Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (Getty)

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked top Senators to help defeat a bill that he said would compromise his ability to fight crime. Mr. Schneiderman wrote a letter to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in which he urged them "to oppose the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act" because it would increase violence and make it easier for gun traffickers to do business in the Empire State.

The National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act would amend the U.S. Criminal Code on firearms to allow permits to carry concealed weapons to carry over from one state to another.

"It would force nearly every state in the Union--including those, like New York, with reasonable restrictions on firearm ownership and transport, that are essential to public safety--to abandon its own gun laws by allowing out-of-state visitors to carry concealed firearms based on their home state's less safe laws, rather than those of the state they are entering," Mr. Schneiderman wrote.

Mr. Schneiderman wrote that the bill "would have a devastating effect on the ability of law enforcement in New York to combat the scourge of gun violence" and allow gun traffickers to "more easily bring illegal guns into the State."

"This legislation would strip New York and other states of the authority to determine who may carry a concealed, loaded weapon within their borders. ... I strongly urge you to oppose the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act," Mr. Schneiderman wrote.

The National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act is being sponsored by South Dakota Republican John Thune. A version of the bill is also being discussed in the House of Representatives sponsored by Republican Florida Congressman Cliff Stearns and North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler.