Will “reciprocity” be required on other issues?
By EOM Staff
It will be interesting to see if H.R. 822 passes through the Senate. This bill would allow people with concealed carry permits from one state to legally travel to other states with their concealed weapons, regardless of the other states’ laws.
My interest in this bill is how it may affect other issues. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., now issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Maryland recognizes same-sex marriages but does not grant marriage licenses.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington allow medicinal marijuana use.
Oregon, Washington and Montana allow assisted suicide.
By passing H.R. 822, requiring “reciprocity” among states, the door is potentially open to requiring states to recognize and allow adherence to laws passed in other states.
If a same-sex couple married in Iowa moves to California, would California be required to grant all rights to that couple as they do to heterosexual couples?
If someone from Alaska has a card authorizing medicinal use of marijuana, can they use their marijuana while they are in Illinois?
If someone in Oregon has the necessary physician documentation required for an assisted suicide, but wants to be with their loved ones in Colorado when they pass away, does Colorado have to allow that?
Personally, I think that assisted suicide, medicinal marijuana and gay marriage should be allowed throughout the United States. But I do recognize the right of individual states to determine what will be allowed within their borders.
Interestingly, most of the GOP candidates have in the past stated their belief in states’ rights. However, H.R. 822 is a Republican sponsored bill and if it passes, it may begin the erosion of the states’ rights they proclaim to support.
What’s your opinion?
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