Posted on 02/09/2011 4:05:03 AM PST by marktwain
Republican leaders and lawmakers are united in wanting to remove licensing requirements for individuals who carry concealed weapons. But a broad bill that would, among other things, allow guns in courthouses and place criminal penalties on law enforcement officers, has highlighted a fissure, even among gun rights activists.
House Speaker William O'Brien and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt have asked freshman Rep. J.R. Hoell, a Dunbarton Republican, to withdraw his gun rights bill, calling it an "unacceptable risk" for New Hampshire residents.
"While I am a strong advocate for the state and federal constitutional right to own and carry firearms, including the right of constitutional carry, this legislation vastly exceeds any reasonable standard of an individual's right to bear arms," O'Brien said.
Four of the bill's nine co-sponsors have backed away from the legislation, and others say they want the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to remove some of its provisions. House leaders say they will instead push for a narrower bill sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Coffey, an Andover Republican.
"Anytime you have to come out publicly against a member of your caucus it's an unpleasant, unwelcome development," Bettencourt said. "But we worked hard to get Rep. Hoell to appreciate the glaring flaws in his bill. It is unfortunate at the end of the day that we couldn't convince him that his bill as drafted simply wasn't responsible."
Hoell did not return calls for comment.
The core of both Hoell's and Coffey's bills is the principle of constitutional carry, which means anyone who has a right to own a gun has a right to carry it - either openly or concealed. Similar laws are in place in a handful of states including Alaska, Arizona and Vermont.
(Excerpt) Read more at concordmonitor.com ...
I honestly don’t care if they have a right to no CCW permit like Vermont. What we NEED here is a STRONG “Castle Doctrine” law where innocent people like Ward Bird aren’t thrown in jail by overzealous prosecutors.
We also are having hearings on opting out of Obama-care
I didn’t know there was an acceptable standard to a God-given right.
Where do these people come from?
“this legislation vastly exceeds any reasonable standard of an individual’s right to bear arms,”
So this moron lawmaker think he gets to determine an individuals right to bear arms?
How about the now famous Heller decision handed down by the Supremes? That decision was 5-4 which means that 4 Justices could not even bring themselves to admit that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right.
Where do these people come from indeed?
More importantly, how do we get rid of them when they serve for life?
“While I am a strong advocate for the state and federal constitutional right to own and carry firearms, including the right of constitutional carry, this legislation vastly exceeds any reasonable standard of an individual’s right to bear arms,” O’Brien said.
When the word “reasonable” is inserted into the comments, I really have absolutely no use for that person...I don’t care what party affiliation they hang on their name...
Time for people (and our government at all levels) to grow up and see that the problem doesn’t lie with the people who want to exercise their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms for any reason they see fit to do so...
I hope NH gets this one through...Then we’ll see if the governor has the guts to sign it...
Where do these people come from indeed?
They are grown in petri dishes along with the algae and other simple single cell organisms...
First graders carrying to class is a little beyond reasonable.
“First graders carrying to class is a little beyond reasonable.”
Where did that come from?
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