In December a Parkland Committee charged with coming up with solutions in the wake of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneham Douglas School released its results. Ask for volunteers among teachers and staff willing to be trained and armed on campus. New Hampshire Democrats respond by pushing a bill (motivated by the Parkland shooting) to let schools disarm everyone on campus.
Related: Cops and schools had no duty to shield students in Parkland shooting
HB101 allows a school district, school administrative unit, or chartered public school to adopt and enforce a policy regulating firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives within its jurisdiction.
Current New Hampshire law requires all schools to follow the same rules, set by the legislature. You can’t ban firearms. Law abiding citizens may carry if they have a pistol revolver license. Carrying to the polls to vote is not prohibited. But this change would allow each school to decide its own fate and require everyone to know the policies of each campus across the state.
A Safe School zone where citizens are potentially armed or a Target Rich Environment where everyone but a criminal is disarmed?
Playing Veto Games
With Democrat majorities in both chambers, passage seems likely unless Republicans can find a way to get it spiked in committee. As for Governor Sununu, I can’t say whether he’d sign it. He has demonstrated a willingness to embrace leftist virtual-signaling that puts citizens at risk. His reckless embrace of bathroom bills and therapy bans probably cost him the NH Senate.
He was warned but chose to ignore that.
He does, however, have an out. If he agrees that there are enough susceptible Republicans in the legislature to leftwing pressure politics he can veto it knowing it will get overridden and become law. If it doesn’t he still looks good.
We should be prepared for a lot of that this session.
One other point: by embedding this in law, assuming it survives, will any districts see it as an invitation to advertise that they allow concealed carry by law abiding citizens?
