New
Hampshire Firearms Coalition, Inc. --- Action Alert
On Wednesday, March 9, there will be an attempt to weaken New Hampshire's
82 year old concealed carry law.
HB98 is a bad bill and sets a bad precedent.
For 82 years, the issuing authority for a New Hampshire pistol/revolver license
has been the Selectmen of a Town or the Mayor of a City. These elected
officials, may designate a police chief or a police officer to perform this
particular function of local government, but the authority rests with elected
officials. Oversight by people who are accountable to the voters
is always a good thing.
First, HB 98, with the proposed amendment, removes elected oversight from
the issuance of concealed carry licenses. It would allow unelected
bureaucrats in every town to exclusively control the issuance of concealed
carry licenses. If a police chief unjustly denied a license, individuals
would have no redress without spending thousands of dollars going to court.
Second, this amendment never had a public hearing and is radically different
from the original bill. There are towns where selectmen issue licenses and
they don't even know this amendment to strip their authority exists.
The original bill attempted to redefine selectmen and mayors as law enforcement
for the purposes of a Federal statute. The amendment entirely removes
every selectmen's and mayor's authority to issue licenses. What is
even more outrageous is that Rep. Elbert Bicknell has gotten HB98 placed
on the consent calendar for Wednesday, March 9. The consent calendar
is a trick that our opponents use to
limit debate.
Action Item: New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, Inc. strongly opposes
HB 98 as amended! We have requested some of our friends in the House
of Representatives to remove HB98 from the consent calendar. Please
contact your elected representatives and demand that they vote AGAINST the
committee amendment. Email and phone messages are both
needed.
Contact information for all representatives may be found at:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ns/whosmyleg/
Please ask your Representatives to tell you how they intend to vote so that
you may inform the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, Inc.
Like our work, please
click here to become a member of the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, Inc.
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