Reader “Paladin” had earlier asked if we publish a guest post by him – it can be found here: Guest Post by Paladin – a short commentary on HB135 (the NH “Run Away!” bill) sponsored by Stephen Shurtleff. Now that HB135 has passed out of committee in the NH House, he asked if this could be his follow up.
*****
Deputy Dawg Shurtleff, a Democrat who introduced HB 135 to repeal New Hampshire’s “stands your ground” self-defense law was endorsed yesterday by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Rep. Dennis Fields (R) of Sanbornton and Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R) of Manchester, joined the Dawg’s posse supporting the bill while all six “no” votes came from the other Republicans.
Deputy Dawg Shurtleff enjoys immunity from the his own bill by virtue of the fact he is a retired U.S, Marshal. He falls into the latter of the two classes of persons as defined by the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act – “ a United States federal law, enacted in 2004, that allows two classes of persons, the “qualified law enforcement officer” and the “qualified retired law enforcement officer” – to carry a concealed firearm in any jurisdiction in the United States, regardless of state or local laws, with certain exceptions. The law does not limit or change an officer’s authority within their own state or jurisdiction from carrying or to where a firearm is carried “off duty” or “on duty” under their own state law.
But it seems Deputy Dawg doesn’t think you should be allowed to protect your family and possible others. It seems instead, since he can do as he pleases, he will only provide this protection to those he chooses, his offspring and their kin. But not folks like Katherine Booth , the victim of an attempted kidnapping at gun point: