On Thursday, March 9, the following bills, which were related to gun safety, were soundly defeated in the NH House:
- HB 32, would prohibit possessing or firing a gun in a school zone. (Yes, I know, a no-brainer.)
- HB 59, would require a background check before any commercial firearm sale. (Another no-brainer.)
- HB 78, would repeal an act prohibiting the state from enforcing any federal statute, regulation or presidential executive order that restricts or regulates the right of the people to keep or bear arms.
- HB 106, would allow a court to issue a temporary order preventing a person from having a firearm if they are judged a danger to themselves or others, most people refer to this as a “red flag law”. (Another no-brainer.)
According to Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, NH is safer than many other states who have more gun restrictions.
The House DID pass HB 31 repealing the ban on owning or selling blackjacks, brass knuckles and slung shots. And for those who had never heard of one, a “slung shot” is a hard object, possibly a metal ball, strapped to the wrist and used as a weapon. A blackjack is a heavy, lead filled pouch, can be swung and used as a weapon.
Those who supported repealing the ban noted a United States Supreme Court decision calling the outlawing of these weapons is unconstitutional. Again, according to Rep. Roy, "They are still useful for self-defense and should not be banned while other more lethal weapons are not." However, using any of these weapons during a crime, they would then become a “deadly” weapon.
While all this was taking place on Thursday, Republican state senators rejected a bill by Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene. His bill was intended to require guns be secured in homes where someone under the age of 18 is present. Currently, the law is age 16.
New Hampshire has been lucky in that we haven’t really had a mass shooting at a school, or a church, or a shopping plaza, or a grocery store.
YET.