Senate Bill 12: The Misinformation Lives On...And On...and On - Granite Grok

Senate Bill 12: The Misinformation Lives On…And On…and On

“The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a man only tells them with all his might.” – Mark Twain

Oh_No_Guns_WhiteSenate Bill 12 has passed the house and the Senate. Governor Chris Sununu stated on the campaign trail if the bill comes to his desk, he would sign it into law. We all know the history. The same legislation has passed both houses twice before and Democrat Governor Maggie Hassan has vetoed them both times at the mere insistence of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.

Pat Grossmith of The Union leader featured this story yesterday entitled, “Concealed carry: Granite Staters speak out on imminent repeal of permit requirement.”  I read the article with much intrigue. The misinformation flowed like water in this article. Literally flowed….What I found so completely disappointing were the Police personnel interviewed for the article. I am not even certain how my opinion is formed, be it purposeful misinformation as a means to an end or lack of basic critical thinking.

I am stuck with the former because I cannot permit myself to think that there be some at the helm of law enforcement within the beloved Granite State that could be so obtuse. To think that they could get sucked in or mischaracterized by a news reporter? That is tough medicine for we who hold law enforcement in such high esteem. It just can’t be. Police work in today’s world is dangerous. One has to be smart, on his or her toes and sharp. Many rank and file police officers I meet are well-educated, well-spoken and generally impressive in all respects. But these folks in the article sound like buffoons and that is disappointing.

Chief Droulet smallChief Drolet tells the Union Leader,

“Under the current law, officers arriving at a police call or making a stop have the benefit of knowing whether their local chief has issued a permit for someone to carry a concealed handgun…”

Well, that is only partially true, but the statement is a bit misleading. The Granite State has no gun registration scheme. Police only have direct knowledge of the presence of guns in homes if they have in fact issued a New Hampshire Pistol Revolver License within that jurisdiction.

Not everybody who purchases guns choose to carry. Many people purchase guns, but do not obtain a NH Pistol and Revolver License.  Thus, guns may be present in a home having been purchased at a gun store because the citizen purchasing the firearm is required to complete an ATF form 4473 National Instant Background Check . So Chief Drolet’s reliance on that information is specious at best. There are no magic bullets, pardon the pun.

On motor vehicle stops an officer will not know of the presence of a firearm or the possibility of a firearm until he or she makes initial contact and has obtained the subject’s driver’s license.  Inversely, there are many people who possess the NHPRL, but do not carry the firearm.  Significant reliance on whether or not the license is issued is folly.

Under present law, N.H. RSA 207:7 B to be specific. It is not legal at any time to carry a loaded long gun in a motor vehicle. It is a fish and game law meaning and intended to deter hunting from vehicles, but currently enjoys widespread enforcement by all law enforcement bodies.

Nowhere within the body of N.H. RSA 159 does there exist any requirement that a person being stopped  by police have any legal duty to disclose that he or she is in possession of a firearm. That reality existed long before Senate Bill 12 ever passed the house and Senate. That has not changed.

I understand why the Police Officer buying a gun at Riley’s didn’t give his name because he sounded silly. Here is what he told the UL’s Grossmith:

“A police officer approaches a car and the driver says he has a gun and a permit to carry it. An officer approaches another driver who says,  I have a gun.  What does that tell you?”

iRONY
Gun Grabber in Chief, Michael Bloomberg

What does it tell me/you/us?  It tells me that one driver gave more information than the other driver. That is all it tells me/you/us. The officer seems to infer that carrying a loaded gun in a vehicle and not saying, “I have a [license]” infers an illegal act. That statement does nothing to inform the reader. Rather, it confuses readers.

