What Senate Bill 12 REALLY does, despite the lies of a NH Police Chief - Granite Grok

What Senate Bill 12 REALLY does, despite the lies of a NH Police Chief

NHACOPfakenews

Mitch Kopacz, President of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, wrote such a brilliant response to the incompetent Tuftonburo Chief of Police Andrew Shagoury that it bears repeating here.

You can read the idiocy written by Shagoury here.  I also wrote about it over at NH Political Buzz as well.

FACTS and TRUTH matter. Something progressives and gun control organizations like the NH Association of Chiefs of Police don’t use.

The below is a letter by Mitch Kopacz:

What Senate Bill 12 really does… Despite what you may have heard from the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. Fear mongering – the method of attack utilized by those, including the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, who do not want Governor Sununu to sign Senate Bill 12.

They use inflammatory statements, such as, “Sex Offenders will be able to carry” and “The bill’s choice of the word ‘possession’ would circumvent laws that prevent the sales of firearms to minors, in addition to allowing them to carry concealed.”

The problem with utilizing inflammatory statements is that such things are meant to deter you from considering or even knowing the facts. What are the facts? First, the reality is that any person who is prevented from owning or possessing a firearm will remain so prevented.

Federally, 18 U.S.C. 922 outlines those who are not permitted to own or possess a firearm and in fact, makes it a criminal offense to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person:

(1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;

(2) is a fugitive from justice;

(3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));

(4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;

(5) who, being an alien— (A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or (B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26);

(6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;

(8) is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that— (A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and (B) (i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or

(9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Minors are also prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, with exceptions, and the passage of Senate Bill 12 will not change that.

However, alarmists and those who promote fake news would mislead you by stating that 18 U.S.C. 922 only prevents the possession of “handguns” by minors and by utilizing the word “firearms” in Senate Bill 12 would circumvent this prohibition.

Not true. What they did not report is that 18 U.S.C. 921 defines “handgun” as “a firearm which has a short stock and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand” and “any combination of parts from which a firearm … can be assembled.”

Clearly, the difference in using the word “firearm” instead of “handgun” does not matter as argued, because a handgun is, by definition, a firearm.

Therefore, this so-called crucial distinction as alleged by the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police as reported by the Eagle Tribune is nothing more than a distinction without a difference.

As for the example used, that “there is little way of knowing whether a 16-year-old pulled over with a loaded shotgun in his car purchased it, or was given it as a birthday present” – well, that cannot be known regardless of SB 12, but more importantly, Chief Andy Shagoury either failed to mention or, more importantly, failed to know that New Hampshire RSA 207,7(II) prohibits any person for having or carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun, or even a rifle or shotgun with a cartridge in the magazine, in a motor vehicle.

What may be an actual fact cited in the article is, “the loss of discretion for local chiefs was also an issue”. That fact alone may be why the choice to pursue fear mongering as a tactic was utilized – the police do not want to lose their power described as discretion.

As RSA 159:6 stands now, a Police Chief may determine whether a person is “suitable” to obtain a license. First, such a determination of suitability is discretionary and therefore, any police chief has the power to unilaterally decide that a person is not suitable even if that person is not prohibited by State or Federal statutes to own or possess a firearm. Second, since such determination is discretionary, what one Police Chief decides in one town may not be what another Police Chief decides in another town.

The current law provides no consistency or bright line rule to ensure that every person, regardless of their hometown, is treated the same under the law. Thirdly, a Police Chief may deny a permit for no other reason than his own personal belief or feelings about a person regardless of any legal prohibition.

Senate Bill 12 promotes equality. It promotes consistency. It removes subjectivity.

Does Senate Bill 12 allow those who have been prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm to now be able to carry concealed – no it does not. Prohibited persons are still prohibited persons.

When deciding how to respond to Senate Bill 12 do not rely on fake news – rely on facts.

Mitchell W. Kopacz President,

Gun Owners of New Hampshire

>