The National Constitutional Carry Act seeks to enforce the Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights concerning the carrying of firearms against state and local governments. Citing Supreme Court decisions like District of Columbia v. Heller , McDonald v. City of Chicago , and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen , the bill asserts that the individual right to keep and bear arms, including in public for self-defense, is fundamental and applicable to the states. The core provision amends federal law to prohibit any State or political subdivision from imposing criminal or civil penalties, or otherwise indirectly limiting, the public carrying of firearms by United States citizens who are eligible to possess them under State and Federal law. This includes preventing financial or other barriers to entry. The bill specifies that any such state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage shall have no force or effect, effectively establishing a national constitutional carry standard. It defines "public" to include any place held open to the public, with exceptions for privately-owned locations where the owner clearly prohibits firearms and places with firearms screening under state law.