An Open Letter to the NRA -- from the Chair of the NH House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

[Posted on Saturday, May 21, 2011, at 8:25 p.m.] Editor's note: The following open letter to the NRA was written by State Representative Elaine Swinford, Chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and originally published today on her Facebook page. It is re-published here, on the Pro-Gun New Hampshire website, with Representative Swinford's permission. The Facebook link is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794319820#!/notes/elaine-swinford/open-letter-to-the-nra/10150188783749821 .

As the Chair of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in the State of New Hampshire, I am writing to you to set the record straight regarding the statement posted on your website about HB330. You have been given misinformation (I prefer not to call anyone a liar) by your state NRA-ILA representative, John Hohenwarter. I do not appreciate his unprofessional behavior, which has been contrary and harmful to NRA’s reputation.

HB 330 was carefully crafted to do one thing, to return to the people of New Hampshire their right to carry concealed without asking for or paying for the government’s permission to exercise a Constitutional right. This bill was vetted in the House of Representatives not once, but four times.

There was a public hearing, and the people of New Hampshire came to express their feelings and opinions. There were multiple public subcommittee meetings, which your State affiliate GO-NH and your representative Mr. Hohenwarter failed to attend. Many others did attend and voice their concerns and opinions, which were taken into consideration by the committee.

The only communication with the subcommittee by GO-NH/Hohenwarter was via an e-mail which suggested the so-called “NRA amendment.” This amendment was considered and rejected by the committee, in part because it was too extensive, proposed new gun control measures, instituted new criminal penalties, and added NICS checks on licenses. For those reasons and others it was felt the amendment should be offered as a bill of its own so it would go through the proper process of a public hearing and vetting. HB330 was again heard in Executive Session, where the committee discusses the pros and cons of the bill, and finally it went before the whole House of Representatives for a vote of “ought to pass” or “inexpedient to legislate.” The bill passed out of the House with a large margin of victory and was sent to the Senate.

Just prior to the full vote of the House, the “NRA amendment” was again presented to us via communication from the Majority office, but it was rejected again for the same reasons listed above; this was done with the full support of leadership, who agreed an amendment such as this one should never simply be attached to a bill, but vetted in the public eye on its own merits. Mr. Hohenwarter was again told to offer it as a second-year bill, so that the proper process could be followed. There are many in New Hampshire who would oppose new criminal penalties and question the mere addition of NICS checks as being ineffective to achieve a NICS-exempt carry license.

It is also likely your representative confused HB330 with another bill, HB536, which was retained in committee. The NRA criticisms of HB330 are in fact the problems contained in HB536, not HB330. I am not sure of Mr. Hohenwarter’s personal agenda, but it has clearly been obstructionist. Furthermore, his unprofessional behavior is not what New Hampshire citizens deserve.

Representative Elaine Swinford Chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Belknap – District 5

Editor's note: Bob Clegg, President of Pro-Gun New Hampshire and former New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader, comments as follows:

Above, find a link to the truth. NRA-ILA Alerts have been written with much misinformation. We don't blame NRA-ILA. They have a rogue unprofessional employee who has a record of destruction when it comes to Second Amendment rights. Check our website daily as we unveil all the states who want Hohenwarter sent back to the mail room for service unbecoming a guardian of the Second Amendment.

Editor's note: For background information on this matter, see the articles on the Pro-Gun New Hampshire website at http://pgnh.org/nra_pushes_gun_control_jeopardizes_constitutional_carry , http://pgnh.org/a_sad_day_in_the_new_hampshire_senate , and http://pgnh.org/heave_ho_hohenwarter .

What? This posting makes no sense. What is HB330. It is not even explained.

At best, I believe this was the bill that would do away with the Licensing for Concealed Carry (aka Vermont style), but I could be wrong.

No Constitutional Carry? Please explain.

This is a continuing story, but of course, not everyone has been following it. In summation, a couple of Constitutional carry (permitless carry if you prefer) bills were introduced into the New Hampshire legislature this year. One, HB330, proved more popular and was passed by a large majority in the House. It went to the Senate, where passage seemed certain. Then amendments were offered by the NRA and, as I recall, their affiliate in New Hampshire. Many said the amendments really weakened the bill and were worse than where they were without it. With the differing stories from pro-freedom groups, the bill died.

I posted two different stories on the mess here on freerepublic. One said it was the NRA that messed things up and caused the bill to die. The other was a rebuttal from the NRA that said, no, it wasn't our fault, the bill was bad to start with!

Now we have a New Hampshire representative who chairs the public safety committee saying that it was the NRA representative who messed things up and who could not even get the bill number straight.

That is as best as I can summarize. There are a lot of things going on with people trying to restore our Constitutional rights. It is not easy to keep up on everything.

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