Pro-Gun New Hampshire

[Posted Saturday, April 16, 2011, at 6:40 p.m.]  HB330, the Constitutional Carry bill, passed the NH House of Representatives by a vote of 244 to 109, as reported here earlier.  Now it is scheduled for a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Commitee this Wednesday, April 20, at 1:15 p.m., in State House room 100.  Fifteen minutes earlier, at 1:00 p.m., the committee will hear HB544, the knife-rights preemption bill.  Please attend both hearings to support these bills, and contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:  Chair Matthew Houde (Senate office 271-2118); Vice-Chair Sharon Carson (Senate office 271-2674); Fenton Groen (Senate office 271-3045); and Jim Luther (Senate office 271-2246).

[Posted Tuesday, April 5, 2011, at 7:50 p.m.]  Two legislative bills dealing with defense of self and property have passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives (as reported earlier), and are now scheduled for public hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  In addition, a similar Senate bill is on its way to the House.

HB210 (bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0210.html ) will be heard by the Senate Judiciary on Thursday, April 7, at 1:15 p.m.; HB378 (bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0378.html ) will be heard by the same committee immediately afterwards, at 1:30 p.m.  Both hearings are in Room 101 of the Legislative Office Building (LOB), behind the State House.  Meanwhile, SB88 (bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/SB0088.html ) will be heard by the House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday, April 12, at 1:00 p.m.; that hearing is in Room 204 of the LOB.  PGNH supports all three bills. 

[Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at 3:30 p.m.; updated 6:05 p.m.]  The New Hampshire House of Representatives just passed HB330, as amended in committee, by a vote of 244 to 109.  Rep. Hoell's proposed floor amendment, which would have replaced all of that bill with different language, failed by a vote of 261 to 41, despite its support by Gun Owners of New Hampshire through their website (gonh.org) and their membership email alerts.  PGNH opposed the Hoell amendment, as described in an earlier article on this website at http://pgnh.org/the_anti_gun_consequences_of_jr_hoells_proposed_floor_amendment_to_hb330, and supported both the original HB330 and the committee amendment (whose authors included a number of PGNH Advisors, including the Speaker of the House); see our earlier article at http://pgnh.org/important_house_votes_on_tuesday_march_15_contact_your_state_reps.  One floor amendment to the committee-amended version did pass, but that merely removed the explicit reference to federal gun laws (item "j" of the amended bill's Section 2), something that we find of no consequence either way.

by Evan Nappen, General Counsel to Pro-Gun New Hampshire 

[Posted Sunday, March 13, 2011, at 12:30 p.m.] The simplistic approach of JR Hoell’s proposed amendment to HB330 just repealing RSA 159:4 will cause a loss of gun rights and turn “Constitutional Carry” into “Unconstitutional Carry.”  Unfortunately, Gun Owners of New Hampshire (GO-NH) is supporting this. 

Instead of no license being needed, the license can easily be construed as MANDATORY by the courts: The following gun rights will be LOST:  

[Posted Saturday, March 12, 2011, at 9:00 p.m.; updated on Sunday, March 13, 2011, at 12:30 p.m.]  Please see our article posted on February 18 for background information on the following bills, which have been under the jurisdiction of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.  

HB330, the most important gun bill of the year:  Please contact your state rep(s) ASAP and ask them to approve, on Tuesday, the committee recommendation of “Ought to Pass with Amendment,” but NOT to approve Rep. Hoell’s proposed floor amendment.  Here’s why: HB330 is the “Constitutional Carry” bill, allowing concealed carry without a license – like Vermont, Alaska, and Arizona.  The amendment adopted by the Criminal Justice committee by a vote of 11 to 6 provides legal clarification acceptable to various factions.  You can see the amendment at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/amendments/2011-0637h.html.  Note: some people have objected to a portion of the amended bill that references federal gun law, and there is a floor amendment to remove that reference; we believe the bill would have the same effect with or without mentioning the federal law.  On the other hand, Rep. Hoell’s proposed floor amendment (within the House calendar at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/caljourns/calendars/2011/houcal2011_23.html) would replace the entire bill with different language which we believe would create enormous legal problems, as detailed in the article at http://pgnh.org/the_anti_gun_consequences_of_jr_hoells_proposed_floor_amendment_to_hb330.  

[Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 9:10 p.m.]  We have been informed that the Toys R Us store in Nashua has a large sign at the entrance stating that "possession of firearms is prohibited on these premises."

Such prejudiced, ignorant prohibitions are unfair to women, seniors, and the handicapped -- the people most disadvantaged by being denied their right to self-defense.  We call for a boycott of this store.

[Posted Friday, February 18, 2011, at 6:05 p.m.]  The following important Second Amendment bills will have their public hearings on Thursday, February 24, 2011, before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, room 204 of the Legislative Office Building (behind the State House). 

We urge you to attend these hearings in support of these bills, or at least contact the committee members as well as your state representative(s). 

Committee information:  http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?code=H26 . To find your state representative, see http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/wml.aspx.  Note:  The text, status, and docket (history and scheduling) of any bill can be found by going to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/quick_search.html.

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10:00 a.m.  HB330 is Rep. Jenn Coffey's Constitutional Carry bill, described in an earlier article on this website (see, in particular, http://pgnh.org/constitutional_carry_bills_in_the_new_hampshire_legislature ).  This is the big one, allowing concealed carry without a license.  Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0330.html

1:00 p.m.  HB378 provides that a person who is on his or her own property and who responds to a trespasser who refuses to leave and displays a firearm or other means of self-defense with the intent to warn away the person making the threat shall not have committed criminal threatening.  (The "Ward Bird" bill.)  Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0378.html

1:45 p.m.  HB235 is the "parking lot" gun bill.  It permits the carrying of a firearm in one's personal motor vehicle and prohibits a business entity from banning or taking action against an employee, customer, or invitee from possessing a firearm locked in such person's motor vehicle while on the business entity's premises.  Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0235.html

2:30 p.m.  HB544 includes knives as well as firearms and ammunition to the materials over which the state has exclusive authority, preempting towns and cities.  Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0544.html

3:15 p.m.  HB 334 clarifies and extends RSA 159:26 (preemption) to include all government agencies.  It provides that all delegations of the state's authority to prohibit or regulate the purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing or permitting, taxation, or other matters pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, or firearms supplies shall be by statute only.  Bill text:  http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0334.html