A couple of recent topics have puzzled me.
Item 1. It has been reported that Governor Sununu vetoed HB 687. In the Laconia Daily Sun, Ms. Ramer calls it “the so-called ‘red flag’ bill” in her piece.
ICYMI: Democrats have only Democrat Power Brokers to Blame for This Mess
There is some irony there as the bill label referred to the murderer in Florida who presented more than 30 red flags which were then ignored by the school, the police, and the sheriff.
Sen. Hennessey is quoted as saying “The intention is not…to take away guns from their lawful owners.” I’ll be kind and give her the benefit of the doubt only in that it was not the bill’s intention. The bill, if passed, would literally take guns from lawful owners, without the need for said owners to appear at the hearing (ex parte).
The firearms would be confiscated for a minimum of one year without the owner committing any crime or even being charged with one. The list of people who could report you – noted in the bill’s language – would even include people that you dated.
The alleged need ignores that NH law already allows for a person who may present a danger to be given a psychiatric evaluation. Lest we forget, the application of this law would still leave the supposedly “dangerous” person free to harm himself or others with other tools.
Item 2. The attempts to plan how to handle the COVID situation have called a concern to my attention. There is a loose movement of people who professes the belief that life can be lived risk-free. I don’t think so. Remember way back, when we needed to shut down and stay home to “flatten the curve” so as not to overwhelm the medical system. Not to stop infections: just to spread them out. Done. Now four months later, we “must” wait for a vaccine before we can “re-open”. That ignores that viral vaccines have a poor efficacy track record. So, I guess that we’ll never fully open up, eh? If the “experts” would give us honest information, then we can assess the risks and act accordingly.
Item last: I’m sure that most people have noticed a bit of hubbub taking place in many American cities. These, um, protests have been attributed to the clearly unjustified death of George Floyd.* Some have suggested that the legitimate protests have been hijacked by opportunists and others have suggested darker reasons for the violence. I have a question: Does anyone remember 1985? Thousands of rounds were shot into the MOVE house on Osage Ave in Philly without attaining the desired result—the surrender of the occupants. So a bomb was detonated on the roof of the row house, resulting in 11 deaths and the burning of dozens of houses. Remember the nation-wide protests after that catastrophe? Me, neither.
Also, does anyone remember the deaths of some black men at the hands of the police during the 8 years of the Obama administration? Where were the protests then?
Note: I have just watched the body cam video of Floyd’s arrest. The visible and auditory accommodation on the part of the officers puts quite a different spin on the notion that Chauvin was “out to get a black guy”. Clearly, something happened to have Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck, but I don’t know what that was. I tacked this on at the end as it didn’t fit within my column.
