Last week I told you about HB 696, gun confiscation disguised as an elder care bill. NHFC Corporate Secretary, JR Hoell and I testified against HB 696.
I am both pleased and disappointed by the attendance at the hearing. In addition to NHFC and Gun Owners of America; Penny Dean,who is a prominent 2nd Amendment attorney as well as some citizens came to oppose HB 696. It is always nice to citizens in Concord defending their rights. However, NHFC and GOA were the only Second Amendment advocacy organizations to oppose HB 696. I am saddened that other organizations did not send representatives to the hearing. I know that we are all busy and have many competing priorities, but we need to stand together because if we are divided we will most certainly fall.
On Thursday, January 31, the full house voted HB 282 “inexpedient to legislate”. You might recall that HB 282 was introduced to stop the rogue, unconstitutional actions of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. I’m very confused by this vote because democrats have history of standing up for civil rights and pushing back against over zealous law enforcement. Sadly, the democrat majority was joined by 22 republicans in defeating HB 282. This is equally confusing because republicans claim that support individual civil rights and also claim to be against big government. We have posted a webpage to better educate the law abiding on how to protect themselves from Fish and Games unconstitutional tactics.
There are no public hearings scheduled for this week.
On February 13 the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will conduct the following public hearings:
- 1PM HB 109 ban on private sales. This is a dangerous bill which prohibits the TRANSFER of a firearm from one law-abiding citizen to another without first having a background check performed by a licensed firearms dealer.Transfer means sale, giving, lending, renting, or simply handing a firearm to another person or any action that causes a firearm to be transferred from one law-abiding person to another law-abiding person.
In other words, you must go to a licensed firearms dealer to have a background check done on your best friend just to lend him a hunting rifle to go on a hunting trip and you will probably have to pay the dealer an administrative fee.
Then, before before your best friend can return the firearm to you, you must go back to the dealer and the dealer must do a background check on YOU to simply give you back your own gun — AND pay another fee.
Even though HB 109 requires the person transferring the firearm to pay a licensed firearms dealer any amount of fees demanded by the dealer, nothing in the bill requires any dealer, anywhere to do background checks on private transfers, period!
The bill sponsor must assume that dealers will be eager to accommodate this gun control measure because they have an opportunity to make as much money as they choose while implementing the liberal left’s gun control schemes.
Then there’s this: Confiscation of Firearms Under HB 109:
Pretend your name is John Smith and you want to give a family shotgun to your son, John Smith, Jr. (It doesn’t matter what your name is, this could happen to you and a mistake by the State Police “gun line” or FBI NICS could result in your gun being confiscated).
STEP 1. You go to your local licensed gun dealer for a background check on your son, as required by this bill.
STEP 2. You must then sign over ownership of your shotgun to the dealer before he can legally run a background check.
STEP 3. The dealer charges you $30 (or more – as much as he chooses) to do the background check on your son.
STEP 4. The FBI NICS background check on your son confuses him for a John Smith with a criminal record: FBI NICS denies a transfer.
STEP 5. Before the shotgun can be returned to you, the dealer must first do a background check on you.
STEP 6. The dealer charges you $30 (or more – as much as he chooses) to do a background check on you.
STEP 7. FBI NICS confuses you with the same John Smith as your son, so FBI NICS denies the transfer of your gun back to you.
STEP 8. Your shotgun must then be CONFISCATED by the dealer. BOTTOM LINE: You have paid a dealer $60; you and your son have been labeled criminals by FBI; your shotgun has been confiscated. That’s only some of what Rep. Katherine Rogers bill would do if it passes.
- Then, also on February 13, at 230PM, there will be a public hearing on HB 514 which will impose up to a 9 day waiting period between the sale and delivery of guns or ammunition. This waiting period will likely ban internet or mail order ammunition sales. HB 514 will force you to wait up to 9 days after buying a gun or a single box of ammunition before taking delivery of your new purchase(s). You can forget a spur of the moment target shooting trip. Or maybe you are participating in a training class and find you need some extra ammunition, forget about buying it and using it the same day. HB 514 will probably ban mail order ammunition sales because out of state vendors will not want to be burdened by these new regulations. And local dealers will be forced to raise prices to compensate them for this newly mandated record keeping requirement.But the worst part of HB 514 is that the sponsors are attempting to create a new standard of mandatory training before a person may purchase a firearm. HB 514 contains an exemption from the up to 9 day waiting period if the firearms purchaser has taken a New Hampshire Fish and Game hunter education course. We are categorically opposed to any wait before someone can exercise a Constitutionally protected civil right. In addition, we are opposed to mandatory training, and most certainly training that is conducted by the notoriously anti-gun Fish and Game Department. On this page, we have detailed how hunter education instructors are treated like slaves so Fish and Game can rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal gun tax money. And now, the sponsors of HB 514 want to make this training mandatory for anyone who wishes to purchase a rifle, not just hunters. If they are not stopped the next step will be mandatory training to buy any gun and then mandatory training to obtain a pistol/revolver license.
Make no mistake, the purpose of HB 514 is to reduce the supply of firearms and ammunition.
Here is what you can do to help:
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee needs to know that you oppose both HB 109 and HB 514.
Click here to email all members of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and politely ask them to vote both HB 109 and HB 514 “inexpedient to legislate”.
Pre-written message to: HouseCriminalJusticeandPublicSafety@leg.state.nh.us
Dear Representatives,
On February 13 you are scheduled to conduct public hearings on HB 109 and HB 514. Please vote both of these anti-gun, anti-freedom bills “inexpedient to legislate”.
HB 109 is attempting to criminalize transactions between friends, family, neighbors and members of the same shooting club. There is no obvious problem that HB 109 will solve because there is virtually no firearms crime in New Hampshire. HB 109 will add costs, delays and possibly expose otherwise law abiding firearms owners to risk of arrest for merely loaning a firearm to a friend or family member,
HB 514 is another solution in search of a problem. As you may know, HB 514 imposes an up to 9 day waiting period between the sale and delivery of a firearm or ammunition. Again, there is virtually no firearms crime in New Hampshire but there will be when New Hampshire citizens inadvertently violate the provisions of HB 514. HB 514 will end spur of the moment hunting or target shooting trips. It will also end firearms training in New Hampshire because instructors will no longer be able to supply ammunition for students to use during a course unless the course is scheduled to occur 9 days after the ammunition is supplied. It will also prevent prospective firearms owners from renting a firearm and buying ammunition from the rental range to use on those premises unless…. the transaction takes place 9 days later.
Please vote HB 109 and HB 514 “inexpedient to legislate”.
Thanks for your consideration.
If you prefer to make a phone call, click here for the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee’s webpage, then click on each members name for their individual contact information. Please remember to be polite but firm when you ask committee members to vote both HB 109 and HB 514 “inexpedient to legislate”.
If any committee members write back, please send me a copy: arice@nhfc-ontarget.org
We still do not know when the two criminal safe schools bills, HB 564 and HB 101 will be scheduled for public hearings in the House Education Committee but as soon as we have any new information I’ll send an alert.
Thanks for your support!
In liberty,
President – NHFC, Inc.P.S. Our national partners at Gun Owners of America are urging the US Senate NOT to confirm anti-gun William Barr as US Attorney General. Click here for their alert and instructions on how to take action. After this alert was posted, GOA released some information on Mr. Barr’s involvement in the now infamous 1992 raid on Randy Weaver, Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Click here to read that and take action.
