Senator Mike Lee Introduces Nationwide Constitutional Carry to Eliminate Permit Requirements
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has launched a campaign to repeal carry permit requirements across the United States, introducing legislation that would establish nationwide Constitutional Carry and eliminate the patchwork of state laws that gun rights advocates argue trap law-abiding Americans in a maze of conflicting regulations.
The National Constitutional Carry Act, first obtained by Fox News Digital, represents the most ambitious federal effort yet to guarantee that Americans can carry firearms in public without obtaining permission from government officials. Lee announced the bill on social media with characteristic directness.
“Today I’m introducing the National Constitutional Carry Act in the U.S. Senate,” Lee wrote on X. “Americans have the right to keep and bear arms without asking for permission from hostile politicians or getting jailed for crossing the wrong state line. Stay strapped.”
Today I’m introducing the National Constitutional Carry Act in the U.S. Senate.
Americans have the right to keep and bear arms without asking for permission from hostile politicians or getting jailed for crossing the wrong state line.
Stay strapped. @GunOwners @gunrights pic.twitter.com/Y9DiqLpo5g
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 5, 2026
The legislation would accomplish several goals that gun rights organizations have pursued for decades. It would eliminate concealed carry permit requirements nationwide for eligible United States citizens, defined as those already legally allowed to own a firearm. It would prohibit state and local governments from requiring licenses that impose fees or other conditions on public carry. And it would bar states from criminalizing public carry for eligible citizens who travel across state lines.
“The Founders established a national right to keep and bear arms, not to ask for permission from hostile local officials or risk imprisonment for crossing the wrong state line,” Lee said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Many states already protect the right to carry without a permit, and it’s time to reaffirm this right for all law-abiding Americans. The National Constitutional Carry Act will establish nationwide permitless carry to keep America safe and her people free.”
Currently, 29 states allow some form of constitutional carry, meaning residents can carry a concealed firearm without obtaining a permit from the government. But Americans who travel between states face a confusing landscape where the firearm they legally carry in one jurisdiction could result in felony charges in another. Lee’s bill aims to resolve this by establishing a national floor of protection that supersedes restrictive state and local laws.
The legislation includes several carve-outs designed to preserve other legal frameworks while expanding carry rights. Private property owners would retain the right to prohibit firearms on their premises. Bans on firearms in security-screened locations such as government buildings would remain in place. And individuals who are not legally allowed to own a firearm under existing federal law would remain prohibited from carrying one.
The bill builds on prior legislative efforts. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced similar legislation in the House in 2024, though it did not become law. Lee’s Senate introduction signals that constitutional carry advocates believe the political moment has arrived to push the issue at the federal level.
Gun rights organizations immediately rallied behind the proposal. The National Association for Gun Rights lauded the bill as “the only legislation that will restore the right of all law-abiding Americans to carry a firearm in every state without having to beg for government permission.”
Gun Owners of America offered support that explicitly connected the legislation to current geopolitical tensions. Erich Pratt, senior vice president of the organization, framed the issue in terms of national security during a time of international conflict.
“In a time of war, Americans cannot afford to have the right to bear arms delayed by arbitrary state permitting processes,” Pratt said, referencing the ongoing conflict involving Iran. “Public safety is threatened not only by ordinary criminals but also by bad actors working for foreign adversaries, and Americans need to be armed for the security of our free state.”
The legislation faces significant hurdles in a closely divided Senate where moderate Republicans have historically been reluctant to embrace firearms legislation that overrides state authority. Democrats are expected to oppose the bill uniformly, arguing that it would undermine public safety by eliminating permit requirements that allow law enforcement to screen potential gun carriers.
Supporters counter that the permit system has never prevented criminals from carrying weapons illegally and serves only to burden law-abiding citizens with fees, paperwork, and the risk of prosecution for inadvertently running afoul of complex state regulations. They point to the 29 states that have adopted Constitutional Carry without experiencing the increases in gun violence that opponents predicted.
Lee’s introduction of the bill places the issue squarely before the Senate during a period when Second Amendment jurisprudence has shifted dramatically in favor of gun rights. The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen established that regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, a standard that supporters argue constitutional carry easily satisfies given the absence of permit requirements through most of American history.
Whether the National Constitutional Carry Act advances in the current Congress or serves as a marker for future legislative efforts, its introduction represents significant progress in the push to establish carrying firearms in public as a right that requires no government permission. For gun rights advocates who have watched Constitutional Carry sweep through state legislatures over the past decade, the federal bill represents the logical culmination of a movement that has transformed the legal landscape of firearm carry across America.
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About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
