Law-abiding gun owners often hear horror stories about fellow gun owners who crossed state lines or traveled through a state that doesn’t have reciprocity with their home state and unwittingly became criminals for breaking a law.

It happened to a Butler County resident who committed a minor traffic offense in South Carolina. He thought it appropriate to provide the officer his Pennsylvania License to Carry, because his gun was in his glove compartment, for which he had no reason to go into to retrieve anything. He was subsequently arrested, charged and his gun confiscated. He spent a significant amount of money and travel to defend himself against the charges.

There was the single mom from Philadelphia who spent years fighting to stay out of prison after driving with her firearm into New Jersey.

There was the North Carolina man who was arrested for having his firearm while driving to New Jersey to help with Hurricane Sandy.

There was the man from Tennessee who was arrested in Delaware after he was stopped for speeding.

These stories are repeated time and time again, and there needs to be an appropriate remedy.

These were otherwise law-abiding citizens in their communities who had no reason to violate their right to keep and bear arms. The only crime they committed was to travel into another state whose reciprocity was not recognized. For that they will now have a criminal record that will affect their rights to conceal carry or affect their rights to keep and bear arms in their home state. None of these people had any criminal intent to violate overly-complex firearms laws within the state they were traveling. They simply took to the road, were stopped for a traffic violation, and informed the officer they were carrying.

These are cautionary tales to all law-abiding citizens who practice safe and responsible gun ownership — and who carry concealed. All gun owners live in fear of breaking laws regarding their gun rights and its got to stop. These arrests and prosecutions are a waste of everybody’s time, money and energy.

There is good news. Congress is finally attempting to do something about it. The National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would ensure that law-abiding citizens who can legally carry concealed firearms in their home state will also be able to legally carry in other states. It’s like having a valid driver’s license in your home state and having to stop at the non-reciprocity state to take their driver’s test before you can drive through. And there is no constitutional amendment covering driver’s licensing as a right.

This is a no-brainer. Law enforcement officers should use their time and resources working to keep our streets safe from violence. They should not have to utilize their valuable time through an arrest process on law-abiding citizens who simply cross state lines.

This bill matters to Pennsylvania. Currently many of the state’s 19 representatives have co-sponsored the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. It’s imperative that more of our state’s representatives in Washington, D.C. support this bill.

I’d personally like to thank Rep. Charlie Dent for his support, and I’d respectfully ask Reps. Ryan Costello, Patrick Meehan and Brian Fitzpatrick to support it as well.

This is a fundamental Second Amendment issue. There is no reason a law-abiding citizens who is trusted to carry his or her firearm in their home state cannot be trusted to do the same in another state. Crossing a state line does not, all of a sudden, make an otherwise law-abiding citizen want to commit violent crimes.

On the flip side, threats to your safety can happen anywhere, at any time. A Pennsylvanian can be victimized in another state just as easily as they can five minutes from home. The law should protect a person’s right to defend his or her own life, not restrict where and who a person can do that.

Confusing and varied laws state-to-state compound this problem. There are nearly 1.2 million concealed license to carry holders in Pennsylvania. However, those licenses are not recognized in 19 other states, including D.C.

There are more than 16 million Americans who carry concealed and are among the most law-abiding in America. They take their responsibility seriously, and they take gun ownership seriously. In recent years America has seen a surge in lawful concealed firearms licenses or permits, which have been accompanied by a drop in crime.

Pennsylvanians must let these representatives know how important this bill is. My hope is that every law-abiding gun owner will get involved and contact their representatives.

Everyone knows criminals do not abide by the law. Those intent on committing crimes will not be deterred by a law or a sign that restricts their right to carry. The only people affected by these confusing laws are those who want to abide by the law.

Every elected official swears an oath to support, obey and defend the Constitutions of the United States, and the same for their home state. It is time to provide an avenue for those law-abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves and their families wherever they are. It is time to pass the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (HR 38) (S 446)

Michael T. Slupe is the sheriff of Butler County.