Truck drivers may be able to carry concealed handguns across state lines, thanks to bills in the House and Senate

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

Some truckers say that carrying an unloaded gun helps defend them against thieves, while others always carry aluminum bat or pepper spray.

• Truckers with a concealed carry license may soon be able to bring their handgun across state lines.
• Two bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate are pushing for "national concealed carry reciprocity."
• Currently, those with a concealed carry license in their home state aren't always able to carry a concealed weapon outside of their home state.

Two bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate are pushing for "national concealed carry reciprocity." Right now, those with a conceal carry license face a patchwork of different state laws when they travel from state to state.

That would be especially helpful for truck drivers who drive interstate and have a concealed carry license. Truckers with a concealed carry license may soon be able to bring their handgun across state lines.

In 2017, 23 truck transportation workers died in the US as a result of "violence and other injuries by persons or animals." Twenty-one died in 2016 from the same causes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read more: The Supreme Court just handed truck drivers a big win on an issue that has been plaguing the most vulnerable workers

Cargo theft, which sometimes results in drivers missing or injured, is more common. According to CargoNet, there were 328 reports of crimes on freight and the truckers who carry them in Q3 2018 alone.

Truck drivers aren't sure how to defend themselves

These crimes typically occur at warehouses and truck stops. Some truckers say that carrying an unloaded gun helps defend them against thieves, while others always carry an aluminum bat or pepper spray.

"They send us to places where we are treated poorly, not allowed parking, not allowed to use the rest room, not allowed to go inside to seek shelter in bad weather, but their attitude is 'well, it's part of the job,'" one anonymous truck driver told Land Line Magazine. "The military wouldn't send their soldiers into a hostile environment without protection, but that's what happens to us drivers every day."

Others say that the larger issue is a lack of truck driver parking. In 2009, for instance, 35-year-old truck driver Jason Rivenburg was shot in the head and robbed of $7 after he parked his truck in the lot of an abandoned gas station. There were no safer parking spots available.

That sparked Congress to enact "Jason's Law" in 2012, designed to investigate the lack of truck parking in the country. The first Jason's Law study, published in 2015, found that nearly three-quarters of State Department of Transportation heads said there's a lack of commercial truck parking in their state.

Timothy Adams, who has been a truck driver since 1996, told Business Insider that parking is "an enormous problem."

Are you a truck driver with an opinion on concealed carry or parking availability? Contact the reporter at rpremack@businessinsider.com.