Milford, NH –-(Ammoland.com)- Scott and I have been warning you about SB 244. This post is intended to provide you with an update on what passed the New Hampshire Senate last week and how it affects your civil right to be armed.
But first, I want to thank all the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition members who called, emailed and sent postcards to Senators. As you will read below, the result is not exactly what we had asked for; however, without your calls and emails it could have been much worse.
As we told you in several emails, SB 244 in its original form, would have required the names of huge numbers of Granite State residents to be sent to the FBI/ATF NICS database of prohibited persons. People who may have had a guardian appointed or suffered from alzheimers disease.
This was wrong, and NHFC, and many of our friends and Gun Owners of America opposed it.
There were many drafts and versions of SB 244 bandied about. We opposed them all. Making an anti-gun bill less anti-gun is not the solution. The real answer is to simply demand that an anti-gun bill is voted “inexpedient to legislate”, (ITL). We insisted on this even when other so called “gun groups” supported compromise.
So what passed the New Hampshire Senate last week? The amended version of SB 244 that was brought to the floor of the Senate included a procedure whereby people who were subject to guardianships or were involuntarily held for so called mental health issues could have the records of those proceedings annulled, like a criminal record. The supporters said this was needed so that these people could own firearms. We question this because if those names are not now being submitted to the NICS no guns list why would they need an annulment.
The second section of the amended SB 244 created a study committee. The purpose of the study committee was to study mental health, the instant check system and firearms in New Hampshire. Our count showed the committee to have a slight anti-gun advantage. We objected strongly to this committee because our experience has taught us that these so called study committees, which are not required to report their findings until after an election generally return an anti-gun recommendation.
We made it crystal clear to Senators that the only result which we would accept is an ITL vote. That is not what they did. Instead, Senators decided to “divide the question”. This means they voted on the annulment section as one vote and the study committee in another vote. The annulment section passed and the study committee failed.
Why this is a bad result.
SB 244 now moves to the New Hampshire House of Representatives where it faces an anti-gun speaker and leadership team. We recently fought a battle over HB 1589 outlawing private sales and another battle on HB 1264 when Rep. Ed Butler attempted to amend a Second Amendment friendly bill into an anti-gun bill. We called this “Butler’s revenge”.
We could not have won these fights without you, the NHFC members. Now, we will need to watch what happens in the House. If needed, we will alert you the grassroots guns owners. We will tell you what action is needed and how to take that action.
Please watch for further updates from New Hampshire Firearms Coalition.
Thanks for your support.
In Liberty,
Jonathan R. Evans, Esq.
President – NHFC
About New Hampshire Firearms Coalition:
The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is New Hampshire’s only No Compromise Gun Rights Organization. While many so-called “gun rights groups” work to curry favor with politicians and the media, NHFC is working aggressively to hold politicians accountable and to put a stop to gun control. Visit: www.nhfc-ontarget.org