Most liberty-minded folks are familiar with Second Amendment to the US Constitution or at least the part where it says, “shall not be infringed. New Hampshire’s effort to protect his right can be found in Article 2a, but we also have a right not to bear arms.
First, article 2-a.
[Art.] 2-a. [The Bearing of Arms.] All persons have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property and the state.
All persons have the right to defend themselves, their families and their property. Not as part of a militia or for any other purpose but the fundamental one.
Regardless of the level of society or culture, human beings engage in labor to acquire and keep things they need or want. It is their right to defend both the investment of pst and future labor (their persons) and the things that result from it (generalized as happiness).
The right to self-defense is natural, and this informs the corollary that “acquiring things” that you did not earn or that are not yours is not a right, and you may find yourself deprived of life in that pursuit.
Organized groups may agree to work together in defense of each other or shared interests, which is the basis of the militia. Not to take or attack but to defend, especially their own government.
And there is no stipulation about what arms are allowed or restricted though people and politics have muddled this over the years.
But not everyone, typically for religious reasons, would be willing or able to take up arms in such a circumstance. In the interest of protecting religious rights, New Hampshire’s constitution also includes a right NOT to bear arms.
[Art.] 13. [Conscientious Objectors not Compelled to Bear Arms.] No person, who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of bearing arms, shall be compelled thereto.
Conscientious objection is a common term, but what of scrupulous?
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adj. Conscientious and exact; painstaking. synonym: meticulous.
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adj. Having scruples; principled.
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Inclined to scruple; hesitating to determine or to act; cautious from a fear of erring; especially, having scruples of conscience.
In other words, whether for reasons of conscience (typically religious but not limited to) or relating to an unwillingness to harm for any reason premeditated or by accident, in New Hampshire, you have a constitutional right not to bear arms. Presumably, any arms, regardless of their style or suitability, meaning any weapon from a knife to a handgun to a musket, rifle, or even explosives launched from a canon.
“No person, who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of bearing arms, shall be compelled thereto.”
There is no such qualification in the US Constitution only that the government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
It goes without saying that you cannot force someone to bear arms or serve in any such capacity in which they may err and violate their conscience, religious or otherwise. In a world where you have rights, they must include the right not to be compelled against your will.
So, back to New Hampshire.
Article 2a gives you the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property, and the state. Article 13 gives you the right not to do that under any circumstance. And according to the more recently added Article 2b…
[Art.] 2-b. [Right of Privacy.] An individual’s right to live free from governmental intrusion in private or personal information is natural, essential, and inherent.
December 5, 2018
…it’s none of the state’s f**king business either way.
Everything is connected or at least I think it is.
Let the debate, if any, begin.