There are ten federal prohibitions in place where any citizen, meeting one or more of the criteria, may not use, handle, be in possession or active control of any firearm.They can be found in 18 United State Code Section 922. They are:

  • Having been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (g) (1)
  • Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (n)
  • Is a fugitive from justice; (g) (2)
  • Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance; (g) (3)
  • Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution; (g) (4)
  • Is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States or who has been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa; (g) (5)
  • Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; (g) (6)
  • Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced U.S. citizenship; (g) (7)
  • Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner; (g) (8)
  • Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence; (g) (9)

Senate Bill 12 incorporates these federal prohibitions into the law.  Additionally, N.H. RSA 159:3 makes it a Class B Felony for any person, having been convicted of a felony to be in possession of a pistol, revolver or long gun. It was important to remove the word, “suitable” from the law because the definition of the word “suitable,” was never defined within the statutory scheme of this legislation. This enabled a few Police Chiefs, in their capacities as issuing authorities, to abuse the use of the word suitable to fit a denial for otherwise subjective and less-known criteria.

I am additionally confused by the police use of the word, “permit” throughout this article. Some might say this is splitting hairs over semantics, but bear in mind Police Chief’s are the “issuing authorities” for Pistol and Revolver Licenses. At least they could be at least that much of an authority on the topic. Perhaps the reporter paraphrased them and used the wrong terminology. One can only guess. Newspaper reporters rarely get the entire story right, especially when they craft if for effect.

Steve Adams got it right in part. Adams who is a retired Northfield Police Chief told the UL,

“[O]nly law-abiding citizens take the time to get a [license] People who are not law-abiding citizens could care less and never worried about a [License].”

License or no license…the same felon carrying a gun last week who has not been caught, is the same felon carrying the same gun this week.  Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming are all states that have passed constitutional carry. None of the dire predictions made by those opposed to constitutional carry have come to fruition in any of those states.

Police-Swat A charlatan makes obscure what is clear; a thinker makes clear what is obscure. In 2010 we had the great media fight over Stand Your Ground…Senate Bill 88. Attorney General Michael Delaney made dire predictions of gun fights in the streets and about drug dealers and gangsters. None of it occurred. In fact, we have yet to see a case of “Stand Your Ground,” in the Granite State.

Finally, Granite State Police Chiefs ought to simply be candid about their assertions. They should simply say they don’t like the idea of citizens possessing guns without licenses or a blessing from them. People won’t much like it, but at least they will have their credibility and people will respect the honesty and candidness.

In my experience, I have found that the majority of second amendment supporting citizens want to do the right thing and will do the right thing. Before this law was passed, criminals never did the right thing and that won’t change.

The whole context of the conversation surrounding SB12 is a “damn lie” to quote Lord Benjamin Desraeli.  Newspaper and local media headlines suggest that the N.H. Pistol Revolver License is being done away with altogether. “Moms Demand Action” asserts our streets are less safer (but they never really tell you exactly how).  Some assert that more criminals will have guns (like criminals today have less guns). Its all “poppycock.”

The New Hampshire Pistol and Revolver License remains and will still be available for issue. To completely do away with the license is to wipe clean all reciprocity Granite Staters have with 22 different states. I personally have every intention of obtaining renewal of my N.H. Pistol and Revolver License when my current license expires. I do not think this law will really change much of anything. There may be a minimal downturn in number of licenses issued, but for the most part, I think there is a certain degree of citizen pride knowing that with the license, the right to carry a firearm in recognized in 22 other states. With constitutional carry, lacking a license means one can carry concealed in the Granite State Only.

Prohibited persons looking to carry and then make excuses such as, “I forgot,” or, “I didn’t know”, are still criminals. As responsible citizens looking to possess firearms the onus is on each and every one of us to make sure we are not prohibited by law from possessing firearms.

Police Chiefs…a word of advice. When a prohibited person is arrested in possession of a firearm, prosecute that to the fullest extent of the law. When your, “shit-weasel” prosecutors are lazy and don’t feel like prosecuting these cases and want to negotiate them down, don’t accept it. When the defense attorney wants to tax the department resources, make this one issue, for which you will go to the mats. When accept less, you denigrate the rest of society that advocated for these very liberties.

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