You and I were betrayed!
Yesterday, when the Senate voted on Constitutional Carry, seven Senators, who pledged during the last election to support Constitutional Carry, voted to lay HB 536, Constitutional Carry, on the table, nearly killing it.
What’s more, an eighth senator, Sharon Carson, who refused to answer the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition’s candidate survey in 2010, but who is an advisor to a so-called “pro-gun” organization, also voted to table Constitutional Carry, after having voted for it in Committee.
On top of that, she also supported the Judiciary Committee Amendment that seriously undermined the bill.
Unfortunately, those eight were joined by the nine other Senators who refused to pledge their support for Constitutional Carry, and now Constitutional Carry is in grave jeopardy.
You see, Senate President Peter Bragdon has publicly said he expects HB 536 will stay on the table indefinitely, effectively killing it.
Our last hope to get Constitutional Carry passed this session is to get HB 536 removed from the table within the next two weeks.
That is why I need you to call Senator Sharon Carson, at Home 434-2489, Cell 661-4555, or her State House Office 271-1403, today, tell her that as a leader of a supposedly “pro-gun” organization she should know better than to punish gun owners for the criminal acts of others. Tell her that her opposition to Constitutional Carry is an affront to all gun owners in this state.
Then if you have time, I need you to call those seven Senators who pledged their support for Constitutional Carry, and then betrayed firearms owners, punishing us for the deeds of a lawless few.
Remind them that you will not forget their betrayal.
- Sen. Jeanie Forrester, Home: 279-1459, State House Office: 271-4151
- Majority Leader, Sen. Jeb Bradley, State House Office: 271-2106 (also an advisor to the same “pro-gun” organization as Senator Carson)
- Sen. Jim Forsythe, Home: 822-2588, State House Office: 271-2096
- Sen. Jim Luther, Home: 465-3471, State House Office: 271-4151
- Sen. David Boutin, Cell: 203-5391, State House Office: 271-3092
- Sen. John “Jack” Barnes, Jr., Home: 895-9352, State House Office: 271-4063
- Sen. Tom De Blois, Office: 493-2281, State House Office: 271-4151
I am not going to sugar coat things, our chances of successfully getting the Senate to take HB 536 off the table, to allow its passage, are slim.
But even if we fail in moving the Senate to action now, these Senators need to know we will not take their betrayal laying down.
All the news is not bad, however.
Your phone calls have made a difference. While Senator Bragdon did vote against gun owners when he supported the committee amendment, he knew he could not afford to also vote to kill the bill, as many insiders expected he would.
I wish that meant I could count on him to vote to take the bill back off the table within the next few weeks. Unfortunately, with his public comment that he expects this bill is not coming off the table, my sources are telling me that that is unlikely unless we keep the pressure on him.
I know I am asking a lot, but I need you to call Senator Bragdon’s office (271-2111) as well. He needs to know that while we recognize his vote against the tabling motion, we expect him to stand with gun-owners in removing this bill from the table, stripping off the Senate Amendment, and passing it on to the Governor’s desk as soon as possible.
I wish I could say that the seven Senators who voted against the motion to table were completely on our side.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, even the seven Senators who voted against tabling Constitutional Carry, voted in favor of the committee amendment that weakened the bill.
As I expected, anti-gun Senators, in arguing to kill this bill, implied you and I are to blame for the recent tragedies that have occurred in this state.
One Senator, in justifying his anti-gun vote, went so far as to say your voices, and votes, don’t matter to him.
You and I both know that eliminating the requirement to obtain government permission in order to exercise your right to bear arms will not make tragedies like we have seen recently any more common.
There are still two weeks left before Senate Rules prevent the Senate from taking this bill off the table.
We need to let these Senators know that we will not give up until Constitutional Carry is law here in NH.
That is why I need you to call Senator Carson, and the other Senators that betrayed gun owners, and tell them you want them to take Constitutional Carry off the table and pass it as passed by the House.
Contrary to the spin by the gun-grabbers, the bill as passed by the House would not allow anyone who currently cannot possess a firearm to carry one concealed. Anyone who is prohibited by statute from possessing a firearm would have been prohibited from carrying under the House version.
The Senate Amendment only serves to restrict the ability of law abiding citizens to carry a firearm, and subjects them to potential harassment for carrying.
That is why it is critical we let these Senators know we want Constitutional Carry passes as passed by the House. This bill does not need to go to a committee of conference, it should be passed, as passed by the House, on to the Governor’s desk immediately.
Remind the Senators that New Hampshire Firearms owners will not forget their betrayals.
We have a hard fight ahead of us, but you and I need to stick with it.
In Liberty,
Jonathan R. Evans, Esq.
President – NHFC
