Anti-Biden gun control bill in trouble
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Jun. 23—BEDFORD — A bill intended to block state and local law enforcement of any Biden administration gun control measures faces a fight for survival today over Second Amendment advocates' concerns it would create a gaping loophole.
"This would, for the first time, put into statute that NH law enforcement can enforce federal laws and we are asking reps and senators to just no, because the time for amendments has just passed," Alan Rice of Bedford with Gun Owners of America said.
The legislation emerged in April as one of the most popular reforms for those backing gun freedoms. The House of Representatives amended SB 154 to apply to all executive orders, rules and federal laws adopted after the January 2021 date that Joe Biden took office.
Gov. Chris Sununu had said he was looking forward to signing the legislation once it reached his desk.
In Washington, President Biden signed six executive orders on guns in April, including a crackdown on the proliferation of "ghost guns" built from kits that become untraceable by police.
On Wednesday, Biden announced further steps to combat gun violence and crack down on "rogue" firearms dealers as crime rates have soared in recent months, especially in cities such as Chicago and Houston.
House and Senate Republicans signaled how much of a priority this bill was when they put Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, on the negotiating panel to craft a House-Senate compromise.
But many activists in the gun rights movement said the final product would permit local and state law enforcement to get involved in too many federal inquiries.
State Rep. John Burt, R-Goffstown, was the prime author of the 2017 state law that repealed the permit someone needed to carry a concealed handgun.
"There is a huge problem with this. I'm going to try and kill it," Burt said during a telephone interview Wednesday. "It's a darn shame. This started out with a lot of promise, but now there are many groups that see it as I do, an anti-gun bill."
Lower criminal threshold
Rice noted the bill would create a threshold of only "reasonable suspicion" for state or local cops to get involved if someone violated a federal law that was of New Hampshire interest.
"There's a company called Q LLC in Portsmouth that makes state-of-the-art gun silencers and they also make colorful T-shirts. Reasonable suspicion would be for police to stop someone for wearing a T-shirt because that person could possess an illegal firearm accessory," Rice said. "Probable cause is a much higher standard."
House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, urged the House to adopt the consensus agreement negotiators had reached last week.
"This policy will protect the people of New Hampshire's Second Amendment rights from being infringed upon by any new policies that are not currently in effect," Abbas said in his report to the House.
Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Clegg of Hudson, president of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, said the House might be able to rescue the bill when representatives meet at the N.H. Sportsplex in Bedford today .
"We do need to clarify what local police chiefs and sheriffs can do to help the feds in cases like when members of MS-13 gang come over the border with machine guns that are illegal under federal law," Clegg said.
Saying he is aware the bill is in trouble in the House, Bradley suggested it might be best to start with a new bill in 2022.
"My sense is from what I am hearing is it is not likely to survive in the House," Bradley said.
"Unfortunately if we had more time, I think we could address it. Once we got beyond executive orders, which the Senate passed, it opened the door to these kind of issues. Let's remember, this is one of the safest states in the nation and we respect everyone's firearm rights."
The Legislature already had passed one gun rights priority bill to exclude from the definition of reckless conduct someone openly displaying a firearm (HB 195)
On Thursday, lawmakers are expected to adopt a second measure to permit adults to carry a loaded gun while riding in an OHRV or snowmobile (HB 334).
