| An amendment to House Bill 440 will be introduced at Judiciary Committee tomorrow in order to protect ALL civil liberties during States of Emergency! At 1:00 pm on Friday, February 26 – the House Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 440. The original text of the bill was limited to protecting religious freedoms, but we have been reliably informed that an amendment will be introduced to protect ALL of our Constitutional Protections as outlined in the NH Bill of Rights. This amendment is necessary and makes the bill much stronger. The bill, if enacted and amended, would read as follows: “The power to make, amend, suspend, and rescind necessary orders, rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subdivision [Governor’s Emergency Powers] in the event of a disaster beyond local control, provided that civil liberties shall on no account be suspended, nor shall the United States Constitution or the New Hampshire bill of rights be suspended, set aside, or otherwise infringed.” This amendment is necessary following Binford v. Sununu, in which Merrimack Superior Court ruled that …. “[i]n an emergency situation, fundamental rights such as the right of travel and free speech may be… suspended.” That dangerous ruling has provided extra cover for further emergency orders. While the NHFC takes no position on emergency orders issued by Governor Sununu, this legislation will prevent potential abuses of your second amendment rights under a different emergency or different governor at some point in the future. We need you to sign in tomorrow IN SUPPORT of House Bill 440 and testify if you are able! The Judiciary Committee needs to hear from you so they will do the right thing! You can attend this remote hearing without driving to Concord! The Committee will hear this bill at 1:00 pm on February 26 via Zoom. Please note that the public will NOT be allowed to attend in person. We need you to testify at 1:00 pm on Feb. 26 in support of this bill remotely! Please make every effort to ‘attend’ this hearing. First: Call the committee at 603-271-3184 and leave a polite message with the committee secretary for all of the committee members about your SUPPORT FOR this bill. Second: Call your own Representative (their info can be found here) and leave a message about your SUPPORT for this bill. http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/default.aspx Third: Send in an email to the committee that this bill needs to be SUPPORTED AS AMENDED Email HouseJudiciaryCommittee@leg.state.nh.us and put the bill number (HB-440 Amendment) in the subject line of the email and ask them to Adopt the Amendment and Support HB440. Fourth: Sign-in or Testify in SUPPORT. Click Here –> Select February 26, 2020 –> Select Judiciary –> Select HB440. Insert your information and click SUPPORT. To join the webinar: https://www.zoom.us/j/91679735236 or by Telephone: 1-929-205-6099 The following email will be monitored throughout the meeting by someone who can assist with and alert the committee to any technical issues: hcs@leg.state.nh.us or call (603-271-3600). |
For Liberty, JR Hoell, Secretary New Hampshire Firearms Coalition |
