Did the governor of New Hampshire just suggest that our current firearm carry laws help make New Hampshire one of the safest states in the nation?
“Governor Hassan does not believe we need to change New Hampshire’s current concealed carry permitting law, which Republican Mel Thomson called a ‘sensible handgun law’ and has worked well for nearly a century, safeguarding the Second Amendment rights of our citizens while helping to keep the Granite State one of the safest states in the nation,” Hinkle said in an email. “The Governor will review the measure closely as it makes its way through the legislative process, but her feelings about this bill are comparable to the similar legislation that she vetoed last year.”
So yes, to address the question in the headline, she does. Gov. Hassan thinks the portions of the law that prevent people from having a concealed carry permit are what helps keep the state safe. These are the parts that play to the capricious whims of police chiefs who may deny legal gun-owners the right to carry concealed; legal gun owners who have passed all the federal background checks and balances, and who can legally carry conspicuously in the state.
Legal gun owners can still carry a loaded gun, on their person, in public. They don’t need permission for that.
So why do we need to change the law? SB336 would prevent local police chiefs from arbitrarily denying legal gun owners the right to get in vehicle or even put on a coat or sweatshirt without first un-holstering and unloading their firearm. Should they forget to do that, absent the permission-slip from their local chief, that same person is now a felon.
This drawing and unloading is a precarious business. Many a snowflake, being ignorant of the law, absent any sort of trigger warning, might melt should they happen to view the compliant firearm owner following the law of the land sans the permission slip just so they can put their rain coat on before going outside. Snowflake might dial 911 initiating an unnecessary use of taxpayer resources to address the melting.
The governor is OK with this because the Police Chiefs associations–see also, progressive political partners–want to take this carry permit business (as does Hassan) the other direction.
Neither the anti-gun-gubbnuh, nor the Chiefs lobbying arm, have an interest in ceding any more authority to law-abiding knuckle-dragging gun-owners. They certainly do not want to make future sorties against second amendment rights more difficult.
So Hassan isn’t reviewing Jack as it moves through the legislature unless Jack is the name of the person handing her the veto pen.
She’s not pro second amendment and never was. Given an opportunity, she would jump at the chance to use the law to make more of us less suitable because the only gun laws that make us more safe in her mind are the same sensible gun laws that made Chicago ‘more safe.’