NFA items,has attracted 69 co-sponsors since it was introduced last January, while the companion bill introduced by Sen. Mike Crapo has 29 cosponsors. 

I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of Republicans in Congress aren’t going to vote for gun control legislation. That doesn’t mean they’re going to be a rubber stamp of support for every pro-Second Amendment bill that’s introduced. We can’t take their votes for granted, or assume that just because they have an “R” after their name they’re going to sign on to an expansive offensive to repeal the gun control laws that are currently in place. 

This year’s elections are an opportunity for Second Amendment activists, not a certainty that we’ll see substantial improvement to the status quo. It’s more important than ever that gun owners and 2A advocates be engaged in the political process if we want to see positive changes like right-to-carry reciprocity or the deregulation of suppressors. I’m afraid that if we just kick back and wait for the GOP to reward us, we’re going to be in for a frustrating two years.