January 29, 2009
TESTIMONY before the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in support of HB160:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee:
There is a common theme in the opposition to bills that support the individual right to self-defense: that there will be “blood in the streets.” Many of those not familiar with guns believe that when a person becomes armed, either the gun itself becomes unpredictably dangerous — like a deadly snake — or the person cannot be trusted to control the alluring power of lethal force. The latter assumption is what psychologists call the “precipice syndrome,” named for the feeling that when you look over the edge of a precipice, there is an instinctual fear of an irrational desire to step off the cliff.
But, as with actual precipices, the reality is that when people acquire the means of deadly force, they become more responsible, not less, and this has been proven unequivocally by recent history.
In 1987, the state of Florida passed landmark legislation to issue concealed carry pistol licenses to anyone who was not prohibited by law from possessing a gun; this was called “shall issue” — as opposed to “may issue” — licensing. The press went wild, predicting that every little traffic fender-bender and bar fight would lead to OK Corral shootouts. Well, it never happened; in fact, Florida became safer, with a signficant decrease in violent crime. Since then, most other states followed, and now, there are forty “shall-issue” states, and eight “may issue” states.
The remarkable thing about this is that in every case, opponents — notably including senior police administrators — kept repeating their “blood in the streets” fears, even in the face of consistent experience to the contrary, year by year, state by state, as violence inversely tracked passage of gun rights legislation. Good guys didn’t go mad, and criminals became more cautious.
Now the “Castle Doctrine” laws are following the same pattern as “shall-issue” concealed carry licensing. As of June of last year there were twelve states in which there is no duty to retreat anywhere there is a right to be, not just in the home. In every case, senior police officials and others objected to the legislation, just as they did with concealed carry, and in every case, their concerns were proven groundless.
We ask that this committee look to history and vote HB160 “Ought to Pass.”
FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, by:
Sam Cohen
Executive Vice President