I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9534 

To enforce the rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments 

against the States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024 

Mr. MASSIE (for himself, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. BIGGS, Ms. BOEBERT, Mr. 

BRECHEEN, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. GOOD of 

Virginia, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. GREENE of Georgia, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HIGGINS

of Louisiana, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. 

MORAN, Mr. OGLES, Mr. ROY, Mrs. SPARTZ, Mr. TIFFANY, and Mr. 

WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enforce the rights protected by the Second and 

Fourteenth Amendments against the States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Constitu5 tional Carry Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Recognizing the preexisting right to self-de2 fense, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of 

3 the United States guarantees individually to Amer4 ican citizens the right ‘‘to keep and bear arms’’, in5 cluding the right to bear arms in public. 

6 (2) The Second Amendment decrees that these 

7 rights to keep and bear arms ‘‘shall not be in8 fringed’’, and was enumerated in order to preserve 

9 ‘‘the security of a free State’’. 

10 (3) In District of Columbia v. Heller (554 U.S. 

11 570, 595 (2008)), the Supreme Court confirmed 

12 that ‘‘[t]here seems to us no doubt, on the basis of 

13 both text and history, that the Second Amendment 

14 conferred an individual right to keep and bear 

15 arms’’. 

16 (4) In McDonald v. City of Chicago (561 U.S. 

17 742, 791 (2010)), the Supreme Court ruled that the 

18 Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amend19 ment fully applicable to the States. Four Justices 

20 concluded that the rights protected by the Second 

21 Amendment are fundamental to the Nation’s scheme 

22 of ordered liberty and deeply rooted in this Nation’s 

23 ‘‘history and tradition’’, and therefore incorporated 

24 to the States through the Due Process Clause of the 

25 Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Thomas agreed 


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1 that the rights protected by the Second Amendment 

2 are both ‘‘fundamental’’ and ‘‘deeply rooted’’ and, as 

3 such, are enforceable against the States under the 

4 Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities 

5 Clause. 

6 (5) Recently, the Supreme Court acknowledged 

7 in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen 

8 (142 S. Ct. 2111, 2156 (2022)), that the Second 

9 and Fourteenth Amendments protect the individual 

10 right to carry arms outside the home for self-de11 fense. Further, the Court reiterated that the Second 

12 Amendment’s otherwise ‘‘unqualified command’’ only 

13 accommodates laws that are ‘‘consistent with this 

14 Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation’’ 

15 (Id. at 2126). 

16 (6) Certain States and localities have enacted 

17 gun control laws that are not consistent with the 

18 text of the Second Amendment or this Nation’s his19 torical tradition of firearm regulation. The criminal20 ization of peaceable, public firearms carry is repug21 nant to the original meaning of the Second Amend22 ment. 

23 (7) Any State or local restriction on the right 

24 of American citizens to keep and bear arms impairs 

25 the ability of the Second Amendment to achieve its 


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1 textually specified purpose, ‘‘the security of a free 

2 State’’. 

3 SEC. 3. THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 927 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 927. The right to keep and bear arms 

7 ‘‘(a) No State or political subdivision of a State may 

8 impose a criminal or civil penalty on, or otherwise indi9 rectly dissuade the carrying of firearms (including by im10 posing a financial or other barrier to entry) in public by 

11 residents or nonresidents of that State who are citizens 

12 of the United States and otherwise eligible to possess fire13 arms under State and Federal law. 

14 ‘‘(b) Any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or 

15 usage of a State or a political subdivision of a State that 

16 criminalizes, penalizes, or otherwise indirectly dissuades 

17 the carrying of firearms (including by imposing a financial 

18 or other barrier to entry) in public by any resident or non19 resident who is a United States citizen and otherwise eligi20 ble to possess firearms under State and Federal law, shall 

21 have no force or effect. 

22 ‘‘(c) The term ‘State’ as used in this section includes 

23 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

24 Rico, and the possessions of the United States (not includ25 ing the Canal Zone). 


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1 ‘‘(d) The term ‘public’ as used in this section— 

2 ‘‘(1) includes any place held open to the public, 

3 regardless of ownership, but in the case of a pri4 vately-owned location held open to the public, does 

5 not include a place where the owner communicates 

6 clearly and conspicuously a prohibition of firearms 

7 on the premises; and 

8 ‘‘(2) does not include a place where screening 

9 for firearms is conducted under State law.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 for such chapter is amended by striking the item relating 

12 to section 927 and inserting the following: 

‘‘927. The right to keep and bear arms.’’. 

Æ 


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