The New Hampshire Senate passed Senate Bill 141 last week in an effort to disband the “NH Gun Line” – the Permit and Licensing Unit at the New Hampshire State Police. This would repeal New Hampshire’s ability to act as a point of contact for the NICS background check when purchasing a firearm and give it to the federal government.
The federal government, currently, is under complete control of anti-gun politicians. President Biden’s administration is militantly anti-gun and is launching an outright assault on your gun rights. Unfortunately, he has the support of a majority in the House and likely a majority in the United States Senate.
Extremist policies are being pushed forward by these radical politicians. If we allow the Feds to take over responsibility for our NH Background check and HR1446 passes it could allow for a 10-day waiting period between the purchase and possession of a firearm, leaving you unprotected. In other words, you’d buy your gun and go home without it. These policies are extremely dangerous, unconstitutional, and a complete infringement of your natural rights.
So, why on earth would we give up the “gun line” and allow the federal government to control our background check system?
The timing could not be worse. Another bill under consideration at the federal level, HR 8, would make all firearm sales traceable, a de facto gun registry. This is their path to ultimate confiscation and the complete ban on privately owned firearms.
Tell the New Hampshire Senate to keep the NH Gun Line and keep the Feds out of our system. Tell the New Hampshire Senate that we, at the state level, are much more capable of protecting natural rights than the Federal Government and we should never give up state control of our system.
Email the Senate Finance committee and ask them to pressure the Commissioner to fix the broken system. He will be before their committee on Tuesday this week. The list of committee members are below. Let them know that we expect the DOS to do their job.
Gary.Daniels@leg.state.nh.us,
John.Reagan111@gmail.com,
Lou.Dallesandro@leg.state.nh.us,
Chuck.Morse@leg.state.nh.us,
Bob.Giuda@leg.state.nh.us,
Cindy.Rosenwald@leg.state.nh.us,
Erin.Hennessey@leg.state.nh.us,
debra.martone@leg.state.nh.us
There are many claims proponents of SB 141 are making — check out the attached page, where we address those claims and refute them.
Lastly, there are two other issues:
First: if you are denied from the FBI line, you will need to submit your social security number and fingerprints to appeal a denial, why do they need these?
Second: There was a GunsAmerica article from 2018 detailing the issues with the FBI NICS line: https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/fbi-bureaucratic-incompetence-nfa/
“Last month we reported that five individuals had undertaken a suit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the grounds that the agency erroneously denied their background check requests and refused to process their appeals. This week three additional individuals added their names to the suit after receiving letters from the Feds claiming that no appeals process exists to contest denied background checks involving NFA items.
“It’s not a lawful position. I don’t know what else to say. It’s just not lawful,” Stephen D. Stamboulieh, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told GunsAmerica. “The FBI is denying my appeal remedy, which is in and of itself a violation of my due process rights. You’re telling me I’m on a list, and you’re giving me no way to get off that list.”
Stamboulieh says he’s been contacted by over 100 individuals who have been waiting years for the FBI to process their background check appeals for Title I firearms (pistols, long guns, etc.).
…
If you’re wondering why gun-rights organizations haven’t stepped in, Stamboulieh says the answer is simple: there’s no money in it.
“The way that 18 USC 925A is written, it only provides attorney’s fees if you’re the prevailing party,” he said. “So, what the government does is, as soon as they get one of these complaints, they voluntarily change their position, and they clear your guy. That automatically gets [the Feds] out of paying for attorney’s fees.”
Ammoland posted this article just recently showing that the FBI NICS system is designed to require excessive reporting which will consume more and more time every month meaning the delays at the FBI NICS call center will only get worse over time:
Here they posted an article about how the delays have gotten worse.
The bottom line is we need to fix what is broken in our backyard until it is repealed. Trusting DC to fix this is a mirage.
In all cases, the NH Gun Line has been easier to deal with for any denials.
Your Senator will vote again on Senate Bill 141 this Thursday. Find your Senator here (http://gencourt.state.nh.us/Senate/members/senate_roster.aspx) and tell them to vote to keep our gun rights by opposing SB 141.
Additional information:
Claim: the NHGL does additional checks.
Partially true: They were conducting unauthorised checks and that behavior has been stopped. The Commissioner of Safety has implemented new policies that are more in line with current federal regulations.
Solution: Pass legislation to improve NH background check system, instead of abolishing it.
Claim: The NHGL is an added layer of bureaucracy.
False. This is a separate entrance into the common ‘NICS’ databases. The NICS database is a series of three separate criminal databases (III, NCIC, and NICS) and several groups have access to this: (Courts, police departments, FFLs via e-check, and the NHGL).
Solution: Passing the background check system back to the feds does not remove a layer of bureaucracy, it just changes which one we use. In New Hampshire, you can talk to a person and refute your denial more easily than you can with a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.
Claim: The NHGL is an additional layer above the FBI call center.
False. The NHGL does not call into the FBI call center, the NHGL has direct access into the same database as the FBI call center.
Claim: The checks have been taking days.
Partially true. This was true through the end of the year until NHFC started putting pressure on the DoS commissioner’s office to fix this system. Since then the checks have gone from days to less than an hour in almost all cases. There are still issues and we are continuing to pressure the leadership of the NHGL to fix the remaining issues (number of available lines, response time during peak periods, response time to facsimile submissions, etc.)
Solution: Instead of disbanding the “Gun Line,” New Hampshire Senators can amend the legislation to implement concrete changes to the Permits and Licensing Division – such as mandating 90% of checks be completed instantly while the dealer is still on the phone.
Claim: The two processes are the same, why spend the money (or, let’s save the money):
Fact: If you are ever denied by the Feds it is hard to find out the reason for the denial. The Feds send back a form letter stating that you are denied. One attorney has actually requested that potential clients that are denied actually attempt to buy a handgun as the NHGL provides the reason for the denial (State, Case docket # and date), the feds send a form letter saying you are denied under 18 USC 922. This is after you send them your social security number and fingerprints.
For Liberty,
Dave Wheeler
