We are down to the wire.
On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on all four remaining anti-gun bills. We at NHFC need your help to stop them.
There are contact phone numbers at the bottom of the email to call the staff for the five Senators on the Judiciary committee.
When you call them, please treat them with respect; they are not the elected official that is stripping you of your rights, they are the non-partisan staff that serve all who are elected to the office of Senate. Be polite, yet insist that these 4 bills need to be voted Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) by the Committee.
Some people have been asking why HB696 is such a dangerous bill…. after all, the sponsors are claiming it is ‘only’ a bill about protecting elders.
The chairman of the NHFC board of advisors, Dave Wheeler, recently wrote about what could happen in the real world if this legislation passed. Take a look and think about this as you consider getting involved to stop HB696.
Imagine the police knocking on your door.
When you answer they demand that you turn in all of your firearms. When you question them, they reply that they have a court order to collect all of your firearms and ammunition. To confirm that this is not just a bad dream, you ask to see the court order…
They reply that, “We can’t show it to you because it is ‘Telephonic’. We don’t have a document to show.”
Are you terrified yet?
This is just the beginning of your nightmare.
“Why are you here, what have I done”, you say.
“We understand that the order is based on a complaint of abusing or neglecting a ‘vulnerable’ adult eight years ago.”
You read that right, there is no statute of limitations on this type of allegation. Now standing in the doorway with this explanation you are faced with a dilemma. Do you resist and face arrest or do you turn over your firearms and ammunition?
As an alternative, you offer to bring your firearms to a close family member’s house to store them in their safe until this matter is resolved. The officers explain that they wish they could comply, but the newly passed HB696 prohibits them from allowing you to do that. Then they reveal to you that the judge has been authorized to issue a search warrant to make sure that you have complied with the exparte “protective order”.
Not wanting an arrest record, and knowing that if you do not comply with this order you will not be at work tomorrow but instead detained in the local county jail, you consider the consequences of possibly losing your job and comply with the request. The realization that without a job your mortgage will not get paid and that puts your family at risk. This is a very tough choice.
Just remember, all this action thus far is without a hearing.(exparte)
Fast forward. It is now 30 or 40 days later [and in some cases even longer] that you have been defenseless. You finally get a hearing. You sigh in relief.
“I finally get my day in court; this mess should be fixed in a jiffy.”
The accusation is read to you and you are asked for your response.
First you request to know who made the allegations against you.
They reply, “We don’t know that.” You thought for sure that you had the right to face your accuser per Part First, Article 15 of the New Hampshire Constitution.
The judge explains that hearsay evidence is allowed and the law enacted under HB696 prohibits the standard rules of evidence from being used in this trial.
By now you may be thinking, “I’ll never get a fair trial, I’m defending myself against a ghost.”
You are correct.
You request to question the alleged victim or even the plaintiff, only to find out that he or she is not in the room. The law does not require your plaintiff to be present. You are left with very little to defend yourself with. The judge finds, after listening to the hearsay ‘evidence’, that it is more likely than not (a very low standard of evidence) that neglect happened or may have happened eight years ago.
Outraged by this ‘star chamber’ process you vow to appeal the decision. You hire an expensive attorney only for him/her to tell you that there is no appeal of the preponderance of hear-say ‘evidence’ and no way for you to face your accuser. It is explained that the decision of the lower court is final.
Is this the America or the New Hampshire that you want to live in?
It is up to you to help stop HB696.
Almost identical legislation was stopped last year by the Senate and this bill deserves the same fate. This legislation is poised to become law without your intervention. This bill needs to be stopped. Please take the time to contact the Senate Committee members and then follow up with a phone call to the Governor’s office.
Dave Wheeler
The executive session for HB109, HB514, HB564, HB696 will be at 9:00AM on Tuesday, May 14 in State House Room 100. This is a public event and although you cannot testify, you can show up and record what they are doing. Officials that vote to strip law abiding of their Natural and Constitutional rights need to be exposed on Youtube and on the web.
Contact phone numbers are below for the Senators.
Senator Martha Hennessey, Chairman, 603.271.3042
Senator Shannon Chandley, Vice Chairman, 603.271.4151
Senator Melanie Levesque, 603.271.4151
Senator Sharon Carson, 603.271.3091
Senator Harold French, 603.271.4063
PRE-WRITTEN MESSAGE THAT YOU CAN SEND TO THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:
Dear Committee Members,
The Senate is considering 4 dangerous anti-gun bills. HB109, HB514, HB564 and HB696 will strip citizens of their Natural and Constitutional rights to protect themselves and their families. These four bills have little to no redeeming value and should be voted Inexpedient to Legislate [ITL]. New Hampshire has many problems that need your attention, but stripping citizens of their rights is not one of them. According to the FBI, New Hampshire isone of the safest states in the country and there is no reason to enact the laws of the states that high higher violent crime rates.
The following bills will not make New Hampshire a safer state:
HB 514, up to 12 day wait between purchase and delivery of a firearm;
HB 564, criminal safe schools;
HB 696, elder care gun confiscation.
Please remember to be polite but firm and request that the Governor respond to your message.
Remind the Governor that no gun control bills were enacted into law during the fourteen years that the Governor’s Benson, Lynch, and Hassan were in the corner office.
Thanks for your continued support.
In liberty,
