“…there is no reason to change it now.” – Zandra Rice Hawkins, Granite State Progress
In her comments on yesterday’s discussion of SB 116 – “Constitutional Carry” – Miz Hawkins relies on 90 years of profiling folks to determine who is and who isn’t “suitable” enough to be allowed to discretely carry a loaded firearm. She touts the 1923 NH Senate’s decision that “un-naturalized, foreign born” persons – mostly Irish and Italian – were not “suitable” as a “common-sense law“.
Normally, GSP’s anti-gun remarks can be transcribed as “blah blah blah guns bad blah blah blah dead children blah blah blah mental illness is a crime blah blah blah“, but I decided to take a moment and reply to her discriminatory, and yes, ultimately sexist, mendacity on a point by point basis:
Mendacity #1:
“Dangerous individuals already carry hidden loaded weapons”
Yes, they are known as criminals.
Mendacity #2:
“If SB 116 were to pass, New Hampshire would overturn 90 years of precedence”
In 1923, the NH Senate passed a law to discriminate against “un-naturalized foreign born” persons, primarily Irish and Italian legal immigrants, labeling them as “unsuitable” and thus, automatically making them criminals. Today, that is called profiling and it is illegal.
GSP goes on to use nearly a century of profiling as an excuse to continue it: “In 1923, when New Hampshire’s law was first put into place, the license was valid for one year only instead of the four years that the current law allows – or the five years that the sponsors of this bill would like to see the optional license extended to. A lot can happen in a four or five year span, including an individual committing a felony or being charged with domestic abuse.”
Just goes to show you can’t trust those shifty Irish and Italians! They could break a law! Or get drunk! Or something!
Mendacity #3
“For 90 years, this common-sense law [profiling]…”
The American Civil Liberties Union says that profiling is “patently illegal, violating the Constitution’s core promises of equal protection under the law to all and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures…is ineffective… alienates communities from law enforcement, hinders community policing efforts, and causes law enforcement to lose credibility and trust among the people they are sworn to protect and serve.”
Mendacity #4:
“Instead…one state [license] requirement in particular is noteworthy: it requires that its firearm training course include techniques for avoiding a criminal attack and how to manage a violent confrontation, including conflict resolution.”
OMG OMG! Perhaps women should simply not leave home alone, or after dark, or dressed in a short skirt!
Mendacity #5:
“Almost every state also imposes at least some restrictions on the locations in which concealed weapons may be carried, especially in places where disputes frequently occur. …in bars or other establishments which serve alcohol on their premises…polling locations…public sporting events.” –
There she goes profiling drunks, politicians and athletes.
Mendacity #6:
“In New Hampshire, it is already easier to legally carry a handgun than it is to legally drive a car…”
All persons have the right to keep and drive cars in support of themselves, their families, their property and the state, says no NH Constitutional amendment ever.
Mendacity #7
“It is reasonable to deny concealed carry permits to those who are a danger to themselves or others.”
Stanislav Mishin perhaps offers the best response to Ms. Hawkins and Granite State Progress when he said: “Do not believe for a moment that progressives and other leftists hate guns. What they hate is guns in the hands of those who will not march in lockstep with their ideology. They hate guns in the hands of those who think for themselves, refuse to comply, and eventually will have to be scheduled for a bullet behind the ear.”
Miz Hawkins, any chance you could tell me whether that schedule has already been prepared?
