ElTacoGrande
Member
I've never heard anyone talking about this, so let's start talking about it here and see if we can get some workable ideas maybe.
t's not as strange as it sounds. Most of Europe has discretionary permit systems, and parts of Europe are even Vermont-style (ie, no permit is needed). Both Mexico and Canada have discretionary (but rarely-issued) permit systems. I believe many other countries in South America are effectively shall-issue. Panama, for instance, I know is shall-issue. South Africa used to be very liberal about permits, and actually issued permits to non-citizens upon arrival in Johanesberg International Airport! Also, we already have a widely-used form of international reciprocity in that on-duty law enforcement officers can often carry if their duty takes them overseas (ie, an FBI agent investigating a bombing in London would be able to pack there, I believe). Same for security for government officials, even in the most anti-gun countries: the US Secret Service certainly packs when in Tokyo. Well, what about starting international reciprocity for ordinary permit holders?
There are several barriers to this. On the US side there are federal laws prohibiting possession of firearms by non-residents, with exceptions for some "sporting" uses. I'm not sure exactly what would need to be changed to make this possible, or if it could somehow be done all at the state level, which would be easier of course. It would also help to have streamlined firearm importation rules. Currently it's possible for an ordinary foreigner (ie, not a licensed importer) to import a firearm for personal use, but it does require some paperwork and it's a bit slow.
Then we would need to find a foreign country to start with. In Europe, the most likely places would be Switzerland or the Czech Republic. The problem is that (AFAIK) both those places are Vermont-style, ie, they don't issue permits, you can just carry, so there's no way we could honor a Czech permit, because there's no such thing (AFAIK). I think that Europe is either "Vermont style" or "discretionary". We would need a place that's in between, what we would call "shall-issue". I don't know anywhere in Europe that is shall-issue. The "discretionary" places in Europe, like Germany, France, etc, are all very miserly in their issuing and are not enthusiastic about their own citizens packing, much less American tourists.
Much of Latin America is shall-issue (AFAIK), but I'm not sure how easy of a sell it would be to tell some state that it should honor Panamanian permits, for example.
Any other ideas?
t's not as strange as it sounds. Most of Europe has discretionary permit systems, and parts of Europe are even Vermont-style (ie, no permit is needed). Both Mexico and Canada have discretionary (but rarely-issued) permit systems. I believe many other countries in South America are effectively shall-issue. Panama, for instance, I know is shall-issue. South Africa used to be very liberal about permits, and actually issued permits to non-citizens upon arrival in Johanesberg International Airport! Also, we already have a widely-used form of international reciprocity in that on-duty law enforcement officers can often carry if their duty takes them overseas (ie, an FBI agent investigating a bombing in London would be able to pack there, I believe). Same for security for government officials, even in the most anti-gun countries: the US Secret Service certainly packs when in Tokyo. Well, what about starting international reciprocity for ordinary permit holders?
There are several barriers to this. On the US side there are federal laws prohibiting possession of firearms by non-residents, with exceptions for some "sporting" uses. I'm not sure exactly what would need to be changed to make this possible, or if it could somehow be done all at the state level, which would be easier of course. It would also help to have streamlined firearm importation rules. Currently it's possible for an ordinary foreigner (ie, not a licensed importer) to import a firearm for personal use, but it does require some paperwork and it's a bit slow.
Then we would need to find a foreign country to start with. In Europe, the most likely places would be Switzerland or the Czech Republic. The problem is that (AFAIK) both those places are Vermont-style, ie, they don't issue permits, you can just carry, so there's no way we could honor a Czech permit, because there's no such thing (AFAIK). I think that Europe is either "Vermont style" or "discretionary". We would need a place that's in between, what we would call "shall-issue". I don't know anywhere in Europe that is shall-issue. The "discretionary" places in Europe, like Germany, France, etc, are all very miserly in their issuing and are not enthusiastic about their own citizens packing, much less American tourists.
Much of Latin America is shall-issue (AFAIK), but I'm not sure how easy of a sell it would be to tell some state that it should honor Panamanian permits, for example.
Any other ideas?