A Liberal’s Vote for the Thune Gun Bill

Today’s vote to kill Sen. John Thune’s (R-S.D.) bill allowing the interstate transfer of concealed weapons permits broke down largely along predictable lines, with Republicans and rural-state Democrats voting in favor of the measure and more liberal Democrats opposing it.

A glaring exception to that rule, however, was Sen. Russ Feingold (D), a Wisconsin liberal who voted to approve the bill. Here’s his statement explaining that move:

Last year, the Supreme Court finally recognized that the right to bear arms protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution is an individual right.  Americans’ right to possess a firearm to protect themselves or their families does not stop at a state border.  Once citizens have obtained permission from a state to carry a concealed weapon, they should be able to rely on that permission in states that permit the concealed carrying of firearms, and that is why I will support the Thune amendment.

Worth noting, Wisconsin is one of just two states that prohibit gun owners from carrying concealed weapons in public at all, meaning the Thune amendment wouldn’t have affected Feingold’s constituents at all.