I testified for NHFC and Gun Owners of America at the public hearing. I patiently explained to the Committee that this is not a hunting or wildlife issue. I told them that the ability to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in a car is a Second Amendment civil rights issue. You can click here to read my prepared testimony.
Col. Kevin Jordan testified for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. I was outraged when Col. Jordan attacked head-on, your Second Amendment civil right to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in your car.
Citing no authority, Col. Jordan argued that only conservation officers and police officers have enough training to have in their vehicles a loaded rifle or shotgun. Col. Jordan also claimed this is a hunting and fishing issue. RUBBISH!!! This is by its very nature, a Second Amendment civil rights issue.
Col. Jordan was silent as to how poachers have been prosecuted in recent years. Yet, Col Jordan uses poaching as a pretext to ban your having a loaded rifle or shotgun in your car.
The number of hunting licenses purchased has fallen in recent years. To offset this lost income, New Hampshire Fish and Game now receives tax dollars. It is outrageous that your tax dollars partly fund Col. Jordan’s effort (salary) to curb your civil right to be armed. Perhaps the drop in hunting licenses results from heavy-handed New Hampshire Fish and Game policies. Some New Hampshire residents may find Maine nicer to non-resident hunters, than is New Hampshire to its residents. Fish and Game’s harsh policies damage New Hampshire’s economy.
Another witness – a representative of the New Hampshire Guides Association – opined that the ban on the carrying in cars of loaded rifles and shotguns was to protect proper hunting principles, e.g., fair chase. He claimed that some would hunt from moving vehicles, were it lawful to have loaded rifles or shotguns in vehicles.
Not so!!! If this ban were repealed, it would still be unlawful to hunt from a moving or stopped vehicle.
NHFC Secretary and State Representative J.R. Hoell (R-Dunbarton), testified that he’s had many reports of hunters – returning to their vehicles – being asked by a Conservation Officer to show their hunting license. If a hunter, in his/her haste to comply, rests a rifle or shotgun on the vehicle (or if they place it in the vehicle) – without first unloading it – they are cited for having a loaded rifle or shotgun in or on their vehicle. Such nastiness by Conservation officers devalue Rule of Law.
Please don’t think I’m anti-hunting or that I do not appreciate New Hampshire’s wildlife and natural resources. Since 2001, I’ve held a lifetime New Hampshire combination hunting and fishing license. I thoroughly enjoy all that New Hampshire’s woods and streams have to offer. I also recognize that certain hunting regulations are essential. But it is dishonest to claim that sound management of our valuable wildlife resources requires the sacrifice of your Second Amendment civil right to be armed. It does not. The Second Amendment, the right to BEAR ARMS has nothing to do with hunting and I will continue to support and defend the Second Amendment just as I have done for many, many years.
Please, if you haven’t already done so, call or click here to e-mail all the members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Transportation Committee. Urge them to vote HB 1132 “Ought to Pass” without ANY amendments.
The following State Representatives are members of the House Transportation Committee, click on their name to send a personalized email (especially if you live in one of their districts). Please remember to be polite but firm when you ask them to vote HB 1132 “ought to pass” without any amendments!
Chairman Representative Steven Smith (r) (603)826-5940
Vice Chairman Representative Thomas Walsh (r) (603)623-4104
Representative Thomas Laware (r) (603)826-3137
Representative Sherman Packard (r) (603)432-3391
Representative Brian Chirichiello (r) (603)432-0799
Representative Karel Crawford (r) (603)253-7857
Representative Bruce Hodgdon (r) (603)942-5264
Representative Larry Gagne (r) (603)625-9692
Representative G. Thomas Cardon (r) (607)437-4847
Representative Russell Dumais (r) (603)293-2014
Representative Werner Horn (r) (603)470-9667
Representative Chris True (r) (603)887-2793
Representative George Sykes (d) (603)448-0319
Representative Michael O’Brien (d) (603)888-8051
Representative Timothy Soucy (d) (603)305-5012
Representative Gladys Johnsen (d) (603)358-5164
Representative Dick Patten (d) (603)228-1803
Representative Pamela Brown (d) (603)930-6999
Representative Michael Abbott (d) (603)336-7090
Representative Alan Cohen (d) (603)889-0965
Finally, call (603) 271-3511 or email Glenn Normandeau, the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and let him know that you are very upset that Col. Jordan is using his position and department resources to pursue an anti-gun agenda.
Thanks for your support.
In Liberty,
Vice President & Training Director – NHFC
