[Posted Thursday, June 16, 2011, at 10:40 p.m. This is a follow-up to last night’s article, http://pgnh.org/nra_and_its_nh_state_affiliate_go_nh_kill_constitutional_carry.]
State Representative Ken Kreis, an Advisor of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, accomplished the impossible today. In spite of all the negatives, Representative Kreis worked to find the words necessary to meet the requirement set by the Senate: “No bill on Constitutional Carry will be approved until and unless all gun groups in New Hampshire agree.”
Today for the first time in years, Pro-Gun New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, NRA, and the NRA state affiliate Gun Owners of New Hampshire all agreed on the Constitutional Carry language for New Hampshire citizens – a milestone, for certain. With help from Rep. J.R. Hoell, Rep. Kreis got the four groups to present a united front to the legislature on language for Constitutional Carry.
Now is the time to buy the “Ken Kreis for Governor” signs – but before we toast the day, read on.
The Senate deadline to act on SB88 passed, so Rep. Kreis went to House Deputy Speaker Pam Tucker for assistance. The Deputy Speaker made certain she had in her hands written agreements from all the gun groups, and headed for the Senate President’s office.
In her meeting with the Senate President, he agreed to poll his members for a suspension of the rules in order to modify yesterday’s Committee of Conference results to also include Constitutional Carry, using the language agreed upon by all the gun groups.
A vote was called.
Now is a good time to put the champagne away and find the aspirin.
Senator David Boutin successfully lobbied his colleagues in the Senate to vote against a suspension of the rules. In other words, he refused to allow for Constitutional Carry in New Hampshire.
It is now also known that Senator Boutin was aware of the agreement between at least three of the groups hours before the actual committee of conference met on June 15 at 1:00 p.m. In a release of emails today, John Hohenwarter of the NRA included a communication he had with Senator Boutin showing conversations Hohenwarter was having with Rep. Steve Cunningham, GO-NH president Mitch Kopacz, and a member of the NH Firearms Coalition. The emails showed a trail of the agreed-upon language Senator Boutin had described as “last minute.” The email date stamps show he actually had the language the day prior to his committee of conference!
Today the Second Amendment groups in New Hampshire are wondering who Senator Boutin was representing. We know the Second Amendment voters in his district are in shock after having supported him both financially and by contacting like-minded voters on his behalf.
Sometimes people change and no one knows why. Unlike the other groups, Pro-Gun New Hampshire doesn't rate legislators. We exist to assist those who defend our constitutional rights, and to make sure our rights are not infringed. Now we’re in the position of exposing those who pretend to support our rights, but behind the scenes do all they can to deny those rights – sometimes little by little, unnoticed until it’s too late, and sometimes in one bold move – as Senator David Boutin did today.
Today we found another obstacle to freedom. It doesn't mean we walk away, it means we have identified another problem, and we must work to fix that problem and work to fix it together.
Let's not forget the good news.
The good news is Representative Ken Kreis united all the Second Amendment groups in this effort. We all share the same general goals – and today’s events, while disappointing in their main outcome, point toward further cooperation toward those goals.
This year’s battle for Constitutional Carry, for all its troubles, has shown us who is friend and who is foe. Let's remember our friends and not forget our foes.