[Sent to our members on 10/27/2019]
On October 21th, we emailed you about the executive session on HB-687, [email alert copied below].
The committee will be voting this Wednesday (10/30) at 10:00am on this bill. If at all possible, we would love to have you join us there to oppose HB-687. We will have pre-printed handouts for use at the session to remind legislators that these bills need to be stopped. Bring a phone, tablet or camera; these anti-gun legislators need to be held accountable and the best way to do this is to video their behavior and share it with your friends.
Please make every effort to attend this Executive Session to let the Committee Members know that you will not accept one word of gun control.
Even if you plan to attend the Executive Session, it is important to send the following pre-written messages to the committee members.
One of our friends in the state house has obtained a copy of the latest amendment to the bill. This amendment, from Rep Murphy, [Merrimack] is just as bad as the bill that was introduced. The Amendment [2019-2790h] leaves in place all of the gun confiscation measures that were in the initial bill. Rep. Murphy needs to withdraw her amendment and make a motion to kill the bill.
Here is a pre-written message that you can include in your email to the members of the committee.
Dear Representatives:
On October 30th, you are scheduled to vote on HB-687 on a bill that should have been legally titled “Red Flag, Gun Confiscation”. This bill, as well as the proposed amendment [2019-2790h] by the Representative from the town of Merrimack, Rep. Nancy Murphy [603.424.0254], violates our Second, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The bill, as well as the amendment, also violates numerous sections of the New Hampshire Constitution.
Last spring when you conducted a public hearing on HB 687, gun confiscation, it was abundantly clear that opponents outnumbered supporters. And for good reason, HB 687 deprives individuals of their natural and Constitutional rights without due process by allowing ex-parte hearings, conducted by telephone, allowing judges to order the confiscation of a person’s guns without that person even being present. Sure, the accused can have a court hearing after his/her property has been taken but that is not due process. Furthermore, the “accused” would be forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys and experts to reclaim their civil right to bear arms. A person who is accused of a crime, even a low level offense retains their Constitutional right to face their accuser and have their day in court before punishment is meted out. However, in the case of HB 687 a person will be deprived of their property without a court hearing.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I urge you to OPPOSE HB 687 and any amendments. Please do not force this unconstitutional scheme into law.
Please vote HB 687 “Inexpedient To Legislate”; The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition will keep me informed of your vote.
Thank you for your consideration
If you want to double down to protect our rights, please make a short, but polite, phone call to Rep. Murphy [603.424.0254] and ask her to withdraw her Gun Confiscation amendment and to quit supporting these failed radical gun control schemes. Remind her that she took an oath to uphold the Constitution and this bill along with numerous others that she has supported are clearly violating her oath of office. Please tell her that this anti-gun, anti-freedom bill needs to be voted “Inexpedient To Legislate” and ask her to make the motion to ITL the bill.
For those that are willing to make a personal phone call, I thank you in advance:
For those that want to contact the members by email, I have copied for you the contact information for each member of the Criminal Justice committee. The information is below. Please reach out to them directly and ask them to oppose this bill. As always, if you hear back from anyone on the committee, please send us their response.
Chairman Cushing, 926-2737, renny.cushing@leg.state.nh.us
Daryl Abbas, 560-1929 Daryl.Abbas@leg.state.nh.us
John Bordenet, 352-0680 John.Bordenet@leg.state.nh.us
John Burt, 624-5084 john.burt@leg.state.nh.us
Dennis Fields, 528-6224 dennis.fields@leg.state.nh.us
Dennis Green, 234-7776 Dennis.Green@leg.state.nh.us
Linda Harriott-Gathright, 880-4537 linda.harriottgathright@leg.state.nh.us
Jody McNally, 330-7655 mcnally_jody_usmc@yahoo.com
David Meuse, David.Meuse@leg.state.nh.us
Nancy Murphy, 424-0254 Nancy.Murphy@leg.state.nh.us
Ray Newman, 880-8973 Ray.Newman@leg.state.nh.us
Andrew O’Hearne, 558-1038 Andrew.OHearne@leg.state.nh.us
Linn Opderbecke, 742-4119 linn.opderbecke@leg.state.nh.us
Laura Pantelakos, 436-2148 lcpantelakos@comcast.net
Julie Radhakrishnan, 321-1965 Julie.Radhakrishnan@leg.state.nh.us
Beth Rodd, 938-2692 Beth.Rodd@leg.state.nh.us
Sandy Swinburne, 876-4173 Sandy.Swinburne@leg.state.nh.us
Dave Testerman, 320-9524 dave@sanbornhall.net
Scott Wallace, Scott.Wallace@leg.state.nh.us
David Welch, 642-4402
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During the summer we do not send as many emails as we do when the Legislature is in session. However, our anti-gun elected officials are beginning to reveal their 2020 agenda and we will have a lot of work to do this winter!
We now know that the Legislature is pushing more than 15 anti-gun bills for the 2020 legislative session, but before we can work on defeating next years bills, we have one remaining 2019 bill that was kept alive in committee that still needs to be stopped.
HB687-’Red Flag’ Gun Confiscation is scheduled for a full committee work session on 10/23 and a full committee vote on October 30th at 10:00am in room 204 of the Legislative Office Building. While citizens are not allowed to speak at these meetings, a room full of second amendment supporters speaks volumes.
If you remember, in 2014 under a Democratic Majority we were able to stop the last anti-gun bill, ‘Sell a gun to a friend, go to jail’, HB1589, even when the committee was made up of a majority of rabid anti-gunners. We did this by having our members there during these sessions. We had a number of members present with video cameras, and stickers making it clear that their behavior would be exposed.
We need you there! Consider video taping their actions and votes on your phone, then share their anti-gun antics with all of your pro-gun friends. Encourage your friends to pass it along to their pro-gun friends. Thus making sure that the legislators know that the public is watching their every move and that citizens will remember in November 2020 how they voted.
Many of these anti-gun legislators are like cockroaches. They do their dirty work in the dark, hoping that no one is watching and scurry away when exposed to the light of day. It is time to shine a light on their anti-gun actions and the best way to do this is to do this is to show up with a video camera, tablet or a phone and take lots of photos and video and share them on social media. Let’s make sure every gun owner in NH is aware of their actions, especially in their Districts.
We only need people sacrifice their time the morning of 10/30. The Executive session (The session where the legislators actually vote) is scheduled for 10:00am. The meeting is expected to be over by 11am. Just your presence, looking them straight in the face along with the fear of being exposed on social media, will make them think twice about the political cost for pushing a radical anti-gun bill.
While you are in Concord, if time permits, stop by the Governor’s office and thank him for vetoing four anti-gun bills earlier this year.
