Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, American citizens are guaranteed "Equal Protection under the Law.” The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction.  However, American Citizens engaged in interstate commerce are routinely discriminated against in that they do not enjoy the same protections as those citizens engaged in other occupations like office workers who can return to the safety of their homes each night.

While many American citizens currently enjoy the right to carry concealed weapons in their home state, some states and cities deprive them of the right to protect themselves and the high value cargo they are transporting while working in interstate commerce outside of their home state. American citizens should not have to sacrifice their personal safety and their family's financial security in order to deliver products to their fellow citizens in other states.

Once an American citizen leaves his home state and engages in "interstate commerce," his ability to carry a firearm and guard the shipment is at the mercy of other states that may or may not choose to grant reciprocity to their home state. Instead, American citizens should be protected under Federal Law pursuant to the Interstate Commerce clause and in the spirit of the Second Amendment. The "Reserved Powers" clause, which gives the states the right to regulate guns carried WITHIN their state, should not apply to instances involving interstate commerce because the firearm is carried THROUGH a state not solely WITHIN that state. In essence, there should be a Federal Business Carry permit issued by the ATF that supersedes and preempts states' laws and their right to regulate the carrying of guns. The states should not be allowed to interfere with interstate commerce in this manner.

"Jason's Law," named after Interstate Truck Driver Jason Rivenburg, who was murdered in his truck while parked in an abandoned gas station in 2009 during an interstate shipment from Virginia to South Caronlina, was passed as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act in 2012 and authorizes funding for safe truck parking. Nonetheless, five years after Rivenburg's murder, history repeated itself as Indiana-based Interstate Truck Driver Michael Boeglin was gunned down in Detroit in June of 2014, leaving behind a new wife and unborn child.  But make no mistake: these are not isolated incidents. According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck drivers are one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States ( http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfar0020.pdf ).

The SBTC is a network of transportation professionals, associations, and industry suppliers that is on the front lines when it comes to issues that affect transportation professionals in small business. We seek to promote and protect the interests of small businesses in the transportation industry.  We believe it is clear that Congress needs to take action to enable American Citizens to defend themselves while transporting goods across state lines. Such interference by certain states with interstate commerce is unlawful and Un-Constitutional under the American theory of Federalism.

The SBTC therefore calls on Congress to remedy this situation before more lives are lost by passing enabling legislation directing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to develop and implement a Federal Concealed Firearms Business Carry program that preempts states from regulating the carrying of firearms through states and their political subdivisions.