[Posted Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at 11:25 a.m.] After the New
Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police mounted last-minute opposition,
Governor Lynch vetoed our bill, HB1161. Sponsored by Pro-Gun New Hampshire
Advisor Dan Eaton, the House majority floor leader, this bill would have
repealed an obsolete law requiring a town license to sell handguns at retail --
in addition to a Federal Firearms License. The Union Leader article is at http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Governor+vetoes+gun-sales+license+bill&articleId=991df859-80d7-40d3-8ee0-25148ee2166e
The Governor's veto message (at http://www.governor.nh.gov/media/news/2010/072610-hb1161.htm ) includes this: "This license serves several purposes, including
identification of retail gun sellers who might not be subject to federal
firearms licensing requirements." What??? If there's anyone stupid enough to
risk ten years in a federal prison, he's not going to worry about a town license
that most towns don't know about in the first place. The NH police chiefs
association is wrong.
There was no legislative opposition to this bill worth
mentioning; both House and Senate committee votes were unanimous in favor of
it. What would be the downside of an override vote?