[Posted March 21, 2010, at 8:45 p.m.] Last Wednesday, March 17, the New Hampshire House voted 256 to 33 to defeat HB1635, a bill that would have made it a felony to openly carry, with or without a License to Carry, a firearm "or other deadly weapon" -- defined by state law to include knives or "other substance or thing
which, in the manner it is used, intended to be used, or threatened to
be used, is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily
injury" in any "building, structure, or place owned
or operated by the state or one of its political subdivisions [like town libraries, for example], and
shall include the university system of New Hampshire and the community
college system of New Hampshire" -- with "place" possibly including rest areas on our highways?
Fortunately, this bill died a well-deserved death. Unfortunately, it -- and the similarly defeated HB1654, which would have made it a felony to take a gun into the State House -- and the so-far UNdefeated Facilities Committee rule of December 21, banning guns in the State House -- all resulted from a bunch of rowdy protesters openly carrying pistols in the House gallery a year ago. If you read the article under our website's "Gun Law FAQs" menu heading, you'll see the following advice on open carry:
"On the one hand, we will indeed lose our rights if we don’t exercise them, but on the other hand, it’s not smart to frighten or antagonize people, especially if you scare enough people to make the news — which may lead to legislation restricting open carry. Use good judgment. (Hint: look and act like a responsible citizen. It helps to be well-dressed.)"