| We have some great news to report from last week’s House and Senate sessions, but we have some bad news too. First, the good news. The Senate passed House Bills 192 and 342. Both bills are now enrolled and on their way to Governor Sununu for a signature! These bills are simple housekeeping clarifications that bring hunting RSAs into conformity with other sections of the law, removing confusion and removing the risk of becoming an accidental criminal. Thank you to the House and Senate for getting this done quickly! Now in Senate possession are multiple other good bills that we must support! Please email your Senator today and ask them to support the following bills: House Bill 307 is the most important firearm protection bill introduced this year. New Hampshire is not a home rule state, and municipalities and subdivisions are already prohibited from regulating firearms – yet they continue to try – and they get away with it. HB307 will allow for penalties to be assessed against cities, towns, or school districts that pass or enforce ordinances regulating firearms. Under this law we could hold accountable bad actors in local governments that exceed their granted authority in order to protect our Article 2-A rights in New Hampshire. Municipal organizations will strongly oppose this bill as it holds municipal governments responsible for the reckless ordinances they pass without the authority to do so. Your Senator must hear from you regarding this bill so that they support the measure! Citizens are held accountable to NH statutes, so should elected officials! House Bill 195 adds the display of a firearm to the reckless conduct statute as an exception. Under the proposed bill, police would have to prove that you’re acting recklessly with the firearm in order to charge you, instead of the simple display being prima facie evidence of a crime. This simple exemption will prevent charges against any “McCloskeys” who are simply protecting their property. Tell your Senator to support HB195! Finally, House Bill 334 clarifies that Constitutional carry means exactly that, without exception. When our Constitutional carry law was passed in 2017 an oversight did not remove a prohibition for traveling on OHRV’s or snowmobiles. HB 334 cleans up the statute and makes it clear that we are a Constitutional carry state, no matter what vehicle you happen to be traveling on. Now, for the BAD news – Rockingham County Attorney Patricia Conway has been nominated for a Superior Court judgeship. During Conway’s public hearing, she was asked about her beliefs on the second amendment, and she said: “I’m not sure my personal belief about the 2nd amendment is something that is relevant to my ability to be a Superior court judge,..” No matter what anyone tells you, NH is NOT, as a practical matter, a Florida style stand your ground state. A person is allowed to raise the “affirmative defense” of self-defense, ONLY IF THE TRIAL JUDGE ALLOWS you to. The jury is not allowed to hear your law based claims of self-defense unless the trial judge allows it. Patricia Conway and her office have more than once prosecuted those who acted in self-defense. There is no record of Attorney Conway having ever been a defense attorney and DEFENDED those who acted in self defense. Is this who you want for a judge? On top of that, according to NHPR: “In 2015, Rockingham County paid former prosecutor Jerome Blanchard $80,000 to settle a wrongful termination claim related to [Patricia] Conway’s decision to fire Blanchard the day she took office. Blanchard alleged Conway was retaliating against him for cooperating with state prosecutors in 2013, when they removed their former mutual boss, longtime County Attorney Jim Reams, from office.” Rockingham county’s commissioners even declined to pay for Conway’s legal costs in the case! Before Conway took office, her husband (Sgt. Eric Lamb of Salem Police) had erroneously been cleared off the state’s Laurie List – a list of officers with potential credibility issues. Conway denied any wrong-doing in that matter. Even the New Hampshire Bar Association has raised concerns over Conway’s impartiality and fairness. With all of this information available, the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition asks that you contact the following Executive Councilors and urge them to oppose Conway’s confirmation as a Superior Court Judge. Executive Council office (603-271-3632) Councilor Joe Kenney Joseph.Kenney@nh.gov (603-447-9263) Councilor Dave Wheeler David.Wheeler@nh.gov (603-673-3604) Councilor Cinde Warmington Cinde.Warmington@nh.gov (603-225-7262)A judicial appointment serves until age 70. Conway, now age 50, would serve on the bench for TWENTY YEARS. New Hampshire deserves a more thorough investigation into Conway’s views on inalienable rights, and a more thorough investigation into her impartiality and fairness. With that in light, we must take action NOW to make sure the Executive Council does not confirm Conway on Wednesday April 21. Contact Councilor Joe Kenney, Dave Wheeler, and Cinde Warmington NOW and tell them Patricia Conway needs a more thorough vetting! This year has had unprecedented challenges and we need you help now more than ever. NHFC has spent much time walking the fine line of sharing news on Facebook and avoiding being thrown off of Facebook for our activism. This is where you can help. Ask your friends to sign up for our alerts. The more people that are directly connected to NHFC, the stronger the gun owners are in the State of NH. There is a very real chance that we will not be able to post on facebook as they continue to censor us and our discussions of ideals that they despise. We have some great news to report from last week’s House and Senate sessions, but we have some bad news too. |
For Liberty, JR Hoell, Secretary New Hampshire Firearms Coalition |
