Posted on 02/12/2014 3:49:00 PM PST by RKBA Democrat
The sponsor of a bill that would expand background checks for gun purchases said Wednesday she hopes to keep her legislation alive this session, after her bill was killed on the floor of the House today by a vote of 242-118.
“We’re not giving up,” said Rep. Elaine Andrews-Ahearn, D-Hampton Falls, Wednesday afternoon.
She said by the end of the week, she plans to plan strategy with bill supporters about ways to bring the legislation back, perhaps as an amendment to an existing bill. “We’ll keep working on this,” she said.
HB 1589 would have required most private sellers to conduct background checks through federally licensed dealers, using a system already in place for dealer sales. Breaking the law would have been a misdemeanor charge. An exception would have been made for noncommercial private sales between individuals not prohibited by federal law from buying a gun.
The final vote came after a long and confusing debate that lawmakers said left many shaking their heads.
Supporters of the bill take heart that the first vote of the morning, to accept the bill as amended by the House Commerce Committee, actually passed by a vote of 174-166. However, after that vote, an amendment was introduced on the House floor by state Rep. J.R. Hoell, R-Dunbarton, that would in essence supercede committee’s bill entirely and replace it with a study committee. That vote passed by a vote of 177-175.
According to House Majority Leader Stephen Shurtleff, D-Penacook, once an original bill has been amended, like Ahearn’s was in committee, “it opens it up for any other amendment on the House floor.”
“It was very confusing,” said state Rep. David Borden, D-New Castle, a co-sponsor of the bill. He said during the next hour or so while several other votes failed — including bids to table the bill and to indefinitely postpone it — House members began to look at the Hoell amendment more closely.
“Many of us thought the study committee was flawed,” because it created a committee that would be comprised of more Republicans than Democrats and contained no non-legislative stakeholders.
“The study committee was poorly crafted and limited the scope of study and restricted membership,” he said. “The majority felt this was not an improvement.”
Shurtleff agreed. “Some felt that it was one-sided and I actually agree.”
Ahearn was more blunt. The study committee, in her opinion, would have been stacked with pro-gun rights advocates “and the bill never would have gone anywhere.”
When the study committee amendment came up for a vote, it failed by a vote of 165 in favor to 195 opposed. Finally, there was a vote to kill the bill in its entirely, and that was the 242-118 vote.
Republican leaders praised the final vote, saying that background check legislation was not needed or necessary.
“A bipartisan majority of the House believed this bill was not necessary,” said House Republican Leader Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett. “By killing the bill, we have avoided what would have been an excessive government overreach and restriction of the Second Amendment rights.”
That sentiment has been echoed by opponents of the bill since its inception. Hoell and others have said that expanded background checks will lead intrusion by the government into gun owners’ lives and eventually to registration of guns.
Ahearn called the final vote “horrible, absolutely horrible. We were outmaneuvered. We were all very confused, and I think that was the point.”
“The only thing worse than seeing the bill go down is seeing a vote that supported it first,” said Zandra Hawkins of Granite State Progress.
Hawkins is working with Ahearn to determine whether the original bill can be attached to existing legislation. If that is not possible, she said gun control advocates will be working House districts statewide in anticipation of the fall elections.
“We’re not really discouraged,” said Melissa Rigazio of New Castle Promise. “We’re here to stay.”
I love the use of the study to subvert this gun control bill. I guess the authoritarians didn't like that double dose of their own medicine.
Note also that this is a pro-gun control newspaper. So they're crying the blues over this.
How did that happen in New Massachusetts?
Criminals purchase and carry (ccw) guns without the hassles of background checks, permits and permission from the ruling class.
It’s high time law abiding citizens did the same.
“How did that happen in New Massachusetts?”
NH gun owners fought like the devil. And won. The grabbers will be back of course, but for now they’ve been beaten back.
Gun politics is a lot of the reason why I’m actually optimistic about the potential for conservatives to achieve victory. Gun rights groups seem to have figured out the “secret sauce” and are winning. In spite of the uniparty and it’s stooges.
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The Massholes moving into NH and Vermont are going to ruin them.
...”the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed....”
“The Massholes moving into NH and Vermont are going to ruin them.”
They’re trying. But the fine folks in NH are giving them a fight, and they won this round. Seems to me that people working on other aspects of the conservative agenda could learn a thing or two from the gunnies.
...”the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed....”
Yup. Unfortunately the pukes that want to see us all living in a workers paradise aren’t fond of the idea of peasants being armed.
Armed citizens are hard to “ transform “ into peasants.
Armed citizens are hard to “ transform “ into peasants.
The Democrats that are saying "they'll be back" may not be back after the next election, unless they happen to be from one of the liberal enclaves.
When are Republicans going start telling voters that Democrats want to disarm them and take their rights away ?
The folks mentioned in the article are well known Democratic political activists. For example, New Castle Promise, which Melissa Rigazio claims to represent, appears to be one of Bill Duncan's projects. He ran against Chris Sununu in 2012 for Executive Council as a Democrat. Mr. Sununu won and is currently serving on the Executive Council.
Whether it is defending teacher unions, or publishing Democratic and "Progressive" talking points, there are many activist organizations who have their sights set on New Hampshire. Many of them apparently draw funds from out of state, and are home to a variety of Democratic candidates, staffers, and leftists of all sorts.
New Castle Promise looks like a recently erected web site, its main page cites Granite State Progress:
"Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems. "
Granite State Progress is made up of various Democratic staffers and union executives. Its staff includes the former president of the NH teachers union, and the president of the NH AFL-CIO among others.
The last Republican presidential candidate would be included in that group.
Also I doubt any main stream media outlet would report on a Republican defending the rights of citizens unless they could twist the statement around to use it to support their political goals.
New Hampshire Firearms Coalition (NHFC)
WE WON!!! HB 1589 is DEAD! - FEBRUARY 12, 2014
We did it!!! I am happy to report, that earlier today, after several votes in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, HB 1589 (as amended) was voted “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL) by a division vote of 242-118.
There were some nail biting moments when the committee amendment to make “sell a gun to a friend go to jail” (HB 1589) “less anti gun” passed and then again when an amendment offered by pro-firearms advocate, Rep. JR Hoell to create a committee to study why New Hampshire is one of the safest lowest crime states to live in passed. However, ultimately, HB 1589 was properly voted ITL.
We could not have achieved this stunning victory without you, the grassroots gun owners.
You went up against well funded out of state interest groups who are determined to make New Hampshire as hostile to gun owners as New York or New Jersey. Even though our opponents are well funded, you, the law abiding, peaceable firearms owners are even more determined to keep your freedoms. New Hampshire is a beacon of freedom in the Northeast. Your phone calls, emails and letters were able to overcome some slick New York City based “community organizers”.
“Armed citizens are hard to “ transform “ into peasants.”
Heh, heh, heh. Yeah. And the anti-gun politicians don’t like that one bit. Because if you think about it, all the other rights flow from the RKBA.
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