In May, NHFC exposed anti-gun statements by some guy named Bill Carney who was once a Fish and Game Commissioner. Mr. Carney seems to blindly defend the anti-gun, anti-freedom activities of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and Commission.
Mr. Carney is still blindly defending the anti-gun Fish and Game Commission. He claims that a Union Leader Editorial which said the Commission voted in opposition to SB 12, Constitutional Carry is “fake news” and he went on to say it was not truthful. It is Mr. Carney and Hawkeye who are not being truthful and peddling “fake news”. Mr. Carney is blindly defending an anti-gun agency. The facts are not in dispute, not by the Commissioners, not by the Executive Council and not by anyone who has been paying even the slightest amount of attention to this important issue; that on January 11, 2017 the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to oppose SB 12, Constitutional Carry. Click here to see the minutes and go to page 6.
Mr. Carney has completely misrepresented a 2006 letter from Senior Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Patterson. Mr. Carney claims the Attorney General’s office gave the Fish and Game Commission “permission” to weigh in on bills like SB 12. Mr. Carney said, “… the commission is very much within their rights to discuss this legislation”. Contrary to Mr. Carney’s assertion, NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH, NHFC has reviewed a copy of the November 15, 2006 letter. In fact the letter explains how the legislature has curtailed the Fish and Game Commission from taking a position on bills like SB 12 and HB 84 (carrying loaded rifles). The letter speaks mostly about the Commissions role with respect to the Executive Director and Department employees, but clearly does NOT give permission to the Commission to become involved in any issue they please. The letter also includes a list of the duties enumerated in RSA 206:4, which includes:
“Establishment of positions on proposed legislation that affects fish, wildlife, and marine resources and the overall management of the fish and game department.”
And as we previously explained by quoting our current Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s opinion:
“The subject matter of Senate Bill 12 – pistol-and-revolver regulation – is outside of those defined areas.”
I just don’t understand why Mr. Carney continues to blindly defend a rogue, anti-gun state agency.
In my last alert, I told you about an opinion from the current Attorney General, Gordon MacDonald which said:
“Legislation affecting firearms is not one the enumerated subject matters appearing in RSA 206:4a, V. Nonetheless, we understand that the department has annually reviewed firearm-related legislation, as reflected in meeting minutes. According to the Department, the purpose of the review is to assess potential impacts on hunting seasons for game animals, its law enforcement division and its enforcement of specific statutes governing how and when firearms are used during hunting seasons…”
In Mr. Carney’s latest screed, which was published in Hawkeye, he attempts to chastise me, derisively referring to me as “Mr. Training Director” while he goes on a rant about all the people whom he knows, including himself, who have allegedly been killed or injured by firearms which were presumably handled improperly. I wasn’t there, and I didn’t read any of the police or hospital reports of these alleged incidents so I don’t know what really happened. However, it seems that Mr. Carney has far more in common with the gun prohibitionist movement than mainstream firearms civil rights activists. He keeps repeating the refrain that it is unsafe to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and like a certain part of the human anatomy, everyone seems to have an opinion. Sure, when hunter education is taught in New Hampshire, people are told not to transport a loaded rifle or shotgun because that is unlawful in New Hampshire. I can assure you that in the states where transporting a loaded rifle or shotgun is legal people are taught a different curriculum that does not discourage the carrying of loaded rifles and shotguns.
Yes, I do advocate repealing the prohibition on carrying loaded rifles and shotguns in vehicles. And yes, I am a firearms instructor and instructor trainer. I teach people how to use guns safely and properly. I teach people how to hold, transport, load and unload all sorts of firearms. I teach people to shoot. I have spent thousands of hours training people in trigger finger discipline, “keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot” and basic learning points such as “don’t point a firearm at anything you are not prepared to destroy”. So, yes, I stand by what I said, Mr. Carney is most certainly clueless when it comes to both firearms civil rights and the practical use of firearms. He seems to think the only safe gun is an unloaded gun. I prefer to rely upon good solid training and trusting that people will use their brains when exercising their Second Amendment civil rights.
Mr. Carney attempted to take me to task because of my comments about some anti-gun Conservation Officers charging a turkey hunter who was to close to the road and another turkey hunter who was to close to a building. The point I was making, based on what I saw in episodes of North Woods Law: New Hampshire, is that without the forced confessions and the hunters being forced to take the gun ban activist Conservation Officers back to the site(s), the Conservation Officers had nothing. Please don’t forget your right to remain silent, and if approached by a Conservation Officer, please understand that they are doing the field work for the Bloomberg gun ban organizations.
People like Bill Carney and other hunting and fishing advocates can continue to defend this rogue, out of control, anti-gun state agency within our state government. The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition will continue to shine the spotlight on their abusive, and in some cases unlawful activities until the legislature forces them to change.
SB 48 is a good start. It will create a commission to study the Fish and Game Department and it’s funding sources and what needs to be reformed. It seems for the next 2 fiscal years the anti-gun Fish and Game Department is receiving a $1.5 million dollar bailout from our general tax revenues because their overhead is too high and their fees no longer cover their operating costs. Money that is in addition to over $69 million they already receive from federal taxes on firearms and ammunition, ATV and snowmobile registration fees and exorbitant hunting and fishing license fees and other license fees. The legislature recently gave the Executive Director the authority to set fees and it seems that there is no end in sight to the increases. I read the budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 and I think I found some of the waste:
The Executive Directors Officer: $1.8 Million
The Fish and Game Commission: $2.2 Million
TOTAL OBVIOUS WASTE: $4 Million
I don’t know if its mismanagement, intentional gouging or just plain wasteful spending, however, it is outrageous that after the department has received and blown through over $60 million they are seeking a taxpayer bail out.
I was told the Fish and Game Department was self funding, self sufficient. I guess I was lied to!
A closing thought: The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has an administrative rule that forces hunters to take Conservation Officers back to the kill site and answer questions.
(m) If requested by the department, any person taking a deer shall take fish and game personnel back to the kill site, the site of carcass evisceration, or both, for purposes such as, but not limited to, verification of kill site or to obtain ovaries or other biological samples left behind.
Wow! No wonder they routinely violate peoples Constitutional rights; there is a rule that says they can!
I don’t condone law breaking, but I respect the Constitution enough to remind everyone that you have a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, do not answer questions or cooperate in any way with Conservation Officers.
We must push for reform. I do not plan to stop publicizing the abuses of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Please email me and let me know if your civil rights have been violated by a Conservation Officer.
In liberty,
Vice President & Training Director – NHFC
