Have a concealed weapon permit? If you're traveling across state lines, you might want to leave your weapon home.

Gun owners allowed to carry a concealed weapons in their home states can't legally carry them across state lines despite the efforts of Sen. John Thune.

Thune introduced legislation that would have allowed the legal transport of concealed weapons across state lines - provided the gun owner followed state laws concerning weapons.

Thune garnered decent support for the legislation including that of Sen. Tim Johnson.

It was a common sense bill defeated by an emotional argument. In truth, if a gun owner follows the law of each state, he or she should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon across state lines without having to do so illegally.

"An individual should be able to exercise their 2nd Amendment constitutional right and be able to travel through individual states," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles times. Thune, the Times reports, "added that under the bill, a gun owner would have been required to abide by the laws of the host state, including following any restrictions on where concealed weapons can be carried."

We agree with Thune: An individual should be able to carry a concealed weapon legally provided he or she is respecting the laws of each state.

Several gun control groups said the legislation would "dramatically weaken" state concealed weapons laws and arm criminals. That argument hinges on the fact that different states have enacted different concealed weapons laws. For instance, in Los Angeles County, permit holders are required to complete a training course but in Mississippi, none is required. Theoretically a person could get a permit in Mississippi and use it in LA, where higher standards for concealed weapons are required.

We're not opposed to higher and more consistent standards for concealed weapons permits. Consistency would, in theory, make opposition to the Thune bill irrelevant. There's a good argument to be heard that raising standards across the board to the highest level would open borders and respect state's rights at the same time.

But in the absence of consistent standards, there's no reason law-abiding concealed weapons permit holders should become lawbreakers when crossing state lines.